Why are young people campaigning for safer streets?
Written by Lola Cook
Over the past few years, street safety has been gaining fast paced traction as a problem going unchecked and ignored despite its inevitable impact on women. An investigation done by UN Women UK found that 97% of women aged between 18-24 have been sexually harassed, with a further 96% not reporting these situations because they believed that it wouldn’t change anything. Young women are desperate to make change, but they are limited by a lack of access to people who have the power to do so and who are willing to listen.
Throughout 2023 Rural Media’s P.O.V. project has been running a youth action project called Rural Voice Collective Power has and it has been working with young people from Earl Mortimer College in Leominster. Over a series of sessions young participants explored issues that were concerning them locally. Three things were raised: littering, drug use/antisocial behaviour and cat calling. A few months ago, the students were able to present their concerns to a full meeting of Leominster Town Council with police presence – a successful call for change, but for two of the young women taking part still wasn’t enough. Chloe and Bell, who were not satisfied with what was being done about catcalling in Herefordshire, wanted more out of it. Through P.O.V. they were able to meet with Purple Leaf, the education arm of West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre, and they are currently working together to create a workshop that will teach young people how to handle situations of sexual harassment and spread this message around their local communities. They took action because they feel that not enough is being done to educate and support young people about the issue of street safety.
Image: Lola interviewing Bell and Chloe
When I spoke to them about their workshop project, Bell and Chloe both voiced a link between the prevalence of sexual harassment and living in a rural area, asserting that traditional values are common and not ‘with the times’. They felt many people in Herefordshire have outdated views about women, their roles, and what is an acceptable way to speak to and about them. They told me that sexual harassment from older men is something they’ve both experienced – even when they were as young as 12, leaving them feeling violated and sexualised.
And Bell and Chloe said they’d seen a significant increase in boys in their school year participating in rape culture. That term is used to describe environments where prevailing social attitudes normalize or trivialise sexual assault and abuse - and Bell and Chloe believe a lot of that is due to the influence of internet-famous Andrew Tate who voices radical opinions about the subjugation of women and dominance of men. Role modelling masculinity positively is uncommon, particularly on social media being accessed by young people. The fallout is hurtful attitudes that propel rape culture and the disregard for women’s rights further. As Chloe said: “They’re so against feminism because they think it’s disregarding men’s problems when it literally means equal.”
Their shared desire is to tackle a harmful rhetoric that’s being pushed in their faces. Both young women feel that some boys in Herefordshire are using the excuse of ‘banter’ to essentially bully girls about their sexual status, their feminist views and appearance, to the point where Chloe and Bell see other girls rejecting the idea of feminism in order to avoid being belittled by the boys.
But where is the way out? Bell and Chloe worry that the councillors who heard the Earl Mortimer College presentation earlier this year are older people who don’t believe young people have the knowledge or experience that’s integral to building a safe and desirable community for young people. What troubles them is the feeling that older people in positions of power – the people who “lead and have a voice” - are overlooking their demographic, and young people are left completely unrepresented.
They do, however, have hope. They hope that in their future there will be new, young councillors who challenge outdated views, specifically around sexual harassment, and that those harmful views are reprimanded and replaced with compassion, empathy and guarantee of safer streets for young women.
If you need help with street safety please call 999 in an emergency or contact these organisations for general support and advice.