Council event tackles sexual harassment among young people
The Vale of Glamorgan Council held an event in which one of its youth participation groups presented the findings of a report produced on improving street safety.
Her Voice Wales works with the Council’s Youth Service and is made up of girls aged 13 to 17 from across the County.
They wanted to raise awareness of catcalling and sexual harassment among young people so started the #wedon’tfeelsafecampaign.
That involved conducting a survey into the problem.
A report was then written based on these findings and its contents delivered to a select audience in the Council Chamber.
Those in attendance included Council Leader Lis Burnett, Cllr Ruba Sivagnanam, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, Equalities and Regulatory Services, representatives from South Wales Police and Jane Hutt, Welsh Government Minister for Social Justice.
The girls worked with a local designer to create posters, with the artwork encouraging young people to report incidents of harassment and explaining how to go about doing that.
They asked people to make a pledge to publicise the issue and came up with suggestions of improvements that could be made, including the creation of Safe Spaces.
This initiative involves asking businesses across the Vale to display a sticker in their window that indicates this is a safe place to enter.
When a young person is feeling vulnerable, they can use this space as refuge.
The event also included presentations from Plan International UK on their Crime not Compliment research and a presentation from For Cardiff to discuss Safe Spaces.
Cllr Burnett said: “We want everyone in our communities to feel safe, and, though evidence suggests most do, there is always room for improvement.
“Sexual harassment among young people is completely unacceptable, but, sadly, it is a real problem that we need to address.
“I was really inspired by the work these young women have done to tackle this issue.
“They have been brave enough to confront it head on, coming up with a number of practical suggestions to bring about change.
“I was really impressed with the presentation they put together – it helped those present understand the challenges faced by young women and girls in the Vale.
“As a Council, we must look at their recommendations and do all we can to implement them.
Tiona Ross, a member of Her Voice Wales, added: “I enjoyed being part of this event as I can get my voice heard so thank you!”