Solent Students’ Union offers free personal safety alarms for all Solent students
Solent Students’ Union are offering free personal safety alarms for all Solent students to help them feel safer in Southampton.
Stefania David, Head of Student Education for Solent Students’ Union, has launched a Violence Against Women and Girls campaign to improve student safety within the community, which includes the free personal alarms.
The campaign launch follows Solent Students’ Union being shared statistics collected by local charity, Yellow Door, who specialise in preventing and responding to domestic and sexual abuse across Southampton, Portsmouth, and Hampshire.
The data highlights a 182% increase in referrals to Yellow Door in 2021/2022, compared to 2019/20, as well as supporting 4282 individuals during 2021,22, which is an 88% increase compared to the previous year. The charities Independent Sexual Advisors team also received 1199 referrals in 2021/22 across Southampton, Portsmouth, and Hampshire.
The personal alarms, which have been funded by Southampton City Council, are small enough to discreetly hold or can be clipped onto clothing. They create a high-pitched alarm sound by pulling out the cord to attract attention and call for help, and they have a built-in light to illuminate dark areas.
Stefania said: “Student safety is our top priority as a Students’ Union. We are providing free police approved alarms that can be used to attract attention if a student feels unsafe. The alarms help to increase personal safety when students are out and about, both day and night.
“Violence against women and girls is a spectrum, running from the everyday misogyny, right through to horrifically violent crimes, and we do not tolerate any form of violence towards any of our students.
“We are aware these alarms are not the solution to protecting our students, but we want them to feel safe and this is one way to do that. This is an on-going campaign where I am working with the local authorities, the council, charities and many more organisations within the area to increase safety in Southampton.”
Chris Brown, Stronger Communities Cohesion Manager at Southampton City Council, said: “Working with Solent Students’ Union, we secured funding through the Safer Streets Project to help improve safety for people in Southampton, with one work stream to help improve safety for students living and studying in the city.
“Solent Students’ Union have spoken to members to see what they wanted to improve safety, and we have been able to fund the alarms as a short-term safety measure. We continue to strive together to make the city safe with our ongoing work and planning.”
The personal safety alarms can be collected from the Students’ Union office at Solent University.