Sadiq Khan has been criticised for a new plan to tackle violence against women, with a campaigner accusing him of leaving women as an “afterthought”.
The London Mayor has promised to fund a free, independent legal advice pilot service for survivors of rape and serious sexual offences if re-elected in May.
This comes as part of a ten-point plan to tackle violence against women and girls.
But Georgie Clarke, a women’s safety campaigner and influencer, said the plan suggests “women and girls’ safety in London is not a priority”.
Georgie Clarke, a women’s safety campaigner and influencer, said the plan suggests “women and girls’ safety in London is not a priority”
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She explained: “I appreciate Sadiq Khan’s efforts to consider creating a plan to tackle violence against women and girls in London. However, launching this plan 16 days before the election, leaves women & girls as an afterthought.
“His women’s safety plan includes many non-committal words, such as ‘Pilot’, ‘continuing’ and ‘investing’ in partnerships he has already had 8 years to put into action.
“Clearly women and girls’ safety in London is not a priority to the Mayor of London if this plan has been delivered at the very last mile of his fight in either an emotional or financial capacity.
“The timing might result in 51 per cent of the population feeling sceptical about the authenticity of his words.”
Last month, Khan published a strategy to put women and girls “directly at the centre of decision-making” around their safety. If he is re-elected as London Mayor following the elections on May 2, he said he will trial “women’s safety audits” at five locations to allow women to share their “lived experiences” of travelling around London to influence decisions over local police action plans and the design of Tube and bus stations.
But Clarke hit out at the plan, describing it as a “very lazy way to ensure he does not promise anything”.
In a previous interview with GB News, the campaigner said she felt “infuriated” by the lack of action after she was the victim of sexual assault on the tube in London.
Clarke was travelling to a work event at around 6pm in the evening in October 2021, during daylight hours, when she was harassed and subsequently assaulted by a man on the tube.
She claimed that when she reported the incident to a member of TfL staff, they failed to take a statement from her or her witness and let the accused man back into the station.
Khan’s plan to tackle violence against women and girls also includes a promise to expand his work tackling misogyny in London’s schools and to continue creating safe accommodation for domestic abuse survivors
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Clarke, who works as an influencer, said she received an influx of messages from women on social media after she shared her experiences. She told GB News she wrote to Khan repeatedly in the years after the incident, but received no response.
Khan’s plan to tackle violence against women and girls also includes a promise to expand his work tackling misogyny in London’s schools and to continue creating safe accommodation for domestic abuse survivors.
Khan said: “Violence against women and girls in our country, including London, is still too common. It remains an epidemic and something as a society we still have to do far more to tackle…
“Key parts of my plan include directly supporting victims and survivors with free new legal advice and safe accommodation. Too often our complex legal system leaves women feeling alone and unsupported – this must come to an end.
“And in directly funding new outreach and training in schools, we’ll be addressing attitudes towards violence and misogyny from an early stage.”
A spokesperson for the Susan Hall campaign said: “Susan won’t take lectures on women’s safety from Sadiq Khan.”
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His campaign team said he had “already overseen a record £163.8m investment to tackle all violence against women and girls” in London, despite the Government having “imposed £1bn cuts on the Met, fully supported by his Conservative opponent, with a devastating impact on the services that keep women safe”.
But a spokesperson for the Susan Hall campaign said: “Susan won’t take lectures on women’s safety from Sadiq Khan. Women feel ignored and unsafe in Sadiq Khan’s London, which is why Susan will appoint a Women’s Commissioner, put CCTV on all new Underground trains, give each borough specialist Violence Against Women and Girls officers, and recruit 1,500 new police officers to make our city safer for everyone.”
Responding to Clarke’s interview with GB News, a spokesperson for the London Mayor said: “There is a national epidemic of violence against women and girls which needs to be treated urgently. Sadiq has taken many steps during his time as Mayor, including investing £163 million in tackling violence against women and girls in London.
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“Sadiq will be outlining a further package of measures in his manifesto to be published in the coming weeks.
“This election is a close two-horse race between Sadiq and an extreme Tory candidate, who has herself said she is not a feminist, and who suggested police misconduct against women should be dealt with behind closed doors and that such officers are only ‘wrong ‘uns’ or ‘bad ‘uns’.
“The Tory government has imposed £1billion cuts on the Met with a devastating impact on the services that keep women safe.”
While Mandy McGregor, TfL’s Head of Transport Policing, said: “This was a shocking and distressing incident and we were in contact with Georgie at the time to apologise, discuss and learn from what happened to her.
“There is training for staff on how to handle sexual harassment incidents safely and compassionately, with protocols for reporting. We will not stand for this behaviour from offenders on our network.”
