GMP launches new operation as part of on-going work to tackle violence against women

Greater Manchester Police have launched a brand new operation in a bid to crack down on violence against women focusing on the night time economy in Manchester City Centre, with an aim of cracking down on predatory behaviour in the city.

'Operation Hideaway' which was initiated in September 2021 and is running periodically across Greater Manchester in the coming months, has been highlighted as part of GMPs Christmas campaign starting on Monday (20 December 2021) which will help bring awareness to the important work taking place across Greater Manchester to help tackle gender-based violence.

Op Hideway has been set up in conjunction with the Greater Manchester Mayor's office as part of the Gender-Based Violence Strategy, which involves a 10-year-plan to tackle gender-based violence issues across the region.

This operation focuses on using plain clothed officers who are deployed into Manchester City Centre on weekend evenings to observe and step in where needed, taking positive action targeted at preventing sexual harassment or violence.

Uniformed officers are also deployed as a deterrent to potential offenders and to reassure the public.

Chief Superintendent Nicky Porter, force lead for gender based violence, said: "Our overall aim as a police force is to keep the public safe and I fully support this new operation.

"Tackling gender-based violence is a top priority for Greater Manchester Police and it is important that we publicise what we are doing to prevent gender based violence, to hopefully make women and girls feel that bit more reassured that we are around the city and we are looking out for their safety by spotting potential perpetrators and stepping in where we need to.

"We want all members of our community, especially women and girls, to feel safe when going about their daily lives and we strive every day to make Greater Manchester a safer place to live.

"It is not the responsibility of women to prevent themselves from becoming victims; it is down to us as law enforcers and our partners to prevent and target offenders and to keep our streets safe.

"We have three main priorities that we are working on as part of our Gender Based Violence Strategy, which include aiming to create safer spaces for women, targeting perpetrators and improving the trust and confidence that the public having in policing by being transparent and professional.

"Operation Hideaway is a welcomed addition to the strategy and has been successful so far in preventing incidents in the city centre from escalating further.

"Our officers aim to intervene quickly when they see a situation arise which could result in violence and we hope that the public will feel that little bit more reassured that we are around to help.

"The mixture of a high-visibility police presence, along with covert tactics and the ability of the public to discreetly report matters to us while out and about on an evening, through schemes such as 'Ask Angela' means that we now have a wide range of options for deterring and detecting criminality linked to gender-based violence."

"We need to start turning the tables so that violent and predatory men feel under threat and not women and girls.