Youth leaders team up with PCC to protect young people from sexual violence

Youth charities and community groups from across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland have secured vital funding to step up efforts to protect children and young people from sexual violence.

Seven organisations have successfully applied for funding from Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews to support the ongoing expansion of specialist sexual violence prevention education for young people.

The grants, each worth £1k, will enable facilitators to be trained to deliver the SHUSH (Speaking Honestly 2 Understand Sexual Harm - aimed at those aged 10-15) and SHARA (Sexual Harm Awareness and Recognising Abuse – aimed at those aged 16-19) programmes currently being rolled out by the PCC.

The programmes cover a wide range of topics including healthy and unhealthy relationships, consent, boundaries and personal space, sexual harassment and assault, grooming, sexting and online harms, bystander intervention and gendered violence, misogyny and managing rejection, and are aimed at providing young people with the tools necessary to make confident personal choices.

The PCC has prioritised Violence Against Women and Girls in his Police and Crime Plan, vowing to make Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland a place that women and girls feel and are safe.

To achieve his vision, the PCC has pledged to deal with incidents of stalking and harassment swiftly and effectively, ensure systems are in place so women and girls feel more confident in coming forward, and facilitate the delivery of evidence-backed behavioural change campaigns to ensure communities understand the types of behaviour that are unacceptable. He has also pledged to work in partnership to stamp out VAWG.

The PCC’s investment in the SHUSH and SHARA programmes supports the joint Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2024-2026 – a multiagency blueprint prioritising early intervention and collaboration with young people to prevent sexual violence across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews said: “I am pleased to welcome a further seven organisations to our ambitious programme, which is addressing a critical gap in preventative sexual violence education for young people across the city and two counties.

“Sexual violence is an ever-present threat in the lives of young people today with advances in technology providing unlimited avenues for predators to anonymously target their victims.

“It is imperative we act now. Sexual violence is not inevitable, and we can protect more young people from coming to harm by intervening earlier and providing additional safe spaces for them to ask questions and understand the part they can play in rejecting misogynistic culture so women and girls can feel safer and ultimately thrive.”

The programme is already well-embedded across the force area, with the PCC previously issuing grants to community providers and youth groups to upskill staff, implement the programme within their organisations and participate in a network of trainings to support its ongoing sustainability.

The PCC is working with the Violence Reduction Network (VRN) and other criminal justice and public sector agencies to tackle VAWG.

Organisations within the Charnwood, Hinckley & Bosworth, East Leicester and West Leicester areas have been prioritised in the current funding round.

The full list of successful grant recipients comprises:

• Jalaram Bal Vikas Ltd
• Inspire Young People & Families CIC
• Root-and-Branch Out CIC
• After18
• The Braunstone Foundation (ta b-inspired)
• Family Action
• Warning Zone

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