Harassment fears 'make women live smaller lives'

An MP has said many women are leading "smaller and less free lives" due to the fear of being harassed when out walking, cycling, running and exercising.

Jess Asato, Labour MP for Lowestoft in Suffolk, opened a debate in Parliament and said violence against females happened "in every corner of life" and she hoped to raise awareness of how they feel when out and about.

Asato said: "The threat of harassment and assault is enough to force women to lead smaller, less free lives, withdrawing to the safety of being behind the front door."

Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said the government was treating it as a national emergency and that the scale of violence was "intolerable".

The debate in Westminster Hall on Tuesday was called "women's safety while walking, wheeling, cycling and running".

Asato said: "When women have to do an unspoken risk assessment of their route every time they want to walk to the shops or take a run, it is a chronic weight around the neck of society."

Recounting stories from her constituents, she said a woman had been flashed on the seafront at Lowestoft and said the incident had a "profound effect" on her safety.

Another constituent asked whether a man running in the dark would fear a member of the opposite sex heading towards them or if they would feel the need to tell a partner or friend of their planned route and expected time back.

Research carried out by Dr Caroline Miles on the abuse of women out running found 68% experienced it, with only 5% of them reporting it.

The research outlined the varieties of abuse women face with 91% of it verbal, 29% being followed, and 10% being sexually flashed.

Asato said: "We must be able to live in a society where women do not need to walk down the street clasping their keys in their hands or pretending to be on the phone to someone to protect themselves."

The government's strategy, published in December, said it wanted to focus attention on addressing misogyny and inequality to prevent young men from becoming violent abusers.

The Home Office also announced a ban on "nudification" tools which use generative AI to turn images of real people into fake nude pictures and videos without the permission of the subjects of those images.

Marie Goldman, Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, said the situation was a "national emergency".

"The sense of insecurity among women worsens during the winter months as the lack of safe routes on dark evenings greatly restricts women travelling for work or leisure," she said.

She has campaigned for the repair of streetlights which had been left dark and unrepaired in her constituency.

"It cannot be that, in a decade's time, women are still fearful of walking our streets because of who may be lurking in the dark. We owe it to future generations of women to act," she said.

Greenwood said the strategy set out actions to prevent violence and abuse, to pursue perpetrators and support victims with the aim of giving women the confidence to report incidents.

She said the aim was to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

"The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable, and that is why this government are treating it as a national emergency, but the most important change is a change in the behaviour of men," she said.

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