Motion to council - Violence against women

I wrote this after reading the shocking statistic in the opening sentence. It is a shame I found it necessary to anticipate the usual sexist reactions, by making it clear that of course I also decry violence against men, but with this council, especially on the other benches, that is pretty much what you have to do otherwise they don't hear the argument, only their knee-jerk reaction to it being all about women.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BY COUNCILLOR LOUISE BALDOCK
This Council notes with deep concern that violence against women causes more deaths and disability worldwide amongst women aged 15-44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war.

This Council believes that all Liverpool City Council and partners' activities should consider women's safety as part of their routine risk assessment.

Some policies contain an obvious potential impact such as the physical environment; street lighting, planting along paths, the use and location of CCTV cameras; house building and provision, estate design and the routing of pedestrian walkways; the availability of public transport, particular for women who need to travel after dark.

However, this Council believes that many less obvious policies would also benefit from this inclusion in their risk assessment.

(For the avoidance of doubt, this Council recognises that men can also be the victims of violence. This Council further believes that measures which will help to keep women safe will also help to keep men safe and so does not believe this is a divisive motion).

This Council reconfirms its commitment to the safety of women and calls upon Liverpool City Council and its partners to ensure that all policy makers consider the impact of their decisions on women's safety.

So those are my three personal motions this month.

Now I just have to hope the council votes for them all

I will let you know how I get on - none will be debated under the new system, just voted on