British Transport Police has received a national award at a recent recognition event for work by the force’s police officers, staff, and volunteers in tackling violence against women and girls.

Police forces and representatives from various charities came together to develop the award and judge the winners. The judging panel comprised police forces, representatives from charities including SafeLives, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, and Karma Nirvana, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, and police staff associations.

Over 140 entries were submitted for recognition, and these were initially judged on a regional basis by police and third-sector panels. The successful regional entries, then went forward to the national panel who selected the 13 overall winners.

At the event, held on Wednesday, 6 September, the ‘Making Spaces Safer’ award was deemed the winner by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing for the force’s “Speak Up, Interrupt” campaign and its Railway Guardian app.

At the same event, the force also received three regional awards, and in the ‘Behaviour change in perpetrators’ category, the force’s use of technology to identify perpetrators on the railway network was recognised.

“Speak Up, Interrupt” is a British Transport Police initiative that encourages passengers, especially men, to be active bystanders and report incidents of sexual harassment to the force. It The campaign also provides appropriate conversation prompts that are safe for passengers to use for them to intervene if they witness sexual harassment.

The force launched the Railway Guardian App in July 2022 after extensive consultation followed by the creation of a working group of around 30 third-sector organisations. The app was developed by Imabi and is the first national police safety app.

By using simple, easy-to-navigate technology, the app provides a one-stop-shop where people can report incidents on the move in a drive for safer travel across the whole of Great Britain. Since its launch last July, the app has been downloaded almost 50,000 times.
British Transport Police welcomes the adoption by the rail industry and other organisations of its “Speak Up, Interrupt” campaign.

Copies of a campaign toolkit, can be obtained by emailing [email protected].

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Furnell said “As someone who has been tackling this for many years now and is passionate to ensure that we achieve change, I have never worked with a team so driven and determined to make a difference. It’s fantastic to see the force recognised for the work that we are doing in this area. However, most importantly, we are protecting women and girls from abusers.”