Exeter representatives help mark key developments in ‘Enough’ campaign at 10 Downing Street

Representatives from the University of Exeter paid a special visit to 10 Downing Street, to mark key developments in the government’s high profile ‘Enough’ Campaign.

The delegation from Exeter were invited to the event, hosted by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and Safeguarding the Rt Hon Laura Farris MP, to discuss their work in enhancing female student safety in and around campus.

The event came after the third phase of the Enough campaign, which saw more than 30 universities come together to greater protect female student safety, was recently launched.

As part of the latest phase, the campaign partnered up with universities to deliver bespoke campaign materials designed to reflect the scenarios and forms of abuse that students could witness.

The campaign provides advice to anyone witnessing abuse, including students, on the safe ways to intervene if they see an incident of violence against women and girls, ranging from sexual harassment – on the street, on public transport or at work – to sharing intimate images of someone without their consent; coercive control in a relationship; or unwanted touching.

The University of Exeter works closely with other organisations across the local community to ensure Exeter remains a safe city.  The University is a key partner in the Community Safety Partnership in Exeter which has received significant funding from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund to help enhance night-time safety measures across the city centre, including increased CCTV cameras and lighting in locations where women have reported feeling unsafe, and the Exeter Safe Space in the city centre.

Through a previous SWaN project, Exeter also launched the Safety Charter that more than 170 businesses across the city have signed up to.  Recent University of Exeter work includes providing free safety products for students, including anti-spiking items, the provision of night buses during term time, and signing up to the Best Bar None and Exeter Safety charters. On campus we have fitted additional lighting and CCTV, and running bystander intervention and consent training courses.

The Enough Campaign, which launched in March 2022, has to date included television adverts, billboards, social media and radio advertising. The campaign, informed by over 180,000 responses to the Home Office’s call for evidence and engagement with a network of over 40 stakeholder organisations and academic experts, has so far reached millions of people, driving action among bystanders and prompting reflection among potential perpetrators of violence against women and girls.

Speaking at the launch of the third phase of the campaign, Laura Farris MP said: “In order to bring about real and lasting change, we need to address the issue of violence against women and girls from all sides, and that includes educating the public on the role they have to play.

“We are driving forward our plans to protect women from abuse, whenever and wherever it occurs – online, in public, at work or behind closed doors. Already this year we have classified violence against women as a national threat for policing and rolled out a new approach to how rape is investigated by forces in England and Wales. There will be more to come.”

For more information about the Enough Campaign, please visit Enough campaign | Current students | University of Exeter