'Most Young Women In UK Sexually Harassed'

The vast majority of young women in the UK have been sexually harassed in public places, according to a new survey.

A YouGov study found that 85% of females aged between 18 and 24 had been harassed, with 45% experiencing unwanted sexual touching.

The survey, commissioned by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, also found that 64% of women of all ages had been harassed, with 35% experiencing touching.

Only 11% reported that someone else had intervened on their behalf while being inappropriately touched, despite most saying they wanted help.

More than a quarter of women who had experienced sexual touching or harassment said they were under 16 years old when it first happened.

Dr Charlotte Barlow, a criminologist at Birmingham City University, said sexual harassment of females had been normalised at a young age. 

"It should be seen as something that is more likely to happen in adulthood but it starts with young girls as well.

"We are encouraged to take this kind of thing as a compliment, or if we do call it out we are viewed to be a feminist killjoy or someone who can't take a joke."

Charlotte Stevens, a 21-year-old student, said she experienced catcalling, wolf whistling and even unwanted inappropriate touching in night clubs on a regular basis.

"I've also had to change my route home from work because there are men who won't leave me alone and I feel safer on a bus.

"It's unsettling and infuriating that I've had to do that."

Danielle Balach-Warman, 20, says she experiences sexual harassment on a daily basis.

"I get beeped at, I get wolf whistled, and cat-called.

"I work in a football club and literally every single time I'm there someone says something sexually explicit to me.

"People just say that's the kind of thing that happens in football clubs."

The survey also found that women supported more police (53%), better street lighting (38%), more transport staff (38%), and public awareness campaigns encouraging others to intervene (35%).

Sarah Green, Acting Director at the End Violence Against Women Coalition said: "Sexual harassment is an everyday experience which women and girls learn to deal with, but it's time to hold a mirror up to it and challenge it. 

"If women are planning their lives around not being harassed or assaulted, they are not free."