Everyone should feel safe after dark in our city, but being out at night can makes lots of women feel anxious.

All too often when we talk about the safety of women after dark, the focus is put on women’s actions, where and when they should or shouldn't be walking, who they should or shouldn't be with, what they should or shouldn't be wearing etc. For this to change, everyone needs to take collective responsibility, charities, businesses, and individuals, and that's the purpose of the Women's Safety Charter being launched in Bristol.

The charter, which is modelled on a similar commitment from the mayor of London Sadiq Khan, instils a zero tolerance policy on harassment of women. It is a call to action to tackle gender inequality and make Bristol a fair and inclusive city, where everyone is welcome and where everyone feels safe to work and socialise in the city at night.

Mayor Marvin Rees said "Each of us has a responsibility to ensure that our environments promote safety, that we provide training and support to tackle harassment and establish clear routes for issues to be reported and challenged. I urge employers, large and small, to join us as we fight back against perpetrators and stand up for the safety of women at night.”

Last month there was a Shine A Light parade with people from the night-time economy in Bristol taking to the city streets dressed in and carrying lights. There are also more than 1,000 billboards and posters are being placed across the city to support the campaign for women's safety and 1,000 of the city's night-time workers will get specialist training in recognising and managing harassing behaviour. The project also aims to improve understanding among the general public of what constitutes harassment and shine a light on how often it happens.

The project has been funded by a £282,000 government grant and Bristol City Council is encouraging businesses across the city to sign up to the campaign which invites bystanders to call out inappropriate behaviour, while empowering those working in the night-time economy to recognise and execute a zero-tolerance response to harassment in their venues and workplaces.

The charter’s seven commitments are:

• Champion: Appoint someone in the organisation to lead on this work.
• Communicate: Create a positive communications campaign.
• Support staff: Make sure options for unacceptable behaviour reporting are clear.
• Support the public: Ensure routes for reporting are clear.
• Training: Responding – Provide staff training and any relevant policies, including what you can and cannot say and do.
• Training: Recording – Ensure staff training on information sharing and appropriate recording of details.
• Design for safety: Audit spaces and adapt to reduce risk of crime and sexual misconduct.

Sign up here to the Bristol Night’s Women’s Safety Charter