The Violence Against Women And Girls (VAWG) mural along Ipswich Waterfront forms part of the Ipswich Safer Streets 4 project. This was funded by a Home Office Neighbourhood Crime Unit grant delivered between August 2022 and March 2023.

Whilst the Mural aims to be educational and thought provoking in itself, below are contacts for further help and advice if required:

• To contact the Police in an emergency for crime that is happening, telephone 999
• Silent Solution - if speaking or making a sound would put you in danger and you need immediate help, call 999 and stay on the line, then press 55 when prompted, and the call will be transferred to the police who will know it is an emergency call.
• To contact the Police (non-emergency) for a crime that has already happened, telephone 101 or make a report online at www.suffolk.police.uk/contact-us/report-something
• For anonymous or independent reports, contact Crimestoppers via 0800 555 111 or report online at crimestoppers-uk.org

If you or someone you care about needs dedicated help and support, the following organisations are also available:

Guidance and advice on how to intervene safely if you see VAWG crimes being committed can be found at Help stop it | ENOUGH

General advice is to...

• Say Something
• Tell Someone
• Offer Support
• Provide a Diversion 

And remember, if you are out and about and don’t feel safe, ‘Ask For Angela’ support may be available.

The Ipswich VAWG mural was created through the Safer Streets 4 project to provide a lasting public legacy that spreads positive messages, challenges attitudes and behaviours. The mural aims to educate and creates a discussion point around Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) awareness, to helping to encourage reporting and reduce instances of this type of violence.

Behavioural attitudes, especially towards women, are changing but this is a slow process requiring sustained action by the whole community. ‘If society educates and challenges inappropriate attitudes we can collectively lead change.’

Whilst focussed on VAWG, this project promotes the safety of everyone, regardless of gender for residents and visitors to the Ipswich area. 

This Safer Streets Mural was delivered by Art Eat Events CIC who led workshops with three community groups to gain the voice, thoughts, feelings and direction from community members including those affected by VAWG. Input to the content and design was provided through Lighthouse Women’s Aid, Suffolk Rape Crisis and Volunteering Matters.

Art Eat Events CIC is an arts organisation that develops and produces creative projects that focus on community, participation, learning and place-making. Projects take the form of murals, community arts activities, art workshops and events. Art Eat encourages connection through relationship building and working closely with local communities to create exciting and relevant projects that have a meaningful impact for the people and places involved. Art Eat works across East Anglia with a wealth of talented artists from around the UK as well as artists local to Suffolk for clients including charities, local authorities, museums, arts organisations and private businesses.

For this project Art Eat commissioned the artist Catalina Carvajal, a Colombian visual artist and book illustrator based in Ipswich who also delivers art workshops and co-creates public art with local communities and organisations right across Suffolk. Catalina is particularly interested in public art and its positive impact on the local surroundings. She has experience working with communities from all backgrounds and is passionate about integration, diversity, heritage and identity. 

For further information about Arts Eat Events visit www.arteatevents.com or follow the group on social media @arteatevents