Norham Attack
A FEMALE ST Edmund Hall student was attacked recently in the Norham Gardens area of Oxford. While the Teddy Hall JCR can issue no further details concerning the attack, it has prompted the college to follow many others in offering improved safety to its students.
JCR President Ali Richardson warned that "everyone must be vigilant as incidents like this are not rare in Oxford. Norham Gardens is an isolated and vulnerable area." This also brings to the fore issues being debated by local councillors regarding poorly lit streets in inner city areas.
To combat the danger to students, St Edmund Hall will be reintroducing a scheme that ran until just a few years ago. Under the scheme, all females living off college premises will have the choice of being issued with a free attack alarm. The college also offers to reimburse female students two-thirds of their taxi fares from journeys made after dark.
The safety program is to be funded by the college and demonstrates a growing concern for students in Oxford. Some colleges already provide personal attack alarms and others such as Christ Church have recently taken the same initiative as St Edmund Hall.
The alarms themselves are pocket-sized devices that have met with favourable responses from the majority of students carrying them. A first-year student at Teddy Hall, Rebecca Wilkinson, said: "I think this is long overdue and I will definitely feel much safer carrying an alarm."
30th May 2002