The scale of the male violence against women and girls

Almost all women have been victims of sexual harassment at some time in their lives, which can have a devasting impact on their confidence and how they live.

MOPAC’s latest public attitudes survey shows that females remain less likely to feel safe in their local area with 1 in 5 women reporting experiencing unwanted sexual attention over the previous 12 months. This impacts on their lives, with many less likely to leave their home or changing their routes to avoid certain places.

Research suggests that sexual harassment can cause serious negative effects on emotional well-being, leading girls and women to feel unsafe and unwelcome in public space. Research from Hollaback! found that 27 per cent of those women that had been harassed felt threatened or fearful as a result of their harassment, and 10 per cent reported feeling disgust or shame.

Three-quarters of people who responded to a Nottingham Misogyny Hate Crime evaluation survey reported that harassment had an impact on them (74.9 per cent) and described a range of emotions including feeling intimidated, frightened, confused and angry. Of those who experienced harassment, 63 per cent changed their behaviour in some way as a result. The actions they took included 15 per cent avoided an area, 11 per cent only going out with others, 10 per cent taking a different route or 6 per cent changing the way they dress.

It is likely that the everyday experience of sexual objectification and the incremental impact of ‘everyday sexism’ acts as a source of insidious trauma and contribute to the experience of trauma-like symptoms in women.

Eighty per cent of participants in one study experienced at least one posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom as a result of sexual harassment and the study found that the more they were exposed to sexual harassment, the more negatively they were affected by it.

This HMICFRS report shows the number of crimes committed during the year ending March 2021 and the proportion that were committed against females – we can see there is an escalating pattern of abuse that leads violence. This is why it’s so important to identify problematic behaviour early on.