Supporting Women in Social Enterprise Flourish Together CIC

Women changemakers share stories and frustrations around Women's Safety in Greater Manchester.

Our 14th Podcast came about when students from MMU approached to to create and facilitate this conversation - so why are we still talking about women's safety in 2023?




Trigger Warning : themes of violence, sexual assault and abuse.


With a live recording of the panel discussion, chaired by the students of MMU and hosted by The Old Abbey Taphouse - the podcast features an incredible panel of women including :-

Rachele Evaroa - Rachele is co-founder of The Old Abbey Taphouse, a passionate advocate and supporter of STEAM, equality and community - she works to bring the realms of academia, business and community together. With a breadth of experience and knowledge on all things community and how important it is to create safe and inclusive spaces, drawing on her background in events and venue management; Rachele brings great insights to the conversations surrounding the safety of women in Greater Manchester.

This is particularly relevant when we look at the motivations for creating this conversation, the MMU students noted the following areas of concern for women in Greater Manchester :-





High rates of antisocial behaviour being reported on the Tram Network -  averaging 242 incidents a month according to Metrolink.
Recent police crime reports have shown that Manchester has seen the highest number of needle spiking cases nationally at more than 900 between 2017 -2021 - accounting for nearly 40% of country-wide cases.
Last year there were almost 150,000 annual cases of domestic abuse in Greater Manchester, 42,000 of these cases were reported from within the city centre

This data prompted the students from MMU, in partnership with Flourish to consider whether the borough is a hotspot for gender-based violence - and how we mitigate and address this through community action and conversation.

Sharlene Small, founder of Manchester's Got Talent Youth talks all things online safety and how in a digital age, girls and women's safety in more important than ever - particularly when there is a more dominant community focus on gang crime through a male lense. Sharlene shares her own experiences relative to how safety translates online to real life and what the consequences of this can be.

Dee Sheehan, who has campaigned extensively in the women's equality and safety arena for many years, working in recent years to progress the Womens Equality Party policies and having garnered significant support in challenging the opening of a Hooters branch in Salford, talks openly about the sticking points and stagnation of effective safety policies and procedures across Greater Manchester.
Dee is the co-lead on Women's Safety for GM 4 Women 2028

The panel is joined by Sam, who describes herself as a feminist activist and shares personal and impactful commentary on her own experiences and challenges regarding women's safety in Greater Manchester.

The questions posed by MMU students addressed the key areas of concern regarding women's safety in Greater Manchester and highlighted the gaps in the current policies and policing in and around the city - reflected and reiterated through our panels ruminations and frustrations.
We hope that this podcast adds another voice to the dialogue driving forward the conversation and more importantly, the actions in facilitating a safer Manchester for all women.

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