Met Police have encouraged women to report incidences of unwanted attention to the police
The Met Police have urged women who are made to feel to ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘frightened’ by wolf-whistling to report such matters to the police.
The recent disappearance of Sarah Everard has sparked a conversation amongst women about not feeling safe whilst walking alone at night.
Unwanted attention, such as in the form wolf-whistling, can often make women feel uneasy when they are walking alone in public spaces.
Louisa Rolfe, an Assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, has urged women to report incidences of harassment and unwanted attention to the police, reassuring them that they will be taken “seriously.”
As reported by the Times, Rolfe said: “I would urge them to report to us. We do take them seriously.
“While every incident might not have a criminal justice outcome, we want to know about patterns of offending.
“If you said to somebody about wolf-whistling [that they should] report it to police, they might think that’s strange. But, actually, if anything is making you feel frightened or so uncomfortable and upset that you’re adjusting your daily life to avoid it, then let us know.”
This comes after 97 per cent of young women in the UK said they have been sexually harassed, according to a recent survey by UN Women UK.
According to the organisation UN Women UK, some of the women who had been subjected to forms sexual harassment, including groping and being coerced into sexual activity and being followed, did not believe that the incident was serious enough to report to police.
Rolfe’s statement will hopefully be a step in the right direction for the women who experience harassment in their day-to-day lives.
It is certainly a welcomed starting point for tackling the pressing issue of women not feeling safe at night.
