Major supermarkets are urging customers to use stores as "safe places" after the tragic death of Sarah Everard.
Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Asda said outlets can be used for refuge in cases where customers feel unsafe or uncomfortable on the streets.
In messages on social media, the retail chains said anyone who feels they are in danger can walk into a store to seek safety and ask staff for support and assistance.
It comes after a report - released just days after Sarah, 33, disappeared in Clapham, South London - revealed 97% of women have at some point experienced harassment.
The report, combined with the murder of Ms Everard, raised major safety concerns, with millions of women in the past week speaking out on their experiences of harassment, abuse and being intimidated by strangers in public.
In a message on Instagram, Asda said that everyone has the right to feel safe.
The supermarket said: "Please know you can always take your time, wait inside or reach out to our colleagues should you be concerned for your safety."
It added: "Customers and colleagues, we will be there for you."
Tesco also said on Instagram that all its branches are safe spaces.
The retailer said: "All our stores are safe spaces. So if you ever feel unsafe. please use our stores to wait for a taxi, a bus or a friend for as long as you need to."
"Our colleagues will be more than happy to help," Tesco added.
The post has gained nearly 50,000 likes on social media.
Marks & Spencer issued a similar statement, urging members of the public to speak to a colleague if they feel at risk.
The high street chain said on Instagram: "Our stores are safe spaces for everyone in the community.
"If you feel unsafe please come in and stay as long as you need to.
"Our colleagues are there to help anyone who needs it."
Shoppers have welcomed the supermarkets' safe space messages.
"This is brilliant, well done Tesco" one member of the public write.
Another said: "Well done M&S - creating safe spaces is vital".
On March 3 2021, marketing executive Sarah Everard disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in Clapham, South London.
Her case triggered a major missing person investigation, and, on March 9, Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens was charged for her murder. It is alleged that Couzens acted with a female accomplice.
A YouGov report released just days after her disappearance also found almost all women in the UK have at some point suffered sexual harassment.
Campaign group UN Women UK said most women have lost faith that the abuse will be dealt with.
Among women aged 18-24, 97% said they had been sexually harassed, while 80% of women of all ages said they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces.
"This is a human rights crisis. It's just not enough for us to keep saying "this is too difficult a problem for us to solve’ – it needs addressing now," said Claire Barnett, executive director of UN Women UK.
"We are looking at a situation where younger women are constantly modifying their behaviour in an attempt to avoid being objectified or attacked, and older women are reporting serious concerns about personal safety if they ever leave the house in the dark – even during the daytime in winter."
Today, Number 10 said "immediate steps" aimed at improving safety for women and girls in England and Wales have been announced in the wake of Sarah Everard's death.
Among them is an additional £25million for better lighting and CCTV as well as a pilot scheme which would see plain-clothes officers in pubs and clubs.
It comes after hundreds of people protested in central London on Monday.
Following a meeting of the government's Crime and Justice Taskforce on Monday evening, Downing Street said it would take "immediate steps" to give "further reassurance" to women and girls in the wake of the killing of Ms Everard.
No 10 said it would double the size of the Safer Streets fund - which provides local measures such as better lighting and CCTV - to £45million.
Undercover police will be sent to clubs, bars and popular nightspots to relay intelligence about predatory or suspicious offenders to uniformed officers, in pilots of so-called Project Vigilant, rolled out across the country.
