Most women and girls in Kent say they don't feel safe out in public at night or walking home alone

A survey on street safety has found the majority of women and girls in Kent does not feel safe at night.

More than 8,200 took part in the survey, which found that most respondent did not feel safe in public spaces at night and take precautions whilst walking home.

Women and girls did feel safer during the day, they told the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott's survey.

On Monday, he wrote to a number of public bodies following the results of his survey about the level of violence experienced by women and girls across the county.

Most respondents told the survey they had not been a victim of crime.

But the three most common types of those who had been victimised, includede harassment, domestic abuse or sexual offences.  

And victim satisfaction scores showed that no criminal justice agency received an overall positive result from victims of crime.

Analysis of the survey also drew out some consistent themes: women and girls were concerned about factors including CCTV, street lighting, police response, education, online harms and the criminal justice process.

Scott said: "I have heard loud and clear that women and girls want action from public agencies that will help make them feel safer. We need these organisations to work together to address these and commit to resolving issues in partnership."

Scott added: "In the next phase of the enquiry, we will be doing an anonymous deep dive of crime reports in Kent to focus on key trends and developments to help everyone pinpoint the actions they need to take and hearing more from victims about their experiences.

"But early commitments from the public sector to look at these issues and address those they are responsible for will be key ahead of the publication of my recommendations early next year."

He called for "joined up and co-ordinated action" as he shared the survey with local authorities, Police Forces and other criminal justice agencies.