Police officers will be given the power to fine people on the spot for sexual harassment in Redbridge.
A new borough-wide public space protection order (PSPO) will allow them to fine offenders £100 if they are seen catcalling, harassing or propositioning people.
An officer from the Metropolitan Police or Redbridge Council will need to witness the incident in order to fine them.
The order will be in place between 25th November 2024 and 24th November 2027.
It was approved at a meeting of Redbridge Council’s cabinet on Tuesday night.
Council leader Kam Rai called the scheme “crucial,” while councillor Khayer Chowdhury said it would help make Redbridge “safer” for women and girls.
The cabinet member for community safety said it would also be “integral” in restoring confidence in the police “to the highest levels” and “taking back our streets”.
A council officer added: “A borough-wide PSPO ensures that, if enforcement activity displaces perpetrators from ‘hotspots’ to other locations, further enforcement action can be taken.”
The move comes after the 2021 and 2022 rape and murder of local residents Maria Rawlings and Zara Aleena, who were both killed whilst walking home.
In 2023, the Metropolitan Police recorded a total of 374 public offences against women in the borough.
Of those, 133 incidents involved people causing women to feel fearful, alarmed, or distressed. The vast majority took place in the streets.
A borough-wide PSPO was first introduced in 2018 in a bid to tackle prostitution, which contained a clause that allowed officers to fine people caught verbally abusing or harassing women.
In August this year, it was localised to Ilford Lane and Cranbrook Road.
Councillor Saima Ahmed said she hoped the new PSPO would lead to more reports being lodged with the police.
In 2021, a total of 1,834 women living in the borough were surveyed on their experiences of sexual harassment in Ilford.
91% of respondents said they had been catcalled, while 81% reported wolf-whistling, 62% reported being followed and 45% said they had experienced aggressive verbal harassment.
The most common ages women said they were harassed for the first time were between 13 and 15.
Posters have been put up around Ilford town centre, reminding people that catcalling and sexual harassment is a criminal offence.
In a report put before the cabinet last night, one resident was quoted as saying: “Since the posters about cat calling have appeared around the borough, I have witnessed and experienced less of it, so the measures the police and council put in place do help.”
Another said: “While the PSPO has good intentions, it is pointless unless enforced. I can’t remember the last time I saw a police officer or council officer on the streets or green spaces as I go about my daily life.”
PSPOs were introduced under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, giving local authorities the power to restrict certain behaviours within a specified area.
A separate order is in place across Ilford and the surrounding wards prohibiting street drinking, begging and spitting.
While the council said it has taken a “tough stance” against all forms of antisocial behaviour, in April residents said the problems had not gone away.
