Northamptonshire Police win national award for work with children and young people in tackling violence against women and girls.

Northamptonshire Police has won a national award for their exceptional partnership work in tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has honoured the important work the Force and the Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge team has undertaken with secondary schools. Helping thousands of pupils to understand, recognise and discuss VAWG and misogyny.

The NPCC VAWG awards attracted 175 nominations, with the Force winning the ‘Effective Working with Children and Young People Regarding Violence Against Women and Girls’ award category.

The Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge (NCSC) is a police-led partnership project run across secondary schools in Northamptonshire. Each year, it helps pupils learn about important social issues while teaching them invaluable skills. This year’s social issue centred around VAWG. Pupils use a business approach to raise awareness and develop creative ways to tackle the problem by developing innovative products or services.

Detective Chief Inspector Nickie Deeks, the Force lead for VAWG, worked closely with the NCSC team to develop training sessions and information that could be shared with schools and Key Stage Three children.

DCI Deeks said: “We are delighted to have won this NPCC award.  It’s only when we work together as a community that we can hope to change things.

“I was very pleased that the NCSC organising team chose VAWG as the theme for the 2024 challenge, and that myself and other officers had the opportunity to work with them, and with secondary schools on this important subject.

“Children and young people are the parents, community members and employees of the future so it’s important we discuss, educate, and empower them to understand, recognise, and challenge the misogynistic treatment of women and girls, which often goes unnoticed, or isn’t taken as seriously as other forms of discrimination or abuse. Or is dismissed as a joke or banter.

“The topic of VAWG and misogyny isn’t a subject that can be tackled in one conversation, one assembly or one lesson. Gender inequalities, stereotyping and gender-based abuse is ingrained in lots of people’s ways of thinking – so as a society the earlier we can begin conversations with children and young people the better. We want young people to reflect on and challenge those ways of thinking, and hopefully change behaviours and stop it from becoming entrenched in future generations.  

“Thousands of secondary school children take part in the Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge, and the creative and innovative ideas they put forward this year were highly impressive. I was very proud to be a part of the judging panel.”

Kelly Crockett, who works for the Arson Task Force and is the Chair of the Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge steering group said: ”We are thrilled that the work of the Force and the NCSC team has been recognised with this national award. It’s so important that we are having conversations with children and young people about VAWG, which is why we were keen for this to be the theme for the 2024 challenge.

“VAWG is a broad issue and a sensitive one that needed to be carefully thought through before approaching schools with the theme. We worked closely with DCI Deeks and other officers and partners to better understand the topic and to develop a presentation that was suitable for sharing with schools.  The presentation was also adapted to use within SEN education settings to ensure the same messages were being shared to all.

“We received positive feedback from everyone. As a result, we were able to facilitate 4,000 students sitting with their peers discussing VAWG, respect, consent, and healthy relationships.”

Police volunteer Henny Cameron who is an integral part of the coordination of the County Schools Challenge said: “Teachers tell us that the CSC is an important way to encourage young people to discuss a serious subject in a safe environment, whilst empowering students to talk about the topic outside of lessons and think about the impact and consequences that such behaviours can have upon others. 

“The young people who took part in this year’s challenge were very inventive in their ideas about tackling and reducing violence against women and girls, which was enormously encouraging to observe.“

L-R PCSO Steve Coles, DCI Nickie Deeks, Kelly Crockett, Henny Cameron

Moulton School and Science College were this year’s overall NCSC winner. Their winning entry was a contemporary and immersive dance performance that represented a victim, attacker and an upstander. They intend to use the prize money to create a short film to present in primary schools to help younger children explore these issues.