Women’s safety in West Berkshire and, indeed, across the whole of the country has been a hugely important priority for me since I was elected in 2019. In Parliament, I have championed women’s employment and have worked with members from across the House on ground-breaking domestic abuse legislation. And, I have spoken out about the derisory sentences men convicted of killing their partners have received and will continue to use the levers of Parliament to attempt to prevent this from happening again.
Here in West Berkshire – which is a safe place to live with a low crime-rate and a strong sense of community – I am also working to address the concerns of women. This is because, despite the safety of our local area, there have some truly shocking cases of rape and sexual assault in the past few years. The recent imprisonment of a police officer who used his position to form sexual relationships with vulnerable women has been similarly awful, especially in light of the murder of Sarah Everard.
Last year I held a series of meetings with women of all ages to hear about their local concerns. This culminated in a survey at the start of this year, during which I heard from women and girls from West Berkshire about where and when they feel unsafe and how they think it should be addressed.
In response to this survey, 85 per cent said that they have felt unsafe in the local area at some point, with areas of particular concern including the underpasses, near Sainsburys and Burger King, the area near the station and path along the A339 were among those frequently cited. Those that responded to my survey also highlighted an interest in seeing more CCTV and street lighting in the town centre, along with a greater police presence at night.
Following this survey, I was pleased to hold a roundtable meeting last week with from Thames Valley Police, West Berkshire Council, Great Western Railway (GWR) and the Newbury BID to discuss the results of my survey.