Essex campaigner to launch 'women's safety charter'

The murder of Sarah Everard in March prompted thousands of women to share their experiences

A campaigner who is launching a scheme to make her city safer for women hopes it will eventually be rolled out across the county.

Karen Whybro, from Chelmsford, Essex, believes a women's safety charter could offer immediate improvements, such as better street lighting.

Prompted to act by Sarah Everard's murder, she said: "There are parts of the city where [women] feel unsafe".

The county council has pledged £500,000 to fund a safety advisory group.

Karen Whybro wants safety to be improved for women in Chelmsford

This was launched in April with a survey, since closed, about issues faced by women on a daily basis.

Ms Whybro said repeated attempts to contact the group about its plans and collaborate had hit a "brick wall".

Essex County Council deputy leader Louise McKinlay said its survey had been sent to 1,000 people on its residents' panels and young people had also been consulted.

The issues had been debated at a full council meeting, open to the public and posted on YouTube.

"So this is very much a public discussion," she said.

Karen Whybro hopes a charter will be published using the results of her survey and subsequent collaboration with city officials

Following the abduction of Ms Everard, who vanished as she walked home in London in March, Ms Whybro started a Facebook page for Chelmsford as part of the Reclaim These Streets movement.

Two months ago, she set up her own survey asking people for anonymous thoughts on their personal safety in the city.

Once the feedback was in, Ms Whybro, who runs bridal boutiques, worked with Chelmsford City Council and the Business Improvement District (BID) on a charter, similar to London's.

This would ask businesses to commit to train staff to assist any woman who needs help, or to provide a safe place for them to duck into if necessary.

"It is about creating safe spaces for women," she said.

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Ms Whybro said despite schemes like Ask for Angela, where people can discreetly ask bar staff for help, women often felt most unsafe walking around the city due to bad street lighting or poor street designs featuring dark alleyways.

The BID partnership could lead to quick improvements, such as better street lighting in identified areas, when the charter was published in the autumn, she added.

Her survey has gone county-wide after being taken on by a University of Essex PhD student.

She said she hoped the scheme would result in a "really successful" pilot charter and prioritise women's safety in the city.

"If this was replicated across Essex, that would be amazing," she added.