A timeline of work

Timeline of work 2021

May 2021

Tracy Brabin is elected as the Mayor of West Yorkshire with a key pledge to put the safety of women and girls at the heart of her policing plan.

July 2021

Over £2m allocated to the Mayoral Combined Authority to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. It saw the creation of over 25 full time equivalent roles across West Yorkshire, with a commitment from the Ministry of Justice until 2023. They will work to provide tailored and specialist assistance for those who have experienced domestic abuse and sexual violence. Domestic abuse and sexual violence support services in the county also receiving just over £350,000 of additional funding to help increase their capacity and respond to victim’s needs - read the news article

August 2021

Mayor of West Yorkshire secures £390,000 to tackle domestic abuse - read the news article

September 2021

#TellTracy launches, a large scale consultation to inform the Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan - read the news article

Over a 130 delegates join an online roundtable event to discuss the safety of women and girls across the county - read the news article

October 2021

The Mayor and Community Safety Partners are successful in a bid to the Safer Streets Fund for £655,000. The funding went to two ambitious and wide-reaching projects. The first, improving the safety and use of parks by women and girls, and a second initiative to develop a higher/further education package to support womens’ safety and generate behaviour change in men - read the news article

The Mayor and West Yorkshire Police launch a joint campaign on highlighting the offence of stalking and encourage victims to come forward to the police - read the news article

November 2021

Tackling Domestic Abuse Together - Annual Third Sector Conference Takes Place - read the news article

Mayor and Community Safety Partners secure £215,000 from the Safety of Women at Night Fund. Projects include the introduction of a bus safety reporting tool, active upstander training for night-time economy staff, and a pan-West Yorkshire Ask for Angela’ campaign - read the news article

December 2021

Over 100 security staff in bars and clubs across the county are to be equipped with an innovative forensic spray, designed to increase nightlife safety - read the news article

West Yorkshire Police starts recording instances of misogyny. - read the news article

Timeline of work 2022

February 2022

West Yorkshire joins national campaign raising awareness of Sexual Assault Referral Centres - read the news article

March 2022

Mayor launches her first Police and Crime Plan. The Safety of Women and Girls is a cross cutting theme and at the heart of the document as pledged - read the news article

Victims of crime further supported with the £3.3million, specifically aimed at bolstering local support services. The cash, allocated from the Ministry of Justice funding enabled the Mayor to provide, or commission dedicated emotional and practical support services for victims of crime to help them cope. The money has been allocated to 22 different service providers, including 15 voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, five local authorities and two hospital trusts - read the news article

The Mayor’s Safer Communities Fund allocates over £208,000 to 39 groups many of which are working to improve the safety of women and girls - read the news article

April 2022

Mayor supports Stalking Awareness Week 2022.

May 2022

The Mayor hosts an event to co-design the West Yorkshire Safety of Women and Girls Strategy - read the news article

Mayor launches grant round 2 of her Mayor’s Safer Communities Fund with £270,000 in grants available. Those applying for funding need to address one of the cross-cutting themes in the Police and Crime Plan, of which the safety of women and girls is one.

July 2022

Announcement that victims’ support services across West Yorkshire are set to receive nearly £14m in a cash boost aimed at supporting the region’s most vulnerable. The funding will secure services for the next three years, and will pay for over 70 different services and support roles for victims and witnesses across West Yorkshire including 52 Independent Sexual Violence/Domestic Violence Advisers (ISVA/IDVA). A new West Yorkshire wide service will also be established to specifically support victims of Domestic Abuse related Stalking - read the news article

The Mayor and Community Safety Partners are successful in a bid to the Safer Streets Fund. £717,953.61 will be directed into a number of projects to support the safety of women and girls across the night-time economy in West Yorkshire. A portion of the money will also enable the development of a male targeted behaviour change campaign designed to address attitudes and approaches towards women - read the news article

August 2022

Over £500,000 secured to support the victims and survivors of domestic abuse and to reduce reoffending across West Yorkshire - read the news article

September 2022

Mayor’s Women and Girls Strategy builds momentum. A further co-design event took place in Wakefield with 60 attendees from charities, community safety organisations, local authorities, and the police. The purpose of this event was to discuss West Yorkshire’s upcoming Safety of Women and Girls Strategy which is set to launch later this year - read the news article

September 2022

Mayor supports Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Week of Action raising awareness of the help for victims and work to tackle offending. A woman from Calderdale also bravely shared her personal experiences following her partner being convicted of assaulting her and sentenced at Crown Court. She hopes her account, which remains anonymous to protect her identity, will encourage others to come forward and help them to understand the processes behind the scenes - read the news article

October 2022

The Mayor awarded over £320,000 to community projects that are making the region safer. 61 innovative projects, run by community groups, charities, and partners, received grants of up to £6000. Each of these projects address at least one of the cross-cutting themes or priorities within the Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan, including keeping women and girls safe, diversity, equality, and inclusion, and early intervention and prevention - read the news article

November 2022

Mayor's Safety of Women and Girls Strategy officially launched. The strategy reveals the shocking experiences and challenges facing women and girls, including a recent survey that found 97% believe ‘being a woman’ affects their personal safety, and outlines a plan to tackle this - read the news article

Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Support 16 days of action against domestic abuse - read the news article

December 2022

During the 16 Days of Action Against Domestic Abuse, organisations from across West Yorkshire have rallied together to improve the support available for victims of stalking - read the news article

School pupils in West Yorkshire are being empowered to speak up against gender-based violence thanks to funding from the Mayor. Tender Education and Arts, a charity working to prevent domestic and sexual abuse, received a near £6000 from the Mayor's Safer Communities Fund. The money is now being used to deliver an innovative arts-based scheme which is giving secondary school pupils the tools to build healthy, equal relationships and to recognise the signs of domestic and sexual abuse - read the news article

Timeline of work 2023

February 2023

Over half a million pounds seized from criminals to benefit West Yorkshire communities, including projects to increase the safety of women and girls - read the news article

March 2023 

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime responds to first benchmark of police performance tackling VAWG - read the news article

May 2023

Practical guidelines which will help to make parks and green spaces safer for women and girls across the UK were launched. They followed a recent study of a cross-section of more than a hundred women and girls from West Yorkshire which found that most believed their local parks to be unsafe. The research - funded by the Mayor of West Yorkshire and carried out by researchers at the University of Leeds - concluded that feeling vulnerable in parks is a barrier that needs to be urgently addressed to ensure that women and girls feel able to use, enjoy and benefit from them - read the news article