Guernsey’s inaugural Violence Against Women and Girls has been hailed as “amazing”, “inspirational” and “powerful” by attendees.
More than 100 islanders attended the event, including the Bailiff, Mrs Louise Cripwell, politicians, Law Officers, police officers and staff and from the island’s charitable sector. Guests heard from eight speakers from the UK and Jersey, and from islander Poppy Murray, who organised the event. The Symposium was sponsored by Safer and Guernsey Police.
Topics covered included improving male allyship within police culture and support for officers, where to start in tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) – including on limited budgets – ideas for creating safer spaces, supporting victims, and understanding the scale of the problem.
Feedback from attendees showed 100% of respondents were committed to taking action based on what they had learned, with 92% labelling the day “extremely useful”.
Miss Murray – who founded the public safety campaign BE LADS – said the event exceeded her expectations: “Over the past year I have been fortunate to attend events where these accomplished speakers presented and, each time, I’ve thought to myself that I wish people in Guernsey could hear what I’m hearing, so I approached Guernsey Police’s Deputy Chief Officer Ian Scholes with the idea for the Symposium and was grateful that he gave the green light.
“This is the first event of its kind in Guernsey, and I was hopeful, but uncertain, about how it would be received. The majority of feedback was hugely positive. I am determined to ensure that momentum continues and that the public see positive outcomes as a direct result of the Symposium.
“Yesterday a clear roadmap was laid out for us on how to improve things in Guernsey when it comes to tackling issues surrounding VAWG. I hope that our elected deputies will support this and bring Guernsey closer in line with the progress being made in the UK and Jersey. There is no excuse.”
Male allyship and responses to VAWG within policing was a key focus of the event, with speakers from Thames Valley Police and the UK Policing leads for HeForShe, which supports police forces in their commitments to gender equality. Around 10% of Guernsey’s police force attended the event, which was noted as “exceptionally high engagement” by the UK speakers.
Guernsey Police Detective Constable 112 Kieran Walsh said: “The VAWG Symposium was incredibly eye opening, and I took a lot away from the day. I have already heard several of my colleagues discussing the presentations with other officers; we were hugely impressed by the calibre and experience of all the speakers. I found Poppy’s presentation wholly inspiring and extremely relevant to Guernsey’s current challenges. I have expressed my support for anything she may need in her efforts to tackle VAWG in Guernsey going forward.”
Deputy Chief Officer Ian Scholes – who signed Guernsey Police up to HeForShe last year – added: “I could not be happier with the engagement and support shown by Guernsey Police for this event. The input from all speakers was exceptional and in particular the lessons we can learn from all that Jersey’s VAWG Taskforce has achieved in the last 18 months – with the support of their government – was inspiring. As a police force, we will do all that we can to tackle VAWG and strive for gender equality. It’s important to remember that this is a societal problem and welcome support from our government to enable us to do this; I look forward to working collaboratively in reaching these goals. If what Jersey has achieved isn’t a call to action for Guernsey, then I don’t know what is.”
Safer Head of Service, Naomi Wood, said the event was a positive one for the island: “Safer were delighted to be able to support the Violence against Women and Girls symposium. It is such an important subject and having so many people from different organisations together to hear from such passionate and knowledgeable speakers about what it means, the impacts and how we can look to improve the safety of women in girls in our community as well as the important role men and boys have in this and their allyship was fantastic. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a journey of improved understanding and ultimately action.”
Pictured: Left to right – PC Liam Busby, Louise Crawford, Dr Laura Walton-Williams, DCI Wojciech Spty, Susan Leadbetter, Charley Hacquoil, Brook Jarvis, Kate Wright, Poppy Murray, Ian Scholes.
