Safety solutions for Headingley ‘Assault Hotspot’ gain traction on social media.
Rumours of sexual assault incidents next to the Headingley Stadium in Leeds have circulated on social media following a young woman’s tweet detailing her ‘close encounter’.
The original tweet has since been taken down however, petitions to imply safety measures have been set up and shared across Twitter and Instagram platforms. One petition has gained over 9000 signatures towards its goal of 12,000.
A UK event planning company ‘Fresh2Death’ has also replied to this call for help by collaborating with an independent security company ‘True Security Solutions”. The SIA badged security started patrolling the area from 6pm until 11pm last night.
Fresh2Death said on Instagram “We are going to cover the cost of the securities wage moving forward” but are asking for support on a GoFundMe link as they state: “If we raise more than needed, we’ll add additional security and increase their hours.” and anything raised further will be donated to TBC, a charity which cares for victim of sexual assault.
The ginnel runs between both local Labour MP’s Rachel Reeves’ and Alex Sobel’s constituency. Both are aware of the reports and have taken to Facebook to reply on the matter.
Mr Sobel says “I am extremely concerned to hear reports of a series of sexual assaults in the alleyway most recently this weekend”.
“I understand that the local ward councillors, Cllr Al Garthwaite, Cllr Neil Walshaw and Cllr Jonathan Pryor are looking into installing CCTV at key points along the alleyway”
He goes on to say the councillors are also looking to be ‘upping their patrols’ and amending blind spots which ‘obstruct the light’.
A Facebook event named ‘Reclaim Headingley Stadium’ has set up a protest for Friday 30th October. The event calls for people to ‘raise awareness of increasing acts of sexual violence’ and states it will be a ‘COVID safe event’.
14 Crimes were reported in September alone in a 400m vicinity to the alleyway, as the original tweet in question was reported on the 22nd October. West Yorkshire Police say there was no report of the assault despite the claims on social media.