Liverpool City Council has launched a series of measures aimed at making public transport in the city safer for women and girls.
Launched on Monday, Safer Streets Liverpool is a £270,000 scheme funded by the Home Office, secured in a joint bid by the city council and Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell.
The scheme aims to provide enhanced CCTV coverage at city centre bus stations in three areas as well as ‘safe spaces’ within travel centres for anyone who feels vulnerable.
There will also be new ‘help points’ with better links with emergency services and a text message service which can be used to report concerns and help to identify offenders.
Safer Streets Liverpool has been launched following a survey, run by the Commissioner, which showed 54% of women felt unsafe using public transport in Merseyside at night and nearly 42% had concerns about using it in the day.
As well as the above measures, the scheme will provide bus drivers and frontline bus station staff with ‘bystander training’ to help them identify and prevent sexual violence.
There will also be educational training for up to 70 schools across Liverpool raising awareness of sexual harassment and misogyny.