The statue of Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert, which stands in Queen Square, and the founder of Wolverhampton, Lady Wulfruna, outside St Peter's Collegiate Church, are proudly sporting orange sashes in support of the annual 16-day campaign which began yesterday (Monday 25 November).
The annual campaign, coordinated by Wolverhampton Safeguarding Together, the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership, Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum and the City of Wolverhampton Council, supports the United Nations’ Orange the World campaign to end violence against women and girls. says 'no' to domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, so-called ‘honour based’ violence, sexual violence and stalking and harassment.
Kathy Cole-Evans, Chief Officer of Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum, said: "It's great that we are able to use both of these iconic statues to promote this very important campaign to the people of Wolverhampton.
“There were over 6,500 incidents of domestic violence recorded by police in Wolverhampton last year, with the vast majority of victims female, and this is a major issue that we all need to be aware of.
"But the Orange Wolverhampton campaign is not just about highlighting the problem; we want to ensure that victims do not suffer in silence and are aware of and feel able to get the help and support they need."
Anyone suffering from domestic violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, so-called ‘honour based’ violence, sexual violence, stalking or harassment, or knows someone who is, should call the relevant helpline:
- The Haven Wolverhampton 24-hour helpline for women - 08000 194400
- Haven Counselling helpline - 08000 308 345 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 2pm)
- Haven online Live Chat, You Matter (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
- St George’s Hub support for male victims - 01902 421904
- Karma Nirvana helpline for victims of so-called ‘honour based’ violence and forced marriage - 0800 5999 247
- Wolverhampton Adult Social Care - 01902 551199
- Wolverhampton Children's Social Care - 01902 555392
- West Midlands Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence Helpline - 0800 953 9777
- National Domestic Violence helpline for women - 0808 2000 247
- National Domestic Violence helpline for men - 0808 8010327
- NSPCC Female Genital Mutilation helpline - 0800 028 3550
For more detailed local information please visit Wolverhampton Safeguarding. In an emergency, always call police on 999.
Residents, businesses, schools, churches, voluntary groups and other organisations are encouraged to turn the city orange between now and 10 December by holding wear orange days, turning their websites and social media channels orange, sharing campaign messages with friends, customers and colleagues, organising orange coffee mornings, flying orange flags and much more.
For more information and to sign up to this year’s campaign, please visit the Orange Wolverhampton website.
