It is horrifying but sadly not surprising that a survey has shown that almost all young women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment (Report, 10 March).
Our work with girls and young women shows that sexual harassment is a persistent and pervasive blight on their lives. Street harassment makes girls feel ashamed, frightened and vulnerable. It causes them to change their behaviour, like avoiding certain streets or changing their clothes before leaving the house, having serious implications for their freedom and autonomy.
Currently many girls, and their parents, do not feel supported or able to report harassment due to a lack of clarity in the law. There is no UK law that fully criminalises public sexual harassment, leaving perpetrators to get away with it. As one girl told us, you can be fined for dropping litter in the UK, but not for harassing a woman or girl in public. This cannot be right.
Only by enacting legal change will we start to see a cultural shift, so that girls and women will finally begin to feel safe in public spaces.
Rose Caldwell
CEO, Plan International UK
Maya Tutton
Co-founder, Our Streets Now
