Tesco Hollington Community Stall

We had a great two days in Tesco Hollington talking to women and girls. We asked them what they felt the major challenges are locally and what they feel needs to change to make things better. Big questions when folks are just concentrating on their weekly shop.

The responses were varied and have given us a lot of food for thought as well as much to feed back to local services, the police, council and others who have the authority to affect change locally and nationally.

Safety came up as a major concern for all ages, walking home at night in unlit streets, going out on nights out, taxis home mostly driven by men and incidents on public transport. The fact that this is still an issue in 2024 is a sad indication of where we’re at as a society. We need systemic change to address all the difficulties that people highlighted included poverty levels locally, lack of decent housing and access to essential services.

Others are more easily resolved if the will is there, education for boys at an earlier age, teaching all sexes about healthy relationships, non violent communication and consent. Empowering and enabling women and girls to speak out, to advocate for themselves and their communities and to have their voices heard where it will make the most difference. Making sure everyone has access to period products and can get the health support that they need.