Revealed: What to do if you see a woman being intimidated or attacked on the street

The UN has announced a step-by-step guide on what to do if you witness violence against women and girls in public.

The three-step guide, published by UN Women UK, encourages bystanders not to continue walking if they see behavior that seems unusual.

It comes after the National Council of Chief Commissioners declared violence against women and girls a ‘national emergency’.

In the past five years, reports of crimes such as stalking, harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence against women have increased by 37% – and the perpetrators are getting younger.

Grim figures from the Office of National Statistics this year also show that a woman is murdered by a man every three days in Britain.

In light of the alarming figures, UN Women UK will launch a campaign on November 25 that will run until December 10, calling for the elimination of violence against women and girls.

The organization has launched the #StopSupportReport initiative, which sets out three steps to help intervene in incidents of violence against women on the streets.

The first step is to stop and offer support and help; where the emphasis is on the person, and not on the suspected perpetrator.

One way this can be done is to try to distract from the situation by asking that person for directions. Otherwise, it is advisable to make eye contact with the person and give him or her the opportunity to ask you for help.

The second step is to get the person to safety. This may mean walking them to the bus stop, calling a taxi, or waiting with them for a friend to pick them up.

The third step is to report the situation; but only if this is what the person has indicated he or she wants you to do. This may involve calling 999 or speaking to the security or management team.

Tabitha Morton, Executive Director of UN Women UK, said: ‘As dire as the statistics are, violence against women and girls can be prevented and bystander intervention is a crucial part of a system-wide approach.

‘When we intervene, we signal to perpetrators that their behavior is unacceptable. If this message is continually reinforced within our communities and our workplaces, we can push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable.

“It is up to all of us to create meaningful change by adapting our behavior to defuse situations, discourage harassers and support victims.”

In an alarming report released in July, the NPCC revealed that 3,000 crimes against women and girls are reported every day in Britain.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has reached ‘epidemic’ levels, with at least one in 12 women becoming victims every year, the deputy chief executive of the College of Policing has said.

Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth also warned that online influencers such as Andrew Tate could radicalize young men into extreme misogyny, in the same way that terrorists attract followers.

And cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation increased 435 percent between 2013 and 2022, the report estimates, from just over 20,000 to almost 107,000.

The age of the perpetrators is also getting younger: the average age of a suspect of child sexual abuse and exploitation is now 15 years old.

DCC Blyth said some of this was linked to the radicalization of young people online.

“We know that the influencers, Andrew Tate, the element of influencing boys in particular is quite terrifying and that is something that both the counter-terrorism leaders in the country and ourselves are discussing from a VAWG perspective,” she added.

Violence against women and girls was classified as a national threat to public safety by the Home Office in February 2023 and DCC Blyth said a national framework had aligned the police response with that of counter-terrorism.

Over the past year, more than 4,500 new officers have been trained to investigate rape and serious sexual crimes. The report shows that adult rape charges increased by 38 percent from the year ending December 2022 to the year ending December 2023.

DCC Blyth said society can no longer accept violence against women and girls as inevitable.

“Violence against women and girls is a national emergency,” she added.