Daphne Project: 1998-193

Source: http://www.wst.dircon.co.uk/what.html Daphne project : 1998-193 ON THE SAFE SIDE We work with women and children to tackle the various aspects of anxieties about crime and its impact on their lives and to increase their confidence and mobility and support them in taking an active role in their local community, both economically and socially.

Women's Safe Transport Hallsville Road Canning Town London E16 1EE Telephone : 0171 473 6100 Fax: 0171 511 8195 E-mail: [email protected]

Evening Lift Service: Training Programme: Community Safety Information and Campaigning: The Daphne Initiative:

We want to inform women's choices and support them to move about freely and without fear, through provision of a range of services, which include: direct transport services catering specifically for women's needs information and support to individuals and groups general and specific subject safety training Evening Lift Service: The Evening Lift Service is safe and reliable for women and is accessible to all. It is offered on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 6 and 11pm. Women book journeys in advance and pay £1 for a lift anywhere in the Borough. This is the only WST service which is currently available to women only.

Training Programme: WST safety training has been developed to increase women's confidence, mobility and knowledge about aspects of women's safety. WST offers locally relevant and tailored training courses for women which take account of their prior knowledge and their preferred language, and promote their problem-solving skills in the field of personal and community safety. Training courses are modular, although certain core elements are always to be included, which, include negotiation skills and understanding body language. Programmes are flexible, and can be from one session up to a maximum of twelve, intensive or extensive. Current users include both local and national organisations. WST training seeks to empower women to campaign for changes to their environment which impact on their own and others' safety. The Car Club is a new training course aimed at local women and covers some of the basic skills and strategies that women need to bail themselves out of a car breakdown situation. Courses are usually offered in sets of six weeks.

Community Safety Information and Campaigning:

1 WST influences the policies of partnerships and groups with which it works locally. It provides information in a number of different ways to individuals and groups of people. It makes presentations at conferences, meetings and other events.

WST seeks to be part of the discussions about issues of community safety nationally and in doing so influence policy and attitudes to the issues involved.

WST is to developing its services around the constantly changing needs of the community in which it operates. This involves placing the monitoring and evaluation of these services and the research to support new developments at the core of WST's work. The Daphne Initiative:

Funds from the European Union's Daphne Initiative are available for one year to non- governmental and voluntary organisations. The initiative aim's to introduce measures for combating violence against children, young persons and women. Interventions supported by Daphne include setting up networks or reinforcing networks across European to promote and coordinate information and measures to protect children, young people and women against violence and to prevent violence against them, including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Emphasis is placed on measures which promote the rights of these groups and approaches which overcome discrimination. Community safety training typically has a low profile, particularly when compared to technological preventive measures such as CCTV. At best safety training for children, young people, and women is funded locally with small grants. Yet safety training equips women, young people and children with protective strategies where ever they are - at home, in public places, at school or at work. Safety training has the potential for enabling women, young people, and children to feel self-assured and confident about using community facilities and public amenities and less anxious about becoming a victim of criminal violence and harassment.

The project is aimed at raising the profile of community safety training by developing a training programme which effectively builds on existing protective strategies used by women, young people and children and bringing together practitioners already delivering programmes, to exchange and develop practices. This, we believe, requires a debate about the issues and a comprehensive research programme: should self-defence training be included? what are the limits of safety training? what environmental changes are necessary? are any policies increasing feelings of anxiety and promoting lack of safety? and so on.

Ultimately, it is hoped that this project will assist towards putting safety training on the public agenda just as CCTV has now become established practice and a well- resourced prevention measure. This project also provides the opportunity for co- operative working and the development of a longer term strategy, including devising a funding strategy to sustain the momentum.