We have launched a new online map for women and girls to use to highlight areas they feel safe or unsafe in Essex.
When accessing the map, women and girls can 'drop a pin' on a particular area that they have felt unsafe. They can then state why. It can be used on a desktop computer, phone or tablet.
Anyone can use it but the primary audience is women and girls over 13-years-old.
The map follows research by the council’s Safety Advisory Group into women's perceptions of safety.
Data from this research shows 16% of women involved felt unsafe in our towns and cities during the day and 47% felt unsafe at night.
The map is being rolled out across the county by us alongside Essex Police and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex.
We have also been supported by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and researchers at Nottingham Trent University
This latest initiative is part of our commitment with partners in making the county safer for women and girls, and helping them to feel safer too.
The data collected will be used by partners to inform their work going forward.
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Communities and the Economy at Essex County Council, Councillor Louise McKinlay said: “Everyone in Essex has the right to live their life free of fear and free of harassment.
“While police and partners in the county are working hard to make the county safer, we know many women and girls in the county still feel afraid in some areas, whether that be at day or night. This is not acceptable.
“This initiative will be valuable in finding out where in the county women and girls feel most unsafe and why.
“We have already done a lot of work to understand how women in particular perceive safety in the county, but this map will allow us to go one step further by gaining insight at a hyper-local level. We can then address the issues raised and bring about change.”
Visit the map and tell us where in Essex you have felt unsafe and why.