Parkex showguide Women in Parking at Parkex Michelle Boshoff-Turner, BPA projects lead, on tackling violence against women and girls In 2021, Home Secretary Priti Patel called for evidence to hear directly from the public how the government can tackle violence against women and girls. After reviewing 180,000 responses from victims and survivors, the government published its strategy, Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls. The strategy states that the goal is to provide a once in a generation opportunity to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls and improve the support and responses for the victims and survivors. It aims to do this by: increased support for victims and survivors increasing the number of perpetrators brought to justice increasing reporting to the police increased victim engagement with the police and wider public services response. Women and girls make up half of the population we are your daughters, sisters, friends, colleagues, and partners. Yet around 25 per cent of women and girls aged 18-74 had experienced some form of abuse before the age of 16.1 It could be argued that crimes such as sexual harassment are an almost inevitable part of The Women in Parking group is sponsored by Conduent Transportation being a woman. Every day, women and girls have bad experiences at school, at work, on buses and trains, on the street, and even at home. Women and girls feel unsafe in their streets and in public places such as parks, car parks and commons. I know I certainly have felt unsafe in my hometown. Parkex action On Wednesday 15 June, day 2 of Parkex, the BPAs Women in Parking group will be hosting a panel discussion on this important issue, followed by a drinks reception sponsored by DCBL. Women in Parking will join forces with Women in Transport and Women in Rail, and together we will be looking at how our industry can support this campaign. Women in Transport will discuss recommendations published by Transport for West Midlands on how to make the transport networks safer. Women in Rail will discuss its work with the British Transport Police and Transport for London through its Report It to Stop It and Project Guardian initiatives, which led to the formation of the Sexual Harassment on Rail steering group. The end goal will be to unite as one parking The Women in Parking Parkex drinks reception is sponsored by DCBL I cant wait for our community to be back together at Parkex, to network and hear about what our partners, colleagues and new companies in the industry are doing. Its also our rst physical Women in Parking event, and Im excited to meet our members, hear their stories and nd out how this group that we set up in lockdown is making a difference to them Hannah Fuller, JustPark and transport voice, and make our one voice stronger with many. Next steps The Safer Parking Scheme, managed by the BPA on behalf of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, aims to reduce crime and the fear of crime in parking facilities (read more on pages 50-51 of this issue). Women In Parking is looking to evolve this scheme to help tackle violence against women and girls. It is time we all come together to build a new social contract based on equality,2 where we can have a future where everyone feels safe and secure, no matter where we are. 1 bit.ly/PNJun22Wip 2 bit.ly/PNJun22WiP2 30 PN June 2022 pp18-33 Parkex Showguide.indd 30 24/05/2022 16:47