Joint campaign to put a stop to sexual harassment of students

A NEW campaign is encouraging students in Bradford who are sexually harassed to report incidents has begun.

Bradford Council said anecdotal evidence suggests that many victims do not report incidents because they don’t expect anything to be done about it.

The Free Our Streets project aims to increase the reporting of incidents, offer support to victims and to try and change the behaviour of perpetrators by confronting them with the impact of the harm they are causing.

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Bradford Council will work with not-for-profit organisation Restorative Solutions, West Yorkshire Police, Bradford College, the University of Bradford and the Bradford Hate Crime Alliance on the project.

Executive member for neighbourhoods and community safety, Coun Abdul Jabar, said: “Sexual harassment is totally unacceptable and a crime.

“The actions of a few ignorant young men, not only hurts the victims but also reflects badly on the community as a whole and the reputation of the city, the University and Bradford College.

“The huge majority of people living in the area treat our students with the respect and welcome they deserve and we want to work with them to stamp out this intolerable behaviour”.

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Chief executive of Bradford College, Andy Welsh said: “The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. We encourage students and staff to report any issues of harassment and advise them on how to do that.”

Inspector Kevin Taylor, Partnerships’ Inspector at Bradford District Police, said the campaign would make victims feel more confident to report incidents and make perpetrators “think twice”.