Jo Coles - York and North Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime

Jo Coles - North Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime

29 November, 2024

Deputy Mayor of Policing Fire and Crime hosts Violence Against Women and Girls summit in Harrogate

Over 100 strategic leaders, policy and decision makers from Local Government, Health, Police, Fire and both national and local specialist support organisations, attended a Summit to address violence against women and girls.

Held on White Ribbon Day, a global awareness campaign to end male violence against women and girls, the event engaged a regionwide cohort of organisations to inform a refresh of the current Violence Against Women and Girl’s strategy for York and North Yorkshire. The Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, Jo Coles, is leading the strategy refresh, which aims to publish in Spring 2025.

Official figures estimate 2 million women in England and Wales are victims of violence every year, with 20% of adults in these regions being victims of domestic abuse every year. The UK Government has committed to halving violence against women and girls, a sentiment shared by York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith. In his recently launched vision, Healthy and Thriving communities, Mayor Skaith emphasised a priority to ensure safe spaces for all residents.

 

Jo Coles, York and North Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime said:

There is a national epidemic of violence against women and girls. One in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. In York and North Yorkshire there were 700 recorded offences of Coercive and Controlling Behaviour last year, 282 rapes were recorded plus a further 664 serious sexual offences. The ex-partner of a woman from Malton is currently standing trial for her murder earlier this year.

On Monday we heard incredibly powerful stories from those with lived experience such as Laura Pulleyn who’s abuse went on over many years. We also heard from voluntary organisations already working across York and North Yorkshire with the survivors of abuse.

We heard a lot of frustrations with the system as it currently works but the event was about coming together in a shared objective to try and change some of those things. Thank you to all those who attended and shared their insights and expertise with us.

We won’t always get everything right. But we can be better. Women and girls in York and North Yorkshire deserve that we always try to do more and be better. We have the best chance of doing that if we work together.

The new national Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. The Mayor David Skaith and I are determined to ensure we do our bit as part of that mission.

“That work is already underway; we’re looking again at our strategic approach to violence against women and girls in our area and will be setting our priorities for policing and crime prevention over the next four years in the coming weeks.”

The speakers joining Jo Coles at the summit included Laura Pulleyn, Managing Director of the Ford Family Foundation. Laura spoke about her direct lived experience of domestic abuse as well as the opportunities missed that could have helped her leave her relationship earlier.

Sarah Hill, CEO of IDAS, outlined the history and current issues faced by women in York and North Yorkshire and called for a more collaborative approach to ending violence against women and girls. The summit heard how public awareness of domestic and sexual abuse has changed over time and how vital support services have evolved as a result. Delegates took part in key strategic discussions, helping to inform future strategies and considered how they can more effectively work together to deliver these.

The summit concluded with a Q&A panel, including Deputy Mayor Jo Coles, New Beginnings charity CEO Lindsay Oliver, Survive CEO Mags Godderidge Halo Project founder Yasmin Khan, Ford Family Foundation MD Laura Pulleyn, IDAS CEO Sarah Hill, and North Yorkshire Police ACC Ben Moseley. The expert speakers took questions collected throughout the day on a range of topics, including:

  • How can we best protect young people from online harms?
  • How can public bodies pool their resources to better deliver change?
  • Can the private sector play a role?

Insights from the summit will used to help refresh the strategy, whilst members of the public are invited to complete the ongoing Violence Against Women and Girls Survey to share their experiences and insights.

To find out more about our current VAWG Strategy and an overview of outcomes achieved since the launch in June 2022, please visit the OPFCC website: Addressing violence against women and girls in North Yorkshire & City of York