Women and girls will be able to anonymously log streets and areas in Newcastle that they feel are unsafe or threatening with police online from today.
The StreetSafe website will enable people to drop a pin onto a map and describe what caused them concern.
Reasons could range from a poorly-lit walkway to instances of public harassment and will mean concerns can be raised with police, whether or not a crime has been committed.
Read more: Government to double Safer Streets fund following death of Sarah Everard
The Home Office has said the information will be used alongside other data to "improve safety for communities".
Minister for Safeguarding Victoria Atkins said: "No one should fear walking the streets, but for too many women and girls the threat of intimidation and harassment whilst going about their everyday lives is all too familiar.
"Our call for evidence revealed the need for a space where people can share their experiences of feeling unsafe in public places – regardless of whether a crime has been committed.
"StreetSafe allows the public to flag concerns directly to police, ensuring that those responsible for making our streets safer use the data to improve safety and understand how local areas can better respond.”
The website launch comes as the Home Office is due to announce the next tranche of funding for its Safer Streets scheme.
The scheme, which launched in response to the murder of Sarah Everard, funds local authority projects that aim to prevent violence against women and girls in public spaces at night.
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness welcomed the website, but told ChronicleLive that the Safer Streets cash was urgently needed.
She said: "This is a step in the right direction but we’ve still heard nothing about whether we will be getting Safer Streets funding.
"Anything that helps improve women’s safety, improves the safety of communities, is welcomed by me, of course, but we’ve bid for Government cash to fund a range of measures to transform public safety on our buses, on our metro and on our streets and have heard nothing.
"We seem to be playing a waiting game with this and I’m just keeping everything crossed that this crucial funding will reach us here in the North East. Local people have told us what would make them feel so much safer.
"I’m talking about a new reporting app to transform the reporting process, body-worn cameras for transport staff and help points in parks linked directly to CCTV control rooms.
"We need to know if we have Government backing to deliver on all this so we can get on with the job. That’s the announcement I am waiting for, that’s what I want for Northumbria. ”
