We all have a part to play when tackling violence against women and girls on public transport
16 August 2024, 13:32 | Updated: 22 August 2024, 10:17
- Tallulah Belassie-Page is the senior policy and campaigns officer at the Suzy Lamplugh Trust
There is an urgent need for a "whole-society response" to combat deep rooted misogyny that underpins male violence against women, writes Tallulah Belassie-Page.
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Against the backdrop of recent horrific reports of violence against young girls, new figures from British Transport Police show a concerning rise in violence against women and girls (VAWG) on public transport.
The BTP report reveals that VAWG crimes on trains rose by 50% between 2021 and 2023.
This comes despite the tireless work of campaigners, including the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, to draw attention to the epidemic of VAWG occurring on public transport.
In 2021, the Trust published data from a pilot study that found that 97% of respondents had experienced some form of unwanted behaviour on public transport in their lifetime.
Such figures reveal the embedded culture of violence, aggression and abuse that persists on public transport.
With new reports suggesting that VAWG is on the rise, there is an urgent need for a whole-society response to combat deep rooted misogyny that underpins male violence against women.
Labour’s commitment to halve all VAWG crimes in the next decade is crucial, and we await decisive government action on this epidemic, including better training for police and prosecutors to respond to VAWG that takes place on public transport in a sensitive and trauma-informed manner.
However, we all have a part to play when tackling VAWG on public transport.
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Calling out harassment when you see it is vital for fostering a society where everyone feels free to travel without fear.
Yet confronting harassment when you see it can be daunting and can sometimes risk escalating the situation further.
Following a growing national conversation around what the public can do to increase women’s safety, people and organisations want to take steps to be able to address the prevalence of unwanted and aggressive behaviours such as harassment that underly the broader cycle of violence against women and girls.
To accommodate public demand, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and L’Oréal Paris formed a partnership to bring the expert approved international "Stand Up Against Street Harassment" training programme to UK audiences.
The programme is half an hour long and free of charge, driving awareness of harassment, as well as upskilling and empowering bystanders across various settings such as public transport, public spaces and workplaces, to help defuse situations, discourage harassers, and support victims.
This is a global programme, and over 1.3M people have been trained worldwide to date.
Whilst ultimately we need investment in prevention to address the root causes of misogyny, we can all contribute to a safer and more equal society by calling out harassment when we see it.
