Opinion – Women shouldn’t solely be responsible for their safety

Since then, it’s been years of catcalling and wandering eyes, so much so that I question a man who doesn’t whistle at me from his car.

This made me wonder whether men have ever felt the need to run home — to feel hunted by the opposite gender.

‘No, I don’t feel the need to bring protection with me, nor have I ever felt stalked in London,’ says Haroon Hamid, a student based in Brighton. Meanwhile, Hamid has felt the need to walk his girlfriend home because he is afraid that another man might hurt or kidnap her.

And what can be done to solve this issue? Is it giving men a curfew? The same curfew that women unknowingly follow every day?

‘No, that’s ridiculous,’ says Hamid. ‘Especially after lockdown showed that domestic violence shoots up when men are kept indoors.’

From March to May 2020, the Office for National Statistics reported a 12% increase in the number of domestic abuse cases referred to victim support. Between April and June 2020, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline received a further 65% increase in calls compared to the first three months of last year.

Hamid says that lighting up the streets, making more bus routes have more frequent night times, and implementing more surveillance could be some short-term ways to address the issue of street violence towards women.

In June, the government chose 40 areas to share over £18 million to help make streets safer and crack down on neighbourhood crime through something called the Safer Streets Fund.

Further upping public transport and implementing street lighting will constantly need funding however, and CCTV brings up the big question of privacy rights. Even with more cameras, there are ways around getting caught on tape.

Men could also work to be more conscious around women and make them feel safer by avoiding getting within close proximity of them at night time, suggests Hamid.

‘If I see a woman walking in front of me at night, I will cross the road, walk really quickly, and then walk in front of her,’ Hamid notes. ‘That way, she knows I’m not following her.’

Cutting the problem at its roots is probably the most effective of solutions, though, Hamid says. To keep women safe, not just make them feel safe, a sustainable long term solution could be to teach children how to be more ethical and respect one another from an early age.

Hamid says that with religion being phased out as an ethical education choice in schools, there is space to implement subjects such as philosophy and psychology, which could tackle the issue of violence very early on in life.

With that to happen, however, we need a whole system change. We need teachers to be trained again, parents to be willing to get their children involved in these subjects, and we need curriculums to be designed to encourage young people to love, not fear one another.

Every time I go to visit my grandad in his isolated house in the countryside, he’ll ask me about that little white alarm. While unfortunately, in the three years that have passed, I have graduated, entered full-time employment and witnessed a global pandemic unfold, I can’t say a lot has changed for women’s safety.

That doesn’t mean that it can’t still change though.

If you want to start having a voice in that change, there are numerous online campaigns you can sign up to, such as End Violence Against Women. You can also talk to your local MPs, discuss bringing in more local lighting and putting together more neighbourhood watches.

We could even start a campaign to alter the way young people are taught about different genders, religions, sexualities and ethnicities, so that differences aren’t targeted, but loved.