Liberal Democrat Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Pru Jupe has made protecting vulnerable women a key part of her campaign to be the first police commissioner for Cumbria.

Commenting, Pru said: “No one should have to live in fear of physical assault. As Police and Crime Commissioner protecting women from violence will be a top priority for me and for Cumbria police if I am elected.

“I am proud that Liberal Democrats have put protecting vulnerable women at the top of the Coalition Government’s agenda too.

“We have put millions into measures to prevent domestic violence, rape victim support and introducing measures to protect vulnerable girls from violence and exploitation.”

Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have introduced a host of measures to protect vulnerable women. These include:

•  Allocated more than £28m for specialist services to tackle violence against women
• Made up to £3.5m per year available for rape support centres
• In 2011 the Government launched the Teenage Rape Campaign; the aim of this campaign was to prevent teenagers from becoming victims and perpetrators of sexual violence and abuse. It encouraged teenagers to re-think their views on rape, sexual assault, violence and consent and direct them to places for help and advice.
• Published an Action Plan which focuses on preventing violence from happening, supporting victims where violence does occur and ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice
• Raised awareness within BAME groups of the options available to victims of domestic violence.
• Ring-fenced £40m of stable funding to 2015 for specialist services to tackle violent and sexual abuse against women and girls.
• The campaign website This is Abuse, offers information, support and advice to teenagers. It also gives them a safe place to discuss anonymously the issues raised with their peers.
• The leaflet ‘Do you know if your teenager is in an abusive relationship’ is available for parents to download from the Home Office website. We also produced campaign support materials, such as business cards, a leaflet for parents and carers, and a DVD with campaign adverts which we available for partners in order to support the campaign in their local areas. We have distributed over 92,000 items.
• The Department for Education is currently reviewing personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education and as a part of that we are strengthening the teaching of relationships, positive parenting and sexual consent.
• Commissioned the Bailey Review to tackle sexualisation in the media. Action includes consulting on an age-rating system for music videos; a new system of age classification for video games; and a new Code of Practice from the four main internet service providers to make it easier to enable parental controls.
• Published the Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan, which includes action to deliver training for frontline police officers in recognising child sexual exploitation and to respond appropriately. This includes making sure that child sexual abuse issues are included within wider investigation training on child abuse.
• Refocused on identifying and preventing young people from becoming exploited through child prostitution.
• Published guidance which stated that under-18s involved in prostitution will always be treated as victims by both the police and the CPS.
• Modernised the training of UK Border Agency staff to better understand and improve the experience of women in the asylum system and to identify possible victims of human trafficking.
• Changed CPS guidance. Women who retract evidence in the face of demonstrable intimidation should be protected from ‘false allegation’ charges against them as a result.
• Distributed over 92,000 pieces of support material to guide parents, teenagers and local communities on how to deal with potentially dangerous relationships, and we are reviewing PSHE education to include guidance about stable, loving partnerships.
• Published the Department of Health Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Children. This involves improving awareness and recognition of violence against women and children amongst health professionals.
• Instructed the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce guidance for Health and Social Care professionals on interventions for the prevention and reduction of domestic violence.
• Introduced, through the Department for Work and Pensions, relaxed job seeking conditions for claimants of JSA who are victims of actual or threatened domestic violence.
• Criminalised Forced Marriage and provided specialist help to victims of forced marriage
• Piloting a ‘National Ugly Mugs Scheme,’ allowing sex-workers to pool information to identify dangerous individuals
• Publishing material to help local areas in identifying and tackling local issues.
• Using the Home Office’s Review of Effective Practice to establish new ways for sex-workers to report crimes to the local Police.
• Opted into the EU Directive on Human Trafficking, a vital step in increasing the protection available to the victims of trafficking and in helping them to achieve justice
• On 8 June 2012 we signed the Council of Europe’s convention on preventing domestic violence which was widely welcomed