Intervene when women are at peak risk, the minister says

Bystanders must be prepared to intervene and help women at risk of peaking during the Christmas festive season, the Safety Minister said.

Jess Phillips told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that people should “just go to a woman… and say everything is fine” if it is safe to do so.

It comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met police chiefs, hospitality bosses and transport bosses in Number 10 to coordinate action against surges.

Labor has also reiterated its commitment to make it a specific criminal offense to give alcohol or drugs to someone without their knowledge or consent.

The government has already promised extra training for bar staff to prevent incidents, support victims and preserve evidence.

Asked about a UN report saying bystanders should intervene to help end violence against women, Phillips said she has intervened “many times” and that people would “not be offended” if someone checked to see if they were safe.

Speaking from a bar in Birmingham, Phillips said staff have been encouraged to intervene if they see ‘bad behaviour’, for example ‘men harassing women on the dance floor’.

Some experts have raised concerns that police do not have the resources or inclination to deal with surges.

Phillips said new legislation would “not necessarily change anything” but that the government’s proposed measures would help coordinate action between police and hospitality workers.

She added that the government was responding to a push from charities “on the front line” who wanted the legislation on surges to be made clearer.

“These things only work if training is rolled out regularly and training becomes part of the culture of an institution,” she said.

Attendees at the Downing Street meeting shared best practice in tackling surges, with the government promising extra training for bar staff to help them prevent incidents, support victims and preserve evidence.

“As everyone around this table knows, this is pernicious,” Starmer told the gathering.

“It’s under-supported and under-reported. We need to change that and we are committed to doing so.”

Saraya Haddad, 27, had a spike in 2019 and woke up 13 hours later with no memory of what happened.

She said the government’s plans were “absolutely positive steps in the right direction” but that “so much more” needed to be done.

“Spiking doesn’t just happen in bars and clubs – and it doesn’t just happen to women,” she said.

Ms Haddad went to hospital the day after she was infected, where she says health workers discouraged her from reporting the incident to police – claiming the drug was likely to have left her system.

The government needs to look at both health care and policing as it tries to tackle the surges, she said.

18-year-old Libby thinks she received an injection of a drug in a bar a few weeks ago for a friend’s birthday.

“I went to the bathroom with my girlfriend and actually went limp,” she said. “My eyes rolled back and I was shaking and shivering.”

She added that her friends and mother are “traumatized” by the experience, and she is frustrated by the lack of answers.

“The police told me that if they don’t get back in touch it means the bar won’t give them the CCTV footage,” she told the BBC, adding that the whole incident has been “swept under the carpet”.

‘Personal involvement’

The Prime Minister described his pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next ten years as a “personal commitment”.

Spiking is already illegal, but the government has committed to making it a specific criminal offense – although it has given no timetable for when new legislation will be introduced, and there were no details of this in the July King’s Speech.

According to the Metropolitan Police, peak crimes are covered by more than one law, but most are covered by the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861.

Starmer told ITV’s This Morning program that he hoped making spiking a specific crime would encourage more victims to come forward, calling it a “hugely impactful” issue.

“We’re clearly identifying what it is, which means we’re making it easier to run a public campaign around it.”

MPs first called for spiking to be made a specific criminal offense more than two years ago, when a parliamentary committee found it could act as a deterrent and encourage victims to come forward.

Building their trust is an important part of the government’s mission to create safer streets.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the heads of hospitality, law enforcement and transport comes as they look to work together to reduce peak incidents.

Chief Constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police told the meeting how his force is deploying plainclothes officers to areas around bars and clubs to detect predatory behaviour.

Lucy D’Orsi, Chief Constable of the British Transport Police, highlighted the relaunch of 61016, a free text-to-report number that people can use to contact police for help in cases of harassment on trains.

Starmer told This Morning that bystanders could also use the song: “Remember if you’re not the victim but you see it happening to someone else, you can use it too.”

Attendees also discussed how peak incidents were counted across different police forces, with Sir Keir saying it was “quite difficult to get to grips with the raw numbers” at the moment.

Sir Keir previously described that countering surges is central to the government’s mission to “stop women from being targeted, whether they are out with friends or just traveling home” and the perpetrators of “this cowardly act” to be brought to justice.

Also present were Kate Nicholl, CEO of UK Hospitality, and Chief Constable Maggie Blythe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), which has responsibility for violence against women and girls.

Up to 10,000 bar staff across the country will also be trained in the coming months to prevent incidents, support victims and help police collect evidence.

A pilot of the training will take place in December, ahead of a wider rollout in March 2025.

Ms Nicholls welcomed the support for bar and door staff to be able to identify the signs that someone may have become infected – as well as the crucial step of what to do next.

“We are committed to working with the government to roll this out at pace and at scale,” she said.

With this under-reported crime receiving attention at the highest levels of government, many hope it will increase victims’ confidence and make a night out safer.

If you think a friend has been infected, the NPCC recommends alerting a staff member at the venue and staying with your friend – not letting them go home alone or with a stranger.

It added that surges should be reported online or by calling 101, or in an emergency by calling 999.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can access support at the BBC action line.