Campaign re-launched to encourage women to report sexual harassment

The move – dubbed Project Empower – will see more than 1,600 posters introduced on the region's buses, bus stations, schools and football stadiums.

It aims to increase awareness of the issue and encourage people to report behaviours including touching, stalking, harassment and sexual comments.

Passengers will be able to scan a QR code which opens the live chat function on West Midlands Police's website to allow them to safely report the issue.

Police and Crime Commissioner for the region Simon Foster said: "It is a top priority for me to ensure women feel safe and are safe wherever they are.

"That is why it is so important that we get the message across to men that unwanted sexual behaviour will not be tolerated and women are empowered to report this behaviour.

"Any reports will be taken seriously, investigated and perpetrators will be held to account."

The Safer Travel Partnership previously ran the project more than three years ago – but bosses have made the move to bring it back to help improve women's safety in public spaces after the murder of Sarah Everard earlier this year.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) will also include safety advice and links to report incidents on their Swift app for passengers that are purchasing tickets or planning journeys.

Inspector Rachel Crump, head of the Safer Travel police team, said: “Many young girls we’ve already spoken to didn’t realise that some of the behaviours they are experiencing regularly are a crime and can be reported to police, which is both saddening but rewarding to know that we are raising awareness and helping them to report what’s happening to them.

"We know both anecdotally and through recent surveys that public transport is a place where women and girls can sometimes feel vulnerable and unsafe. Therefore we are working closely with our partners and operators to improve perception of safety and tackle the problem proactively.

"With more reports, we can build a truer and more accurate picture of what’s happening on our network and apprehend those who are behaving unacceptably on our transport network."

Workshops discussing the different types of unwanted sexual behaviour, myth-busting and a real-life victim story have been rolled out to more than 3,700 students during September and October in order to promote that education.

Anne Shaw, managing director of TfWM, was earlier this year appointed by the Department for Transport as Violence Against Women and Girls Transport Champion to advise and lead on initiatives to improve safety on public transport.

She said: “No one should feel vulnerable using public transport which is why we work so closely with police through the Safer Travel Partnership to improve safety. Our Empower campaign will make it easier for women and girls to report unwanted attention, intimidation and harassment discreetly.

“It is through both wider reporting of incidents, as well as educating people about appropriate behaviour that we can prevent these sex offences happening in the first place.”