Extending our award-winning behavioural change campaign to reach students during Freshers Week

Our award-winning crime prevention campaign aiming to break cycles of domestic abuse has now been extended.

The #Reflect campaign, launched on behalf of Southend, Essex and Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board (SETDAB) to further reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) has been visible across the county this summer on TV and mobile adverts. This campaign will now be taken into colleges and universities to reach students during Freshers Week.

This new run of the campaign, originally launched in 2022, will focus on stalking, to help students moving to new areas, meeting new people and forging new relationships. 

Essex Police officers will be visible at college and University campuses across the county, supported by The Change Project, which aims to break the cycle of domestic abuse by helping perpetrators recognise their abusive behaviour and then working with those perpetrators to prevent it in the future.  

Posters and leaflets will also be visible at businesses across Essex, and digital media such as social media posts and digital screens will be used to spread the message further and extend the offer of support. 

Jane Gardner, Chair of Southend, Essex and Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board (SETDAB) and Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Essex, said: “We are pleased to build on the good work of the #Reflect campaign and raise awareness of the way domestic abuse manifests in relationships.
“We hope by continuing to encourage perpetrators to refer for the support they need, we can help them make real, lasting change which will reduce violence against women and girls, one of our policing priorities to get crime down.” 

Detective Superintendent Steve Jennings, Essex Police lead for stalking, said: “Stalking and harassment crimes are some of the most intrusive and can affect someone’s entire way of life. This is why these crimes are quite rightly one of our force priorities and one of the highest recorded crimes in the UK.
“In terms of policing, the challenge can often be, identifying offending which can be hidden in amongst so many different types of reports from domestic abuse. This is why it is important to raise awareness of the varying nature of this crime and, even though Domestic Abuse related offences are reducing in Essex, supporting victims and encouraging people to come forward is key to tackling these offences.”

#Reflect is the first perpetrator focussed behavioural change campaign with a clear message that Essex is a safe place for women and girls but not a welcome place for criminals. It focuses on different types of abuse; from physical abuse, to controlling behaviour, stalking and harassment, and unmanaged emotions like humiliation or anger aimed at loved ones.

The latest phase of the campaign is being introduced at the same time Essex Police is being recognised by the NPCC as regional winners for the ‘Behaviour Change in Perpetrators’ category for our continued efforts to tackle domestic abuse related offences.