How is the Welsh Government working with sporting organisations in Wales to make sports clubs safe spaces for women fleeing domestic violence?
In December 2021, we launched ‘Call out only’ our latest campaign, calling on the public (males particularly) to call out and challenge assumptions about harassment against women, often wrongly seen as ‘harmless’ with their peers, friends and colleagues.
With support from the sports Industry, our ‘Call Out Only’ campaign has been placed in gyms throughout Wales. We are also working in partnership with the WRU to raise awareness of these issues and have established links with Sports Wales, UKactive and other national sport establishments to raise awareness of the safety of women’s and girls whilst exercising.
We have also committed to expand the ‘Don’t be a Bystander’ training and awareness campaign to include this sector, sharing information on how men can be supportive allies.
We will continue to work with partners to ensure that those experiencing violence or abuse have safe spaces within the community to access support and spaces that further enables opportunities to recover from the trauma they’ve experienced.
In line with our Programme for Government Commitments and statutory obligations under the VAWDASV (Wales) Act 2015, we are currently developing our next five-year VAWDASV National Strategy alongside a group of key partner organisations including the police, specialist sector and survivors. The strategy is being strengthened to include a focus on violence against women in the street and workplace.
We are currently reviewing the consultation responses and will take these into account as we finalise the Strategy in readiness for publication in the spring.
Women should be safe in all aspects of life. Safe while out running, walking through public spaces, whilst exercising, at home, safe to go to work, safe in the day and safe at night. Harassment, abuse and violence are daily occurrences for women and have conditioned their lives for far too long. It is a societal problem which requires a societal response.
We must challenge attitudes and change behaviours of those who behave abusively. It is not for women to modify their behaviour, it is for abusers to change theirs.