Security is about more than locking doors and manning gates; it’s moved with the times. As we featured in our May issue, child sexual exploitation (CSE) is part of the course for the SIA licence exam for new contract guards and door staff. The on-bus CCTV awards at New Scotland Yard in late July heard from Sophie Brown of Transport for London on the latest from Operation Guardian. That’s the London bus and train authority’s campaign against unwanted sexual behaviour (USB). But first, some background on why TfL has made USB a safety and security matter, for the last two years.
Safety concern
Fear of crime, to be brief. According to TfL’s latest safety and security report in April, 12 per cent of Londoners were very or quite worried about their personal security when using public transport in London across 2014, and 17 per cent recalled an incident which made them feel worried about their personal safety. These compare with average figures of around 12 to 15 per cent, and 18 to 23 per cent respectively in 2012. As TfL says, that’s a clear improvement; and (thanks not least to CCTV) TfL can point to only a few reported crimes, per million passenger journeys. Besides, safety and security concerns aren’t what bother Londoners most; overcrowding (which can give perverts opportunity to grope and expose themselves), slow and unreliable journeys and the price of travel matter more. Most passengers reported seeing some bad behaviour, whether littering, spitting, being drunk, or swearing, to name a few. Some groups of Londoners remain more likely to be be fearful while on public transport than others: women, BAME (black and ethnic minorities), disabled Londoners and gay, lesbian and bisexual Londoners are the groups most likely to be generally worried, and to have experienced worrying incidents. To state the obvious, as women and ethnic minorities make up the majority in London, TfL has to do something to satisfy so many customers. Hence Guardian.
TfL began in 2013 by finding that one in ten passengers had experienced USB; but nine out of ten of such cases went unreported. Given that the authorities knew so little of the problem, how to combat such harassment and intimidation of women was hard, Sophie Brown said. TfL spoke to passengers in focus groups. Why weren’t women reporting? As with other crimes, such as verbal and even physical abuse of shop staff, victims accepted it as part of everyday life; or didn’t know who to report it to; or doubted that police would find the criminal (who could range from someone leering, to filming covertly up skirts); or that justice would be done. TfL began by encouraging people to report, and promising that victims would be taken seriously. Some 200,000 leaflets were handed out; much was made of social media. CCTV was of use, for instance in identifying filmers up skirts. More women did indeed report. Next stage was a 60-second film advert showing a woman on a Tube train being harassed by a silent man in a suit. The message: ‘report it to stop it’. More reporting, and publicising of court sentences for perverts, is addressing what TfL admits is a ‘credibility issue’ that it’s worth reporting such incidents. Sophie Brown said: “We’re in it for the long term.” While as she said the ultimate aim is to stop these sorts of crime – including unwanted sexual comments, besides acts and photos taken without your consent – the project is also about changing attitudes; that the authorities are willing and able (thanks to CCTV) to do something about these offences. As there’s often a pattern of offending, CCTV can, and has, brought offenders to justice. Changing attitudes means that victims feel more comfortable; whereas they may have once wanted to above all to forget about it, now they may feel able to raise it with friends the next day in the pub. Those friends, while not victims, thanks to Guardian may advise the victim to text police. Thus a cycle of reports being taken seriously leading to outcomes in court and victims feeling readier to come forward.
More details
Visit report-it.tumblr.com. The site defines the issue (‘If it makes you feel uncomfortable, then you can report’) and tells you how to report, including by text, and what details the police want. The site reassures passengers that no complaint is too small or trivial; and any unwanted sexual behaviour is unacceptable. For the Transport for London April 2015 safety and security report visit www.tfl.gov.uk.
Pictured: Bus at Euston.
Example of July 2015 court case from BTP website: A Hackney man was jailed for three months after he was caught filming up women’s skirts at Stratford London Underground station.
