Sadiq Khan has admitted there is an ‘epidemic’ of abuse facing women as he launched a new project which aims to teach primary school boys about ‘healthy relationships’.
He previously sparked fury and was branded ‘offensive’ and ‘naive’ after blowing more than £200,000 on calling on men to confront their other male friends if they see them harassing or intimidating women.
It comes as he says violence and abuse against women is rife in the capital, whose police force and management he is responsible for overseeing.
Mr Khan told Metro that it is ‘really important we recognise there is an epidemic of violence against women and girls and I’m determined to take the whole society approach, and that means starting in schools.’
One in 20 women in England and Wales have been victims of domestic abuse, data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.
Police recorded more than a million crimes against women and girls in 2022/23 – accounting for almost a fifth of all offences excluding fraud.
Mr Khan now says that he is looking to tackle violence on the transport network against women, girls and minority groups by installing CCTV in bus shelters and working with schools.
Sadiq Khan says violence and abuse against women is rife in the capital, whose police force and management he is responsible for overseeing
They Mayor of London sparked fury and was branded ‘offensive’ and ‘naive’ after blowing more than £200,000 on calling on men to confront their other male friends if they see them harassing or intimidating women
Currently, only 20 out of the 12,500 bus shelters in London – less than 0.1 per cent – have dedicated CCTV cameras.
The efforts further include his campaign for men to say: ‘Maaate’ to their friend if they see them harassing or intimidating women, alongside the toolkit for schools to teach boys about ‘healthy relationships’.
He also says he wants to encourage women to report when they have been a victim of a crime, and make sure that staff have been trained on how to receive complaints.
Asked by the newspaper if he would consider launching a scheme that would allow women to flag down a bus if they feel threatened, he said that drivers are trained to ‘make sure bus drivers are aware of the concern members of the public have’.
He added: ‘For example, our bus drivers know if a woman stops a bus at a bus stop and she has not got an Oyster card or money to pay for the fare. Our bus driver will let that person on even without a fare if there is concern about that person’s safety. So we are making sure our bus drivers are properly trained to be sensitive and tuned in to the concerns women have.’
Toolkits and workshops in primary schools developed by education company Tender2 aim to tackle issues of respect towards women from a young age.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers will be rightly sceptical that this latest scheme will have any meaningful impact on crime in the capital.
‘Thousands of people in London fall victim to crime every day, and violent crime is on the rise.
Mr Khan now says that he is looking to tackle violence on the transport network against women, girls and minority groups by installing CCTV in bus shelters and working with schools
‘Londoners expect real action to put police on the street and criminals behind bars.’
Mr Khan’s Say Maaate campaign, launched in July last year, said that it considered the advice of behavioural scientists in choosing the ‘small and familiar’ single word ‘mate’ to challenge sexism and misogyny.
But according to women’s rights activist Zan Moon, who claims to be a consultant to TfL on their ‘Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls’ strategy, it was myopic and ‘offensive in its naivety’.
Moon argued that the Mayor had produced an unsatisfactory campaign and has ‘wasted’ an opportunity to create change and provide adequate advice to ‘male allies’.
Zan, who is also the founder of ‘Screen Grab Them’ an Instagram initiative dedicated to documenting incidents of schoolgirls being harassed by male pupils, had previously worked on TfL posters and as a consultant to the Metropolitan Police.
As part of the launch, the ‘Maate’ slogan was also displayed in Piccadilly, London to help spread the message.
He also gained the support of Romesh Ranganathan, Presenter Max Selwood and LADbible Group to help spread the word of the campaign.
The new campaign comes as Mr Khan pushes ahead with a controversial ‘woke’ rebrand of London’s overground network.
The Mayor of London sparked backlash over the £6.3million ‘vanity project’ with six new names and colours which launched last Thursday.
The lines were renamed Lioness, Mildmay, Windrush, Weaver, Suffragette and Liberty and given new colours – but it was branded ‘predictable woke liberal nonsense’.
The Mayor of London’s office has been contacted for comment.