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Half of young women and girls were harassed on the streets of Britain during the summer, according to new research.
The survey, conducted by the girls’ rights organizations Plan International UK and Our Streets Now, showed that 51% experienced bullying during the summer, which included being booed, followed, groped, displayed and up their skirts.
It also found that one-fifth (19%) experienced harassment during the first national shutdown in the spring.
The groups are calling for public sexual harassment of girls to become a specific criminal offense, with the launch of a #CrimeNotCompliment campaign.
“This has become a normal part of being a girl and that’s not right,” Maya Tutton, co-founder of Our Streets Now, told Sky News.
“We have to draw a line in the sand and say that we deserve to feel safe and we deserve to be safe in public.”
Maya, 21, said she founded the campaign with her sister Gemma, 16, because of her brother’s experiences.
Gemma has experienced public sexual harassment since she was 11 years old. She said the perpetrators range from boys as young as her to men in their 70s.
“As I get older, the experiences get worse and more scary,” he told Sky News. “It puts like a weight on my chest every time I go out.”
Gemma recalled one particular experience that made her want to fight.
“I was 13 years old and walking home from school when I came across a group of men who started sexually harassing me.
“I turned around and said, ‘Guys, I’m 13.’ They looked at me, laughed, and told me that age didn’t matter to them.
“That made me see the fact that public sexual harassment is about power and that it really wasn’t my fault.”
#CrimeNotCompliment has been launched. Photo: Plan International UK
Their survey surveyed 1,000 parents of girls between the ages of 14 and 21; and 1,010 girls in this age group, between September 23 and October 1.
Among parents, 80% are concerned that their daughter will experience public sexual harassment during her lifetime, and one in 10 are concerned that their daughters under 11 will be attacked.
Four out of 10 parents said they have asked their daughters not to go out after dark.
But despite concern, a third (37%) of parents would not know where to report street bullying of their daughters, and 70% of parents whose daughters have experienced it did not report it to the police.
Activists hope that a clear law criminalizing all forms of public sexual harassment will make girls more likely to report cases that occur.
“Girls feel like they won’t take it seriously,” said Rose Caldwell, executive director of Plan International UK.
“Sometimes they feel like they can be blamed. They are not to blame. The people to blame are the bullies and they are the people who need to change their behavior.”
