Enough is enough – Chwarae Teg urges party leaders to act against sexual harassment and violence against women

Gender equality charity Chwarae Teg has written to the leaders of the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru, Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats in Wales, following the tragic deaths of Sarah Everard and Wenjing Lin – calling for the prevalence, causes and consequences of violence and sexual harassment against women to be addressed as a priority.

Chwarae Teg points to a need for leaders to commit to recommendations set out in its Manifesto for a Gender Equal Wales, which would effectively mitigate against risks to women.

These include actions aimed at preventing sexual harassment, ensure effective reporting mechanisms for women are in place, and making public spaces safer.

Cerys Furlong, Chief Executive, Chwarae Teg, said:

“Those in position of influence and power need to look quickly and clearly at what can be done.

“A key priority should be to make misogyny a hate crime in Wales, so that there are effective reporting mechanisms in place and women feel confident that they will be listened to and supported. We know that catcalling can be seen by some as harmless but this behaviour, if allowed to take place, has been proven to escalates into crimes such as rape.

“There is a need for the national curriculum to encourage conversations about respect and consent from an early age. In fact, there must be more public awareness across the board of what constitutes sexual harassment and the harm it causes.

“Crucially, at all stages and levels of decision making there must be diverse female representation at the table.

“For instance, when designing public spaces women’s safety must be a central consideration. We also need sectors such as transport to act by developing policies to deal with incidents of sexual harassment and provide training to staff so they can respond effectively.

“When it comes to the night-time economy any strategy for Wales’ must embed tackling and preventing sexual harassment, and campaign that work such as ‘Ask for Angela’ should be rolled out further.”

For further info go to Manifesto for a Gender Equal Wales (www.chwaraeteg.com/manifesto), Section 11 of which, focuses specifically on sexual harassment.