9 in 10 women feel unsafe because of their gender
By Hayden Ó Mórdha
IN THE aftermath of the discovery of Sarah Everard’s body in the UK, women have been sharing their experiences of harassment, assault, and violence in public spaces.
“Cat calls, shouting at women across a park, whistling, walking too close behind us, getting grabbed on a night out,” Tallaght’s Beth Keeley lists, when speaking about the level of harassment women experience on a regular basis.
A selection of messages taken from Beth Keeley’s phone which included the word “safe”
“A lot of women have had to deal with these experiences, and they might seem small – but it starts with the smaller things.
“Men come at it with the attitude of ‘oh we’re having the craic, we’re having a laugh’ but you have to recognise that women on the other end of that are made feel so uncomfortable.”
Recently in London, where Beth lives, a woman by the name of Sarah Evered disappeared as she made the 4km journey home from a friend’s flat.
After leaving her friends on March 3 at around 9pm, Sarah called her boyfriend for just under 15 minutes and was captured alone on CCTV at 9.15pm and 9.28pm.
She was captured at 9.32pm by a marked police car.
Sarah’s body was found on March 10 in a wooded area in Kent and a man, Wayne Couzens, has appeared in court charged with the kidnap and murder of the 33-year-old.
Subconscious protection measures
“The topic of women’s safety comes up so many times and I suppose in the instance of Sarah’s case, it just really hit home,” Beth tells The Echo.
“The outpour online of women sharing their experiences really just highlighted all of the things that women do subconsciously to protect themselves.
“I have walked home at 9.30pm on my own, I have held my keys in between my fingers, every time I get in a taxi I pretend to be on the phone.
“The “home safe” thing is just part of my routine.
“Every time I get home, I would send a text to my friends using the word ‘safe’, as if you imply that I wasn’t tormented or harassed on my way home.”
As previously reported in The Echo, a study by South Dublin County Council into instances of gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, found that there is a general level of fear among women in relation to personal safety.
The most prevalent form of sexual harassment that respondents experienced, totalling 80 per cent, was offensive remarks about physical appearance, followed by sexually suggestive comments (75 per cent) and wolf-whistling and offensive remarks about clothing (60 per cent).
64 per cent of individuals and 56 per cent of organisations identified that women are staying away from areas around Clondalkin where these issues are most prevalent.
“It is such normalised behaviour and we all know other women who have been exposed to some level, whether it is low-level or high-level, of gender-based sexual assault or harassment,” Social Democrats Cllr Carly Bailey tells The Echo.
“The Joint Policing Committee had a report recently through the 300k Have Your Your Say initiative where they engaged with local community groups from around Clondalkin and lots of women spoke about how they had experiences of some form of gender-based violence.
“Plan International Ireland published a report as well that showed nine in 10 women feel unsafe because of their gender and that they don’t feel safe walking home alone.
She added: “Of course you have more serious crimes of sexual assault and things such as grabbing, being exposed, masturbation would be considered low-level – but it is so very wrong.
“What happened to me when I was 14, nobody stepped up when a man, a man in his sixties, did that to me and it’s so gross.
“Nobody wanted anything to do with it on the bus, it taught me that I just didn’t have a choice, I didn’t have the right to say no.
“We have all walked home with our keys in our hand afraid for what might happen.
“Nobody has the consent to do anything to you and it doesn’t matter if you are drunk, if you’ve no clothes on or anything, nobody has the consent to touch you.”
Social Democrats Cllr Carly Bailey, at the age of 14, was the victim of a sexual assault whilst on a bus full of passengers
Cllr Bailey detailed, through a Tweet, how when she was 14, she was the victim of a sexual assault whilst on a bus full of passengers.
The man was “lewd then progressed to touching me,” Cllr Bailey recounted and even after she got away, she was left crying in the aisle of the bus as there were no seats left – which resulted in her being removed from the bus.
Cultural change
“This is not a women’s behaviour issue, it’s a behaviour that men need to change.
“This isn’t a localised issue, it exists in every pocket, every corner of this country.
“Women are sharing their own experiences; they’re just not believed until somebody dies.
“The oppression of women by some men and the sexualisation of us has been going on for centuries and generations.
“I say some men because it’s not all men, I married a very lovely man and I hope to raise another one – but not enough men hear us or believe us.
“There is a lot of change needed culturally and we have to tell the guards, this is not just young men doing this, it’s men of all ages, and there is a lot of work to be done.
“We need to break down the normalisation of these kinds of behaviours and have the conversation.”
The study in which the council carried out found how women of any age, although those particularly aged 17- to 39-years-old, were at risk of sexual harassment or other forms of sexual violence.
In sharing their experiences, Beth and Cllr Bailey agreed that the sharing of their experiences of gender-based sexual assault and harassment is not a new issue.
“Men can talk to each other about this and even call a friend out who might be harassing a woman because all too often, people keep their mouth’s shut and that woman might arrive home in a panic.
“I think about planning my route, holding my keys in my hand and all of these safety measures, the last thing I think about is heading out the door and never coming back through it – what happened to Sarah is just the worst nightmare.”
On Tuesday, Wayne Couzens, who is a police officer, appeared in London court charged with the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard and is due to go on trial in October.
Helplines
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, the following organisations may be able to provide help and advice.
- Dublin Rape Crisis Centre,
- Freephone: 1800 778 888
- Women’s Aid,
- Freephone: 1800 341 900
- Garda Síochána: 112 or 999
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