There’s a worrying rise in violence in opposition to ladies and women throughout the UK. Whereas many keep in mind excessive profile circumstances just like the dying of Sarah Everard or the tragic deaths in Southport final month, there are numerous ladies and women who expertise violence on daily basis. And this isn’t a latest challenge, it’s been occurring for years.
Katharine Jones* spoke to Glamour about how she was punched within the abdomen by a drunk, irate man on her means house from the Girls’s March in 2016 whereas journalist Isabella Silvers has had a number of cases of males harassing her on public transport, with the primary occurring when she was 18 and a person adopted her house from a bus.
In recent times, she’s skilled males whispering in her ear, making her really feel uncomfortable, and even having a person encroaching on her private house on the Piccadilly Line – the identical line the place my assault occurred. Silvers stated that to cease this, we have to “call out this behaviour outside of public transport”.
“All of these little things add up to make men believe it’s okay to treat women like this. On public transport especially, we need cameras to prosecute and help women seek justice for the things that happen to them. We have to make sure that it’s dealt with and that there are consequences for these actions,” Silvers continued.
The Division for Transport declined to remark when approached however pointed to a put up by Louise Haigh, the Secretary of State for Transport, on X addressing the problem. She wrote: “These figures are appalling. Everyone should be safe on public transport. That’s why under this government, our publicly owned railways will be relentlessly held to account on safety and standards, and completely focused on the passenger.”
“I’ve already met with the British Transport Police to discuss how we work together to end the scourge of violence against women and girls on our public transport. This is an absolute priority for me,” she added.
The issue is that this challenge isn’t solely linked to public transport – it exists in all places. And whereas many could desire a publicly-owned railway, holding them to account on “safety and standards” like Haigh mentions isn’t the answer.
Misogyny, sexism, and rape tradition all play a component in perpetuating a society that makes it seem to be it’s okay for males to deal with ladies poorly, to harass them, to really feel entitled to their time, private house, and our bodies. This typically results in violence as a result of we aren’t within the behavior of calling a spade a spade. The dying of Sarah Everard, the assaults in Southport, and even the menace to Taylor Swift’s concert events in Vienna, the place nearly all of attendees are ladies, are all indicative of how males view ladies – as lower than.
The one solution to cease this violence is for us to show boys and males from a younger age that it’s unacceptable to deal with a lady like this and to make sure that those that commit these offences are actively prosecuted and appropriately sentenced for his or her actions.
