Safety. Dignity. Action.
Every woman and girl should be able to live her life safely, use our public spaces with confidence and know that help will be there if she needs it.
Bracknell Conservatives have set out a comprehensive policy position to strengthen the protection of women and girls across Bracknell Forest.
It builds on work undertaken when Conservatives ran Bracknell Forest Council up to May 2023 and forms part of our wider policy review for the next Council.
But being in opposition does not mean waiting until the next election.
Where improvements can be made now, we will press for them now.
Making Existing Protections Work
In many of these areas, laws, guidance and safeguarding responsibilities already exist.
The question is whether those protections are being properly understood, applied and enforced.
Our focus is therefore not simply on creating new commitments. It is about making existing protections work, holding organisations to account for their responsibilities and identifying where measures can be strengthened further.
Our approach also builds on the work of Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber and his Safety of Women and Girls Strategy.
Our Eight Commitments
1. Put Victims First
Women experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence or stalking should be able to find help without being passed unnecessarily between organisations.
We support a "no wrong front door" approach and will press for clear and effective pathways into specialist support.
The outcome we want: a woman asking for help reaches the right support quickly instead of being passed from service to service.
2. Protect Single-Sex Spaces
Women and girls have a right to dignity, privacy and safety.
We will press the current administration to demonstrate that Council-provided and commissioned facilities, services and policies comply with the law and applicable guidance on single-sex provision.
If entrusted with running the Council, we would review relevant facilities, policies, staff guidance, signage and information provided to service users.
The outcome we want: women, particularly vulnerable women and survivors of male violence, can use services confident that their privacy, dignity and safety will be respected.
3. Prevent Violence Before It Happens
Responding effectively when someone becomes a victim is essential. Preventing violence and abuse in the first place must also be a priority.
We support evidence-based prevention addressing domestic abuse, sexual violence, stalking, harassment, coercive behaviour, healthy relationships and respect.
Prevention must include boys and young men understanding boundaries, acceptable behaviour and the consequences of violence and abuse.
The outcome we want: earlier intervention before abusive behaviour escalates, preventing more women and girls from becoming victims.
4. Target Perpetrators, Not Their Victims
Women should not have to fundamentally change their lives because of violent, abusive or predatory individuals.
We support effective intervention, appropriate information sharing and the early identification of escalating risk.
Political sensitivity must never prevent legitimate investigation of offending or safeguarding concerns. Equally, an individual's background must never itself be treated as evidence of wrongdoing.
Behaviour and evidence must determine the response.
The outcome we want: the burden of preventing violence falls on those responsible for it, rather than on women having to change how they live.
5. Make Public Spaces Safer
Women should be able to use Bracknell Forest's streets, parks, town centres, car parks, pathways and underpasses safely and confidently.
We will listen when residents identify places where they feel unsafe and press the Council for an appropriate response.
That could include examining lighting, CCTV, vegetation and sight lines, pathways, underpasses and the design and maintenance of public spaces.
The outcome we want: fewer places where women feel they must alter their route, change their behaviour or avoid going out because they do not feel safe.
6. Protect Women Escaping Violence
No woman should feel forced to remain in an abusive situation because she has nowhere safe to go.
We will scrutinise whether housing, homelessness, safeguarding services properly recognise the needs of women escaping abuse, pressing for improvements where necessary.
The outcome we want: women escaping abuse can access appropriate support and safe accommodation when they need it.
7. Listen to Women and Girls
Policies intended to protect women cannot be developed without listening to women.
Victims, survivors, young women, specialist organisations, professionals and residents must have meaningful opportunities to be heard.
And listening means being prepared to hear things institutions may find uncomfortable.
The outcome we want: services and policies to be shaped by women's real experiences, with concerns leading to action rather than consultation becoming an end in itself.
8. Measure Results and Hold Services to Account
Good intentions are not enough.
We will press Bracknell Forest Council to demonstrate how it measures the effectiveness of its policies for protecting women and girls.
If entrusted with running the Council, Conservatives will introduce regular scrutiny and seek published progress reporting.
The outcome we want: clear evidence that commitments are making women and girls safer, with action taken where they are not.
What We Will Do in Opposition
Bracknell Conservatives are currently the opposition on Bracknell Forest Council.
We will use that position to scrutinise the administration, propose practical improvements and hold the Council and its partners to account.
We will support sensible measures that improve women's safety, regardless of who proposes them.
Where existing protections are not being properly implemented, we will challenge this.
Where safeguarding or services fall short, we will challenge this.
And where improvements can be made now, we will press for them NOW.
If Entrusted With Running Bracknell Forest Council
If Bracknell Conservatives are entrusted with running the Council, we will seek an initial review of:
- existing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and safeguarding policies;
- victim support and referral pathways;
- Council-provided and commissioned single-sex facilities;
- relevant staff guidance and training;
- known public-space safety concerns;
- partnership arrangements through the Community Safety Partnership; and
- how performance is measured and reported.
We will establish what is working, what needs improving, who is responsible and what action should follow.
Effective services will be kept. Ineffective arrangements will be changed. The test is whether they protect and support women and girls.
Our Principles
Bracknell Conservatives' approach is clear:
Prevent violence. Protect victims. Pursue perpetrators.
Protect women's dignity and privacy.
Make our public spaces safer.
Listen to women and girls.
Follow the evidence without fear or favour.
Measure whether our policies actually work.
Our objective is simple: a Bracknell Forest where women and girls are safe, supported, listened to and able to live their lives with confidence.
Read Our Full Policy Position
Our full Protecting Women and Girls from Violence and Abuse: Bracknell Conservatives Policy Position sets out our approach in detail, including what we will pursue in opposition and what we would seek to implement if entrusted with running Bracknell Forest Council.
The full Policy Position is available to download at the bottom of this page.