Rail attacks on women up 50% - The Times

[island]

Today's Times runs an article citing BTP figures about crime on the railway.

As a male I obviously can't comment other than to say I hope all perpetrators are dealt with according to the law. The article also mentions the 61016 service and Railway Guardian app.

Violent attacks against women on trains rise by more than 50%

British Transport Police attribute the rise to a greater reporting of offences, but the increase highlights growing concerns over safety on public transport

www.thetimes.com

The number of violent attacks against women and girls on Britain’s railways has increased by more than 50 per cent over the past two years, according to official figures. Violent crimes have risen from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 last year, while the number of sexual offences has risen by 10 per cent from 2,235 to 2,475 over the same period. The number of cases of sexual harassment reported over the same period has doubled, to 1,908. A survey commissioned by British Transport Police found that over a third of women have been subjected to sexual harassment or sexual offences while commuting by train or tube.

 

[TUC]

Today's Times runs an article citing BTP figures about crime on the railway.

As a male I obviously can't comment other than to say I hope all perpetrators are dealt with according to the law. The article also mentions the 61016 service and Railway Guardian app.

Violent attacks against women on trains rise by more than 50%

British Transport Police attribute the rise to a greater reporting of offences, but the increase highlights growing concerns over safety on public transport

www.thetimes.com

Any incident is one too many, but it would be helpful contextually to know the comparative number/increase for attacks on men, and also the geographical spread of the incidents.

 

[The exile]

Any incident is one too many, but it would be helpful contextually to know the comparative number/increase for attacks on men, and also the geographical spread of the incidents.

Also, without wishing to appear to “belittle” the problem, is it really a 50% rise in attacks or a 50% in reported attacks - suggesting victims have more confidence to come forward? Also for quite a lot of 2021 hardly anyone was travelling by train. I imagine the rise compared with 2020 would be even more dramatic.

 

[SLC001]

11,357 is too many. That is what matters, not the increase. I have to say I feel increasingly uncomfortable travelling on public transport but as an aging male, it could be partly due to my senility.
Protecting women is the necessary action here but the harder issue is how do we resolve the problem in society where violence is more prevalent than ever and in many communities acceptable.

 

[Haywain]

is it really a 50% rise in attacks or a 50% in reported attacks - suggesting victims have more confidence to come forward?

Unless there is some evidence that a higher proportion of such attacks are being reported, it should be regarded as an increase in the number of attacks.

 

[class 9]

Also, without wishing to appear to “belittle” the problem, is it really a 50% rise in attacks or a 50% in reported attacks - suggesting victims have more confidence to come forward? Also for quite a lot of 2021 hardly anyone was travelling by train. I imagine the rise compared with 2020 would be even more dramatic.

IMO you are belittling it, 11,357 is an absolute disgrace and that's Reported incidents, no doubt actual incidents are much higher.
I'm surprised though that most are in the evening peak, I'd have thought late nights & weekends.

 

[43066]

IMO you are belittling it, 11,357 is an absolute disgrace and that's Reported incidents, no doubt actual incidents are much higher.
I'm surprised though that most are in the evening peak, I'd have thought late nights & weekends.

Is there any evidence attacks on women have increased at a greater rate than those on men? The article doesn’t seem to want to tell us.

If attacks generally have increased that’s a slightly different issue to an increase in attacks on women specifically. From just looking at figures for attacks on women we don’t actually know whether women are more or less safe than before.

More generally I’m not surprised there has been an increase in attacks given the appalling rise in anti social behaviour since Covid, and indeed there has been a corresponding rise in attacks on traincrew. I suspect we are reaping what was sown by the lockdowns.

 

[Haywain]

From just looking at figures for attacks on women we don’t actually know whether women are more or less safe than before.

From family experience I think it is fair to say that women, generally, feel a little less safe than in the past. That's enough for me.

 

[12LDA28C]

Unless there is some evidence that a higher proportion of such attacks are being reported, it should be regarded as an increase in the number of attacks.

The Evening Standard website features this article:

Violent crimes against women on Britain’s trains jump by more than 50%

A third of all women are likely to be assaulted while commuting, according to a study

www.standard.co.uk

Quoting - "BTP said that the increase in such offences was because victims were more willing to report them."

 

[RJ]

The personal culture of a lot of people with respect to boundaries is filthy. It is not uncommon to hear stories of women being harassed or even inappropriately touched by men on board trains, even those with a guard on. It’s something the powers that be really need to get a grip on.

For some demographics, rail travel as an individual is viewed as unviable from a safety perspective, particularly in the evenings.

 

[ExRes]

The personal culture of a lot of people with respect to boundaries is filthy. It is not uncommon to hear stories of women being harassed or even inappropriately touched by men on board trains, even those with a guard on. It’s something the powers that be really need to get a grip on.

For some demographics, rail travel as an individual is viewed as unviable from a safety perspective, particularly in the evenings.

What do you suggest the 'powers that be' do? the country is politically, morally and financially bankrupt and the Police are undermanned and underfunded

 

[dk1]

Gosh don’t the like to strike fear into people all the time

 

[jon0844]

How long has it been since TfL and the TOCs invested in posters and advertising to tell people how to report sexual crimes? The tube has many posters up, and I've seen plenty at train stations in waiting rooms etc. I would think about two years?

It's good if more people are reporting crimes when previously they've figured it was probably not important enough to call 999, and too late to report later on (101) when they got home. It's also vital that people report something even if they didn't personally feel threatened, or nothing actually happened to them, at the police need vital intelligence to help others who may not be so lucky.

 

[island]

It would also help if the BTP had a normal number as an alternative. Many networks don't let you text shortcodes, or require that you prepay £5 or more towards "airtime credit" in order to use 61016 at 15p a pop.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Comparing figures with 2021 is just sensationalism. Few people were travelling by train for a large part of 2021. Doing a comparison of attacks as a % of passengers would be legitimate. Doing a direct comparison of the number of attacks isn't,

 

[edwin_m]

Comparing figures with 2021 is just sensationalism. Few people were travelling by train for a large part of 2021. Doing a comparison of attacks as a % of passengers would be legitimate. Doing a direct comparison of the number of attacks isn't,

I had that thought too. However, there's also an argument that people on more lightly used trains might be more likely to be assaulted as there may not be other people around.

 

[JamesT]

It would also help if the BTP had a normal number as an alternative. Many networks don't let you text shortcodes, or require that you prepay £5 or more towards "airtime credit" in order to use 61016 at 15p a pop.

It's not a text number, but they do have 0800 40 50 40 for contacting them in similar situations that you would use 61016.

https://www.btp.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/

 

[RJ]

What do you suggest the 'powers that be' do? the country is politically, morally and financially bankrupt and the Police are undermanned and underfunded

More staff presence on trains, with higher visibility levels. More chance of spotting someone vulnerable who might be in a precarious situation and being able to intervene.

More investment in staff to provide back up for staff who may be dealing with a situation on a station or a train and a quicker response to reported crime.

Stop planning for crush loaded services, so staff can actually get through the trains to maintain a presence.

Until this happens though, I am sure some people who have women in their households may make arrangements so they don’t have to travel alone on public transport at high risk times.

Gosh don’t the like to strike fear into people all the time

Even as a man who has never been troubled in public, I know other demographics face different daily issues with being harassed and assaulted.

 

[John Luxton]

It would be interesting to know if there is a geographical pattern to all this. Presumably there is going to be a greater incidence around the capital just due to sheer numbers. But presumably other "hot spot" areas for violence towards both women and men could be identified even on a route by route basis. There are probably many very safe routes which have probably reported little or no violence.

It might be useful if this info was made available for people to make informed risk assessments of their own.

 

[tram21]

It would also help if the BTP had a normal number as an alternative. Many networks don't let you text shortcodes, or require that you prepay £5 or more towards "airtime credit" in order to use 61016 at 15p a pop.

Certainly agree with this. It's so difficult to contact them!

 

[John Luxton]

Certainly agree with this. It's so difficult to contact them!

Can't one just dial 999 and ask to be connected to BTP as one might the Coastguard?

 

[richardderby]

When I worked on the railway in London (TFL), we had regular knife arch and dogs checking for drugs at the station from time to time. The outcome was a lot of arrests and seizure of drugs and weapons. This caused a spike of crime figures in the neighborhood (Camden), so the answer was, to stop both initiatives..

 

[John Luxton]

When I worked on the railway in London (TFL), we had regular knife arch and dogs checking for drugs at the station from time to time. The outcome was a lot of arrests and seizure of drugs and weapons. This caused a spike of crime figures in the neighborhood (Camden), so the answer was, to stop both initiatives..

Where is the logic in that? Suggests that other areas should be targeted probably with similar results. Seems like a classic case of massaging the figures downwards irrespctive of reality!!

 

[Broucek]

Comparing figures with 2021 is just sensationalism. Few people were travelling by train for a large part of 2021. Doing a comparison of attacks as a % of passengers would be legitimate. Doing a direct comparison of the number of attacks isn't,

I'm a stats guy and I agree that there is significant "noise" in this data. And I agree that the stats are horribly large in absolute terms

 

[12LDA28C]

Comparing figures with 2021 is just sensationalism. Few people were travelling by train for a large part of 2021. Doing a comparison of attacks as a % of passengers would be legitimate. Doing a direct comparison of the number of attacks isn't,

If you want sensationalism, check out the Independent's reporting of the survey which claims "Violent attacks perpetrated against women on British railways have more than doubled in two years, troubling new data shows" (my bold). I'm not sure how an increase of 50% is 'doubling'.

The shocking spike in violent crimes against women on Britain’s trains

Figures show over a third of women experienced sexual harassment or sexual offences while commuting

www.independent.co.uk

 

[island]

It's not a text number, but they do have 0800 40 50 40 for contacting them in similar situations that you would use 61016.

https://www.btp.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/

Can't one just dial 999 and ask to be connected to BTP as one might the Coastguard?

These are both possible but considerably less discreet and run the risk of the reporter being victimized.

 

[richardderby]

Where is the logic in that? Suggests that other areas should be targeted probably with similar results. Seems like a classic case of massaging the figures downwards irrespctive of reality!!

It was definitely a case of massaging the figures downwards, but at what result??

 

[DarloRich]

there seems to be a number of posters seeking to minimise this information or find a way to dismiss it or question the data. We shouldn't do that. Regardless of the noise this is a headline that should worry us all. If women are more at risk of assaults or sexual interference on trains then something is wrong and we simply shouldn't stand for it.

We all have a wife, partner or mother and we should be trying to make sure they safe and secure using trains wherever and whenever regardless of whether this is 43 or 51% rise in reported/unreported activities!

What are we going to do about this?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

there seems to be a number of posters seeking to minimise this information or find a way to dismiss it or question the data. We shouldn't do that. Regardless of the noise this is a headline that should worry us all. If women are more at risk of assaults or sexual interference on trains then something is wrong and we simply shouldn't stand for it.

We all have a wife, partner or mother and we should be trying to make sure they safe and secure using trains wherever and whenever regardless of whether this is 43 or 51% rise in reported/unreported activities!

What are we going to do about this?

Completely agreed. Violence against women is a real problem in this country that only seems to get worse each year, and it's high time it was addressed. 11,357 is a staggering, sickening number. That's an average of 31 women a day, harmed or violated on the railways they have a right to feel safe using.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Completely agreed. Violence against women is a real problem in this country that only seems to get worse each year, and it's high time it was addressed. 11,357 is a staggering, sickening number. That's an average of 31 women a day, harmed or violated on the railways they have a right to feel safe using.

And I prefer rational debate based on sound data. I think the vast majority of people on here believe women should be and feel safe whilst using public transport but sensational headlines that don’t stand up to scrutiny don’t really help anybody.