A new online map that women and girls in Essex will be able to use to highlight areas they feel safe or unsafe has been launched in Essex.
The map is being rolled out across the county jointly by Essex County Council, Essex Police and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex.
While the map is open for anyone to use, the primary audience is women and girls over 13-years-old.
You can access the map at: https://essexcommsafety.commonplace.is/ on a desktop computer or phone and tablet.
Users can drop a pin to a specific location and write why they felt safe or unsafe there. Other users will be able to see this data too. All of the data collected will be used by partners to inform their work going forward.
Similar maps have been used across the country and give women and girls the opportunity to drop a pin on a particular area that they have felt unsafe and state why.
Improving Women’s Safety
This initiative follows extensive research by the council’s Safety Advisory Group that shows 16% of women involved felt unsafe in our towns and cities during the day and 47% felt unsafe at night.
This latest initiative is part of the partners’ collective commitment in making the county safer for women and girls and also helping them to feel safer too.
The project is supported by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and researchers at Nottingham Trent University