Women and girls are being encouraged to complete a short survey about the safety of females living, working in or visiting Wolverhampton.

Any incident of violence or harassment against women and girls is unacceptable. Though Wolverhampton is generally a safe place, partners in the city are committed to redoubling their efforts to prevent these crimes and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Tragic, high profile incidents nationally involving women and girls being victim to serious crimes including sexual assault and murder in recent years have had an immeasurable impact on victims, their families and communities. This has led to an outpouring of grief, public anger and demonstrations, and partners in the city acknowledge that far too many women and girls still feel vulnerable and unsafe in public places.

The Safety of Women and Girls Survey, being conducted by West Midlands Police and the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership, asks women how safe they feel when they are out and about, and to share details of issues they may have either witnessed or experienced anywhere in Wolverhampton, along with locations that are of concern to them.

Feedback from the survey will be used to inform policing and community safety activity across Wolverhampton.

Supt Simon Inglis of Wolverhampton Police said: "We and the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership are serious about ensuring that Wolverhampton is, and continues to be, a safe place in which to live, work and visit. 

"All women and girls have a right to feel safe at all times, whether they are at work, socialising, exercising or travelling on their own or on public transport. 

"We appreciate that this is a really sensitive issue so I want to give you our commitment that taking part in this survey will make a difference and bring about the action required to further improve safety for women and girls in Wolverhampton.

"So please take a few minutes to share your views; we really need to know how you feel."

All responses to the survey are anonymous, and not all questions are mandatory. To complete the survey, please visit The Wolverhampton Safety of Women & Girls Survey.  

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: "We don't want people to be unduly concerned but we appreciate that, like any big town or city, there will be issues in Wolverhampton which could make women and girls feel unsafe, and we want to try and address these.

"We would be grateful to everyone who feels able to share their thoughts and experiences via this survey. I do understand it’s not always easy, but please take a few moments as your responses will help inform our plans to keep our communities safe.”

The survey is available from today (Thursday 10 November, 2022) until Friday 10 December, 2022.