Lincoln’s ‘ask for Angela’ poster is a step in the right direction

A poster found in a bar in Lincoln, which encourages women who feel uncomfortable on dates to seek a safe way out, has gone viral after it emerged on Twitter.

The poster, which has been retweeted over 30,000 times since October 18th, was created by Lincolnshire rape crises as part of their ‘No More’ campaign, which ran last month.

Isobel O’Brien tweeted the picture of the poster, which explains: “Are you on a date that isn’t working out? Do you feel like you’re not in a safe situation? Is your Tinder or POF [Plenty of Fish] date not who they said they were on their profile? Does it all feel a bit weird?

“If you go to the bar and ask for ‘Angela’ the bar staff will know you need some help getting out of your situation and will call you a taxi or help you out discreetly – without too much fuss.”

Speaking to Buzzfeed, she said” “I think it’s a brilliant campaign and although it may not always be necessary it’s definitely better to be proactive than reactive.

“It gives those who may be uncomfortable asking for help or saying no to a date etc an opportunity to do it in a discreet manner. It’s useful to have it in place as a safety net.”

Now thousands of women have shared their support for Lincolnshire’s campaign and echoed Isobel’s sentiment that the service should be available everywhere, not just in Lincoln.

It’s gone so big that the woman who came up with the idea, Hayley Child, who is also the Substance Misuse Strategy Coordinator for Lincolnshire council, spoke out, saying she was pleased the campaign had gone so viral.

Speaking to Buzzfeed news Hayley said: “Its aims were to promote a culture change in relation to sexual violence and abuse, to promote services in the county and to empower victims to make a decision on whether to report to the police or Crimestoppers. The police, local districts, universities, LCC, and many other professional partners supported the campaign.”

The campaign has been so successful that the council now intend to relaunch it in February 2017 for National Sexual Violence and Abuse Awareness Week.