All UK Women Have Been Sexually Harrased At Least Once But Not Many Report It: UN Survey

Shocking findings of a survey on women’s safety conducted in the United Kingdom found that almost every young woman in the UK has been sexually harassed or molested. The survey conducted by UN Women UK found that in the age group of 18-24 years, 97 percent of women said that they had faced sexual harassment. As many as 80 percent of women across all ages said they had been sexually harassed in public places. While younger women faced sexual harassment and objectification on a regular basis, even older respondents of the survey claimed they felt scared to venture out after dark or even during the day in winter for fear of being harassed.

According to a report in The Guardian, the YouGov survey recorded the experiences of 1,000 women. The findings not only reveal the grave sexual harassment statistics of British women but also the growing disenchantment and loss of faith in the justice system.

The survey revealed that 96 percent of the respondents did not report the incidents to authorities among whom 45 percent said felt reporting it would make no difference.

Claire Barnett, executive director of UN Women UK called the situation a ‘human rights crisis’. ‘It’s just not enough for us to keep saying ‘this is too difficult a problem for us to solve’ – it needs addressing now,’ The Guardian reported her as saying.