A POLICE boss is cracking down on violence against women and girls by working with Hampshire sports teams.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones has joined forces with the teams to urge men and boys to call out harassing, sexist and violent behaviour towards women and girls.

Players from Southampton FC, Portsmouth FC, and Hampshire Cricket's Hampshire Hawks and Southern Vipers have pledged to not excuse or stay silent about the abuse.

Ms Jones explained why it was so important to involve the teams.

Speaking on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (White Ribbon Day) on Friday, she said: "As men are the majority perpetrators of these crimes in this country, that's why the male voice and being a key part of the solution is so important.

"Working with sports that are very dominated by men, such as cricket and football, has been key.

"Calling out the behaviour and challenging and, where help is needed, referring people to support services, that's what White Ribbon Day is about this year."

She added: "Southampton is an amazing city that has so much going for it, but there is a lot of harm and abuse that goes on as well.

"It's about making sure the people of Southampton have the services they need.

"I'm absolutely committed to driving down violence, aggression and anger against women, girls, and also men who are victims of domestic abuse.

"My job is to be a voice of the people who live across Southampton and those that live in the wide area as well."

The success of this multi-agency approach will be measured in various ways, and will involve several police officers in the city.

Ms Jones said: "Southampton has more police officers than any other council area in the county because of its size.

"Working with the Southampton District Policing Commander is really important to make sure there are enough response and patrol officers and neighbourhood police officers.

"The way we will measure the success of the involvement of the sports teams and this campaign is by getting feedback from victims of crime through either face-to-face community focus meetings, our online surveys, or by people writing in."