{"id":43687,"date":"2021-10-25T10:17:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=43687"},"modified":"2021-12-09T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T13:27:03","slug":"cancel-culture-things-men-can-do-to-make-women-feel-safer-before-they-get-called-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/cancel-culture-things-men-can-do-to-make-women-feel-safer-before-they-get-called-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Things men can do to make women feel safer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"s1\">The deaths of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa have highlighted the desperate need for change within women&#8217;s safety. The outpouring shock has the nation wondering what is going on.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Social media posts have increasingly included women sharing their own experiences of sexual harassment and violence, many discussing the measures women regularly go to in order to feel safe &#8211; from clutching their keys in their hand to pretending to be on the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_43688\" style=\"width: 837px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/cancel-culture-things-men-can-do-to-make-women-feel-safer-before-they-get-called-out\/img_1627-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-43688\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-43688\" class=\"size-large wp-image-43688\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/10\/IMG_1627-827x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"827\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/10\/IMG_1627-827x1024.jpg 827w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/10\/IMG_1627-242x300.jpg 242w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/10\/IMG_1627-768x951.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/10\/IMG_1627.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-43688\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Quote from The Female Activists. Photograph: @thefemaleactivists\/Instagram.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Many women have called out, or \u2018cancelled\u2019, their attacker on social media, which leaves many fearing whether they will be next, not because they have harmed anyone but rather have not called it out or stopped it. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Not safe in broad daylight. Not safe in in crowded areas. Not safe on public transport. Not safe in cabs. Not safe from the police. Not safe in our own homes. What else needs to happen before women\u2019s safety is prioritised? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X7yg1LgfNG\">https:\/\/t.co\/X7yg1LgfNG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Vanessa (@NessaDeex) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NessaDeex\/status\/1449472229872480257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">More men are starting to reflect on the role they play in the problem and how they can tackle it. All men, even those who are not perpetrating violence or harm, have a responsibility to help it end. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So, you want to be an ally but you don\u2019t know how. After asking a group of women how men can help them feel safer, we created a list on how to help:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Keep distance<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When walking behind a girl during the day and at night, the closer you are the more threatened she feels. Keep a good amount of distance between you and her or walk ahead of her. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If you&#39;re walking behind a woman, even at a distance, and it&#39;s dark, cross over to the other side of the road and walk there instead. <\/p>\n<p>I&#39;ve had men do this a couple of times and it&#39;s like a huge weight lifted.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Hannah Al-Othman (@HannahAlOthman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HannahAlOthman\/status\/1369581448613814273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Don&#8217;t run up from behind<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Whether you\u2019re running to meet a friend or running as a workout, when women feel someone run up close to them from behind it can be frightening. When you see you\u2019re about to pass a women, cross the road or leave space when passing her. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Offer to walk female friends home<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The \u2018text me when you\u2019re home\u2019 messages, aren\u2019t enough. What you may consider a safe journey, might not be a safe journey to her. Don\u2019t judge girls or tell them they\u2019re being dramatic if they ask you to walk them somewhere.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Keep your hands to yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">This may seem like common sense, but a lot of guys can\u2019t keep their hands to themselves. They touch a woman\u2019s lower back when passing them in a crowded space. Please, don\u2019t do that. There is no reason to touch someone if she hasn\u2019t allowed you to. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Be an active bystander<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you notice a woman is uncomfortable with someone\u2019s behaviour or is being harassed, be an active bystander &#8211; don\u2019t turn a blind eye to it. Ask her if she is ok, stay with her until harasser is gone, don\u2019t allow it to continue. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Keep comments to yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">What might be an \u2018innocent\u2019 comment or even flattery, can be terrifying to lone women and girls. Walking up to a women and giving her a genuine compliment is one thing, shouting it across the street or cat calling is another.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Don&#8217;t stare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A lot of guys do it on daily basis. Being stared at by a guy when you\u2019re by yourself is very uncomfortable. If you don&#8217;t know where to look while you&#8217;re on the tube, just read one of the ads and show her you\u2019re not a threat. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">These points don\u2019t only apply at night. Women feel unsafe during all hours of the day, and what may seem like small changes can help women feel safer as they go about their lives. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You can read a thread which is full of useful suggestions &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StuartEdwards\/status\/1369415579183046664\">here<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Words by: Valeria Vintimilla | Sub-editor: Sarah Chaffey<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The deaths of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa have highlighted the desperate need for change within women&#8217;s safety. The outpouring shock has the nation wondering what is going on.&nbsp; Social media posts have increasingly included&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":43693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,32,53,93],"tags":[5404,5728,6753,6957],"class_list":["post-43687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activism","category-crime","category-feminism-2","category-news","tag-safety","tag-society","tag-voice-of-london","tag-women"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43687"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45984,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43687\/revisions\/45984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}