That’s the message from Acting Inspector Reshma Sher and domestic abuse partnership lead at Redbridge Council, Paree Bhanu, about the borough’s support system for domestic and sexual abuse victims – Safe 2 Talk.
Safe 2 Talk, which allows women and girls a space to speak to female experts, was born through the ideas of year 12 students at Oaks Park School in Newbury Park.
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This was during a MetGirlz meeting, which occurs between police and female sixth form students at the secondary school.
A/Insp Sher recounted how the concept of Safe 2 Talk came about.
“In 2022 the girls at Oaks Park came up with a brilliant idea and said, ‘We know how police can build more trust and confidence with young people – by creating a safe space so that women feel safe coming to a place where there’s only females there.’
“We thought we couldn’t have a women-only police station because we want members of the public to approach our male officers as well.
“So we created our Safe 2 Talk scheme in October 2022 and it’s been amazing since.
“It’s a non-judgemental, safe space where women and girls feel like they can come and be listened to by not only police but other agencies.”
“The library setting is discrete so people can come and access support whilst telling their family that they are just studying or telling their partner that they are just going to the library or taking the kids there,” said Paree.
“We want to keep it discrete, there’s no big sign advertising Safe 2 Talk in the library. You just need to speak to the library staff and be directed to the right place.
“It will avoid raising alarm. In domestic abuse cases, there is often a lot of coercive control or phones being tracked or victims being monitored which means they can’t just walk into a police station or dial a helpline on the phone.”
Safe 2 Talk provides victims with an opportunity to talk to police as well as multiple other specialist agencies.
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“There are so many agencies that work under our umbrella,” explained A/Insp Sher.
“It might not just be police that they need, it might be someone from the housing agency for example and that’s what makes this project unique.”
Some of these agencies include Aanchal Women’s Aid, who focus particularly on Black and Asian women, Copper Stones Solicitors who provide family law and legal support, and NIA who support those who have experienced sexual violence.
“They can just come along, get some safety advice and whenever they are ready they can get support and take away details.
“Safe 2 Talk is a safe space and there is no expectation to get help. You can come and just see what your options are. We encourage anyone to come who may need it. You don’t have to deal with anything alone, there is support out there.”
Although Safe 2 Talk is a collaboration between the police and Redbridge Council specifically, A/Insp Sher said anybody can attend the sessions.
“Other boroughs have similar schemes but nothing in the scale of what we have in Redbridge at the moment.
“Anyone can come and get that support, even men can come and know that they are talking to a female officer but we do tend to target women and girls.
“We’re here to just listen if someone isn’t ready to make a report. We just want to be able to provide support and that might not be through police – it might be a solicitor or a housing officer.
“We’ve even had people attend with family members as support so if anyone knows anybody who may benefit from this service then do share the details with them.”
The next Safe 2 Talk session will be held on Monday January 27 at Fullwell Cross Library, 140 High Street, Barkingside.
