Feminist organisations, night time industry bodies and safety campaigners have unilaterally condemned UK government plans to put plainclothes police officers in nightclubs to address violence against women.
The measures, announced as part of “Project Vigilant,” will include undercover police stationed around bars and clubs, as well as £25 million funding for street lights and surveillance cameras – despite London being one of the most surveilled cities in the world.
Videos by VICE
The plans from Number 10 come after a wave of protests and vigils in response to the death of Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped and murdered after walking home from a friend’s house in south London. A serving Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, has been arrested and charged on suspicion of murder.
While many in the last week have called for measures to stop violence and harassment against women, the government’s proposals are being slated as ineffective.
Sisters Uncut, the direct action group who led the vigil for Everard this weekend at which police were criticised for their violent approach, said: “Any increase in police power, whether it’s an undercover officer in bars or the current Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, will lead to an increase in state violence, especially for those who are already additionally marginalised.”
“The death of Sarah Everard must be seen in the context of the structures of violence against women in this country,” Sisters Uncut continued, “which include the police who brutally manhandled grieving women on Saturday, the members of the police who last summer took photos of the dead bodies of two Black women, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, and the routine failures of the police to investigate rape cases as well as their own record of domestic abuse against women.”
Farah Nazeer, chief executive at Women’s Aid said: “Violence against women and girls is a crisis of global proportions. The wider discussions around the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill are focused on narrow criminal justice reforms which ignore the fact that only one in five victims of domestic abuse ever report to the police, and domestic abuse survivors need action on a far wider range of areas.”
“We need a joined-up, ambitious strategy that focuses on preventing all forms of male violence – including domestic abuse – and supporting all survivors,” Nazeer continued. “Tinkering around the edges with street lights is an insult to women experiencing violence and abuse.”
Night time industries bodies also condemned the plans outlined in Project Vigilant. Bryony Beynon, managing director of Good Night Out, which campaigns for safer nightlife, told VICE World News: “Not only is this approach completely at odds with all known best practice for challenging and preventing gender-based violence, but it looks and smells like a cover for yet more intrusive policing, which is also likely to have a disproportionate impact on venues and bars frequented by people of colour.”
“We’ve trained thousands of bar staff to understand and respond to sexual harassment and not a single one has ever said, ‘You know what would really help us feel safer? Undercover police in our workplace’,” Beynon added. “We know that clearer policies, active bystander work and friendly staff create welcoming environments where women and LGBTQ+ people who are most likely to be targeted can make choices and seek support for themselves.”
“We roundly reject this call for spies on the dance floor and hope that resources can be reallocated to initiatives that build safer communities for everyone.”
Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, a body that represents clubs and music venues, says that much is already being done to combat harassment of women in music venues. “Our industry works extremely hard to create a safe environment for our customers. However, as the past week has sadly shown, too many women still feel vulnerable when working, travelling or going out at night.”
“Continued efforts to protect women and vulnerable people must be tackled together as a society,” Kill added. “The announcement of additional funding is welcomed and the police initiative which would see plainclothes officers in venues is well-intentioned. We feel, however, that as our businesses are already heavily regulated, coupled with good working relationships with key stakeholders, authorities and the police, this additional resource would be better utilised dealing with the broader societal issues rather than focussing on licensed environments that are already highly regulated.”
