Campaigns and influencing

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is always looking for new ways to raise awareness of the importance of personal safety and to provide solutions that effect change in order to help people avoid violence and aggression and live safer, more confident lives.

The Trust encourages everyone – from individuals, to employers, to government – to recognise that we can all play a vital role in the development of a safer society.

We undertake vigorous media campaigns to raise awareness of personal safety issues. Working closely with the authorities, we also seek to influence policy making, legislation and procedures. Below are some of the issues we have been particularly associated with.

Protect Children from Alcohol Promotion

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is currently campaigning to protect children from the promotion of alcohol by calling for an introduction of a 9pm watershed for all alcohol advertising on television and a total ban in cinemas before any under 18 rated films.

Alcohol and drunkenness play a very significant role in people becoming victims of crime and almost 50% of all violent crimes involve alcohol. As a society we protect children from watching scenes of sex, violence and swearing by banning them until after the 9pm watershed, yet there is no such ban on alcohol adverts.
We believe the present regulations regarding the scheduling of alcohol advertising are protecting the alcohol industry – not children.

Previous Campaigns

National Personal Safety Day 2008 – Safe & Sound Campaign

In 2007 – 15 year old Adam Regis was talking on the phone to his girlfriend when he was attacked. Adam was killed by a stab wound to the chest. In Jan 2008 – a teenage girl was raped after being dragged down a dirt track from a busy road in Horwich. The 15-year-old was listening to music on her MP3 player as she walked home alone at night.

These are just two examples of many such tragic stories. Had they not been talking on the phone or listening to music at the time, would they have seen or heard the danger in time to get away from it?
Again and again people are being attacked whilst distracted by listening to music on ear phones or chatting on their mobile phones – or in many cases mugged specifically for their mobile or mp3player. Many of these attacks could have been avoided and the aim of the Safe & Sound campaign in 2008 was to raise awareness of the dangers of using this technology in the wrong place at the wrong time and to highlight how to use it safely.

The campaign was promoted in schools, colleges, youth clubs and workplaces throughout the country and staff and volunteers from Suzy Lamplugh Trust distributed safety information to commuters at rail and tube stations in and around London on the day.

National Personal Safety Day Campaign 2007 – Safety Quiz Campaign

True of False?
If you are walking home alone at night, it’s a good idea to use your mobile to chat to someone at home until you get there, so that you feel more comfortable and they know you are safe?

The above question was taken from one of the personal safety quizzes that everyone – male or female, young or old – was encouraged to do on National Personal Safety Day 2007 (15th October) in order to check out how much they really knew about keeping themselves safe from violence and aggression and to find out what they could do to minimise the risks.

There were several quizzes to suit various purposes and age groups. These were used by schools, councils, in workplaces and by individuals and their families. The quizzes generated a great deal of interest around the country – amongst those who took part on the day were a group of youth clubs in the south of England (where 17,000 young people and 900 youth workers did the quiz); employees as far away as the USA; a social care group who used it to teach Somalian women about safety, and many, many schools and workplaces around the UK who used the quizzes to improve the safety of their staff and pupils.

Answer to the question:
FALSE
It is not a good idea to chat on the phone when walking home alone. Although it may be comforting, it does not make you safer – if you were attacked, then the person at the other end of the phone could do nothing to help you – and in fact, it can make you less safe. Chatting on your mobile will only distract you from your surroundings and make you less likely to see or hear danger approaching and therefore make you less able to avoid it.

National Personal Safety Day Campaign 2006 – Schools Charter Campaign

In 2006 over 2000 schools throughout the UK signed up for the Safe School Charter campaign.

The Safe Schools Charter aims were/are to:

• Help schools develop appropriate policies and procedures for improving personal safety;
• Encourage schools to teach children about personal safety and how to avoid and defuse violence and aggression in school;
• Engage the whole school community and get everyone actively involved in improving their personal s safety.

By signing up to the Charter, these schools showed their commitment to putting the safety of

everyone connected with the school – teachers, pupils and visitors – to the forefront of their agenda.

The Streets Deserve Respect Campaign

On National Personal Safety Day in 2005, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, in partnership with Milly’s Fund, launched The Street Deserve Respect campaign. This awareness raising campaign aimed to get vital safety advice to boys and young men about how to avoid violence and aggression on the streets.

We believe it is vital that boys and young men know not only what precautions to take in order to reduce the risks of becoming a victim, but also that taking precautions to avoid violence and aggression is the smart thing to do.

The Streets Deserve Respect campaign included a dedicated website and tens of thousands of free posters were distributed to schools and youth groups throughout the UK.

Watch Out On the Home Straight Campaign (2004)

Suzy Lamplugh Trust chose National Personal Safety Day 2004 to launch their Watch Out on the Home Straight campaign, which highlighted the safety issues surrounding the final part of people’s journey home. Again and again we see news stories of people attacked yards from home or mugged on their own doorstep. Many of these incidents can be avoided and the aim of this campaign, which was supported by top British sportspeople, was to let everyone know the practical steps they could take to avoid danger on the home straight.

Illegal Minicabs

The Trust’s longest running campaign has been for the licensing of the operators and drivers of minicabs in London. Every year hundreds of crimes are linked to illegal minicab drivers including many rapes and sexual assaults.

In January 1998, the Trust held a special conference on the issue which obtained all party support with speakers including Glenda Jackson, Minister for Transport in London and Dr. Jenny Tonge, MP for Richmond. Also unanimous was the support from the London Tourist Board, the Consumers Association, the Metropolitan Police and the National Council of Women. Sir George Young sponsored a private members bill to licence mini cabs and The Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act was finally passed later that year.

Since then the Trust has closely monitored the enforcement of this legislation and continues to raise awareness of the danger of illegal minicabs and the importance of planning in advance to get home safely.

Stalking

Almost as soon as it was set up, the Trust began to receive requests for advice from people who were being stalked and a campaign for legislation to protect victims was launched in March 1996 with the support of a number of agencies including ACPO (The Association of Chief Police Officers).

Labour MP, Janet Anderson, made the first attempt to introduce legislation, using the Ten Minute Rule, a parliamentary procedure that enables backbench MPs to hold a debate in the House of Commons. Then, on 18th October 1996, the Trust held a conference on the issue which resulted in a list of twenty three Concerns and Recommendations including: extending the meaning of violence to include psychiatric harm; the need for guidance and training for all Police Officers; and the need for more support for stalking victims. Many of these concerns and recommendations were addressed in The Protection from Harassment Act which was passed the following year in April 1997.

Lone Working

Lone workers, especially those whose jobs bring them into direct contact with the public, are often vulnerable to aggressive or violent behaviour. This results in many incidents every year involving verbal abuse, threats, intimidation and even physical attacks.

Suzy Lamplugh Trust encourages employers to take action to reduce these risks by identifying and assessing the risks faced by their lone workers. In this way, employers are able to implement practical, effective strategies that significantly reduce the risks.

To help organisations achieve these important goals the Trust runs a special series of seminars around the UK every year entitled Lone Working: Managing the Personal Safety Risks. To find out more visit our seminars page.