PCC Festus Akinbusoye said:

“We want to work together across Bedfordshire to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) and raise awareness about unacceptable behaviour such as sexual harassment.

“We know that much of this behaviour is driven by male perpetrators, and a key part of this work will focus on encouraging men to step up and speak out about bad behaviour and ways to challenge it. We all have a responsibility to tackle this.

“This does not mean that men are never victims of violence, or that women are not sometimes perpetrators. However, local and national data shows a clear disproportionality along gender lines.

“Our bid aims to utilise the funding to reach and support the largest number of victims, perpetrators, and communities across the county with the aim of educating, raising awareness, improving the feeling of safety in public spaces, and increasing reporting of violence against women and girls.

“Any victim of violence and abuse deserves to access support and help and this money will help us deliver a number of initiatives across the county to make women and girls feel safer.”