Experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour can sometimes feel like par for the course of being a woman, something most of us experience, something simply to put up with.
But Transport for London (TfL) and the police are urging people who experience any form of unwanted sexual behaviour, particularly on public transport, to report it. Because it’s only through reporting offenders that action can be taken against them.
Since the launch of’ Report It To Stop It’ in 2015, a campaign encouraging people to report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, there’s been a 65 per cent increase in reports, resulting in 1,500 arrests.
But there’s still a long way to go, as HuffPost UK’s reporting on the rise in cyberflashing has highlighted.
To mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, TFL, the British Transport Police (BTP), Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and City of London Police (CoLP) want to reassure women each report is taken seriously, and say that a single report can be enough to catch an offender.
Cyberflashing – where someone is sent an unsolicited dick pic over the AirDrop function on an iPhone or on social media – is just one of the forms of unwanted sexual behaviour TFL would like women to come forward about.
In 2017, HuffPost UK reporter Sophie Gallagher was sent more than a 100 sexual images via Apple’s AirDrop function over a WiFi connection while travelling on the London Underground. Since then, she’s spoken to other women targeted on public transport, many of whom didn’t report the incident at the time because they didn’t think it would be taken seriously.
But Kathryn, who experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on the Tube last year, found reporting the incident did make a difference. She was travelling on the Central line when she was touched inappropriately several times. “Despite the Tube being filled with people I felt so alone and vulnerable. As soon as I got off the Tube I reported it and I am so glad that I did,” she said.
“I consequently found out that he had done the same thing to three other women and I just felt sad that he would have made other women feel the way I did on that morning. By reporting him, he has served six months in jail, he is now banned from using public transport and his name is on police file so I feel as though I have done what I can to help protect other women from him.”
There are more than 77,000 CCTV cameras across London’s transport network, and more than 3,000 officers from the BTP and MPS policing London’s public transport network. Frontline police officers and on-street enforcement officers receive training on tackling unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport.
“If you make a report to us, you will be listened to, taken seriously and treated in a sensitive manner,” said Detective Inspector Anna Rice from the City of London Police’s Public Protection Unit.
“We know it can be daunting, but every piece of information we receive is important. By reporting such incidents you are helping to give police the best chance of tracking the perpetrator down and bringing them before the courts.”
To report unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport, text 61016 or call police on 101 and give details of what, where and when.