A NEW plan to make Bradford safer for women and girls has been unveiled, with organisations including Bradford City Football Club set to be involved.

The Safety of Women and Girls (SOWG) Plan was launched on Thursday, August 8, at the University of Bradford's Norcroft Auditorium.

The initiative was introduced by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, while Bradford-born TV presenter Anita Rani, and the university’s pro vice-chancellor for inclusion and diversity, Udy Archibong, were among the guest speakers.

Prepared by Safer Bradford, the district’s Community Safety Partnership, the SOWG scheme is supervised by Assia Hussain, Bradford Council’s lead officer on the safety of women and girls.

The collaboration also involves Bradford District Wellbeing Board, the University of Bradford, and other partners.

The plan covers four main themes.

Meaningful discussions will be sought with men and boys, aimed at challenging negative attitudes towards women and girls.

Communities will be encouraged to change attitudes on violence against women and girls, and to promote bystander support.

Education programmes to challenge sexism and misogyny will be provided for children and young people.

Finally, strategies will be developed and implemented to hold perpetrators to account for their actions.

Initiatives forming part of the scheme include the production of a series of short films about issues of misogyny which would then be shown to audiences of men and boys for discussion.

A partnership between Bradford City Football Club and the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) service is also in the plan.

Schools and education providers will be invited to provide awareness training using SOWG's toolkit and police training resources.

Police and third-sector bodies will help to promote existing campaigns such as Jog On, which encourages people to report harassment against women who run and jog.

Councillor Kamran Hussain, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for neighbourhoods and community safety, said: "Sadly, the safety of women and girls is a frequent topic in local and national news, whether it’s violent crime, abuse or harassment.

"Misogyny and unhealthy attitudes need to be stamped out through education, awareness raising and decisive action.

"This plan seeks to build on the work already being done in our district to tackle this issue and to enable our partners, wives, mothers, daughters and every woman and girl to live without fear and to feel safe to go about their lives."