There’s calls for more training and awareness for a scheme aimed at supporting women in bars across Merseyside.
The Ask for Angela scheme aims to reduce sexual violence and vulnerability in licensed premises. It’s targeted for people who feel uncomfortable, unsafe or threatened due to the behaviour of someone else. They can seek help by approaching a staff member and asking for ‘Angela’.
The phrase will enlighten staff to take action and help the individual with their situation and a trained member of staff will support them.
However, the issue is that recent studies show that not a lot of members of staff are trained on it and only know ‘Ask For Angela’ through word of mouth, not knowing the correct protocol they’d have to follow if this situation happened.
According to UN Women UK, 97% of women aged 18-24 and 80% of all women said they had been sexually harassed in public spaces in the UK, similarly 53% of women experience sexual harassment in a pub, club or bar according to YouGov. Â
These statistics are too high for action to not take place, ringing alarm bells that training must be put into place.
Chloe Hodgson, 26, assistant manger at O’Neill’s Liverpool said: ” I think people need to be coming on site and coming into team meetings, and actually dong the full training on it, instead of leaving it to mangers because the managers might not even be comfortable on it.”
The scheme supports venues to keep their customers safe, which in turn improves perceptions of safety and patronage in the night time economy. A recent YouGov survey on feelings of safety in the night time economy found that 49% of people and 63% of women would be more likely to visit a venue that had measures in place to improve women’s safety, which is why it’s vital that hospitality provides their staff with the correct knowledge and education to save lives.
For more information, visit the ‘Ask for Angela’ website :About – Ask For Angela and Merseyside Police: Ask for Angela | Merseyside Police
Listen to the MNL audio report here.
https://x.com/merseynewslive/status/1863933570290442304
