By Rachael Grealish

Cumbria Police is offering members of the public to have their say as they launch a survey so they can learn more from women and girls on how they feel about their own personal safety in Cumbria.

The online survey, which launched today, March 6, seeks opinions on topics including how women and girls feel in their own homes, neighbourhoods and towns – and includes questions about their own experiences.

Cumbria Police is aiming to use this information to better inform their policing services as part of ongoing work to address the national issue of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

‘Violence against women and girls is unacceptable’

Detective Superintendent Sally Blaiklock said: “Violence against women and girls is unacceptable and Cumbria Constabulary and our partners always treat these issues seriously. In Cumbria Constabulary, we all wish to deliver an outstanding service and keep all people safe.

“In this respect, violence against women and girls is no different and we are always looking to see how we can get better and improve our services for the sake of our communities in Cumbria. Feeling unsafe is obviously not an experience exclusive to women and girls. But sexual violence and harassment offences are overwhelmingly committed by males against females.

“We believe we have made great progress in improving how we deal with these offences and issues.

“We have implemented a range of measures, operations and activities to make women and girls feel safer and to deter these crimes and tackle the perpetrators of these offences.

“The conviction rates achieved by our work with the CPS putting cases before the courts also shows how seriously we take these offences and the work that goes into cases.

“Cumbria is one of the safest places to live. However, these crimes do happen here. They can happen behind closed doors or in public places, online or in the real world.

“We have carried out a lot of work to address the issue of violence against women and girls and we believe this survey will be our latest tool to help our drive to constantly improve.”

Work to protect women and girls continues

A range of work has already been carried out as the constabulary vows to continue to improve and update its services and response to these offences and these issues.

The work so far on this issue has seen positive results which means Cumbria has been a leading force nationally in the last year.

Since April 2022, Cumbria has been ranked either first or second in the country for convictions at court in relation to VAWG offences, with an average of between 84 per cent and nearly 87 per cent ending in a guilty plea or verdict.

The survey, which is completely anonymous, is available here.

If you have been affected by any of this there are a wide range of charities and organisations available to help HERE.