High Cost Interventions
6. Physical environment interventions- Street Lighting and CCTV
Changing the physical enivornment can be an effective tactic to reduce and prevent VAWG. Improving street lighting has been found to reduce crime, as well-lit areas reduce hiding spots for ofenders and make suspicious behaviour more noticable. As well as this, victims can better identify potential threats which discourages oppurtunistic attacks. Improved lighting can reduce violent crime by up to 21% in public spaces, particulary assaults and robberies. Additionally, increasing the presence of CCTV acts as a deterrent for potenial offenders.
Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland's recent installation of 31 CCTV cameras in pulic parks were a part of a £550k graint aimed at reducing harassment and sexual violence.
Dependent on the size and scale. Installing LED street lights typiccally takes 1-2 days for small [rojects, but for larger scale projects this can increase to up to 12 weeks.
Similarly, for small scale CCTV installation, it can take around 1-3 days, but for larger scles, this can take up to six weeks.
Dependent on the scale.
Based off the Safer Streets Action Fund, £550k was allocated for this project, so most likely a similar price.
Effectiveness
The UK Home Office funded projects under the Safer Streets have shown that improved lighting combined with CCTV reduces sexual harassment and street based violence. Independent evaluations have found that areas with improved lighting and CCTV saw loer fear of being mugged or robbed, as well as redidents reporting that they had more cinfidence in the police and felt safer in public spaces. Implementation of such measures has also lead to increased reporting and engagements with the police, which is a critical aspect of tackling VAWG.