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The harrowing experiences of women facing daily harassment on public transport have been laid bare in the wake of a damning report.
Violent attacks towards women more than doubled in the last two years, and more than a third of women were subjected to sexual harassment or sexual offences while commuting via train or Tube, data published by the British Transport Police Authority. Figures also revealed a surge from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 in 2023 of crimes against women and girls.
Speaking to The Independent, three women shared their accounts of incidents of harassment and assault at the hands of men on public transport in the past two years.
Amelia, a 24-year-old tech consultant living in London, was assaulted on the Tube while on her way home from a work social event at around 10pm.
“There was one seat left on the carriage and unfortunately it was next to quite a dishevelled man who was surrounded by beer bottles,” she said. “I sat next to him because I didn’t want to be prejudiced and he was asleep. Suddenly, he grabbed me and put me into a headlock, pulling me towards his chest.
“I managed to break free and thankfully, two guys in their twenties opposite me said I could sit between them for the rest of the journey – the man simply went back to sleep.”
Bea, a 24-year-old senior copywriter, described an intimidating incident with a group of male football fans in London.
“I was coming back from a long day at work, and I went to board the train at Tottenham Court Road station. There were loads of football fans. I managed to squeeze on, but it was jam-packed.
“Suddenly, a guy started tapping me on my shoulder in an attempt to talk to me. I received the classic ‘Give us a smile’ and ‘I reckon we could have incredible kids’. That was said by a man in his mid-30s.
“Needless to say, I told him to ‘f*** off’ but he continued trying to get my attention and nobody else told him to stop until they all got off at the next stop.”
A few women approached her after everyone had disembarked the train but Bea said it had made her more nervous about using public transport.
“Now, if I see a large crowd of men and I’m alone, I stay as clear as I can but if it’s not possible I just hope for the best,” she said.
Despite most assaults taking place in the evening rush hour when trains were most crowded, the new data showed that women faced harassment at all times of the day.
Isabella, 25, was on her way to work one morning when she had an unpleasant encounter with an older man.
“I was just finishing my makeup, and I noticed this guy sat opposite me to the right,” she said. “He was quite old and was just sort of staring at me for ages.
“Then he got up to get off the Tube, it was busy, and he just threw this piece of paper at me and said to me, ‘Well done, you’ve caught my eye today’, and the piece of paper had his name and number on it. It was embarrassing because it was a packed Tube and everyone else was looking.”
Andrea Simon, executive director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said although it was encouraging to see British Transport Police providing victims with new ways to report anonymously, tangible consequences for perpetrators were needed.
“Solutions such as female-only carriages will never work as they do not get to the root of the problem: male entitlement, power and control,” she said. “Instead, we should be addressing men’s attitudes and behaviours through education and by encouraging bystander intervention.”
She stressed the need for public campaigns and high-quality education on relationships and sex education in schools which will ultimately “shift the attitudes that trivialise or tolerate male violence”.
British Transport Police assistant chief constable Paul Furnell said: “We know that these crimes commonly go underreported and that is why we continue to relentlessly campaign to encourage victims and witnesses to report these behaviours and offences to us.
“With this we expect the number of reports to continue to rise.”
