Staying Safe As A Woman Runner
(this post contains affiliate links)
I feel really conflicted about this post. I do not believe that women should have to take steps to keep themselves safe when simply existing in public spaces, and the victim-blaming comments in response to violence against women are horrifying - no woman is response for being attacked, abducted or killed.
However, I’m also pragmatic. Change isn’t going to happen overnight, men (and it’s usually men) aren’t going to stop attacking women, and I want to do everything in my power to prevent violence against women. For the time being that includes sharing how women can protect themselves, particularly if they’re out running.
Running As A Woman
In a survey of over 2,000 runners by Runner’s World and Women’s Health (2021) around 60% of women said that they’d been harassed when running - that’s 1,200 women who have experienced catcalling, being followed, being flashed and assault while simply trying to enjoy a run. In response to the survey 25% of women reported that they were regularly subject to sexist comments or unwanted sexual advances and 6% said that they had felt threatened to such an extent by harassment while running that they feared for their lives.
Women aren’t a homogenous group, and women of colour experience racialise and sexualised harassment at a rate 60-80% higher than their white counterparts (Frontiers, 2014) and over a third of Black and lesbian or bisexual women reported harassment within the same 6 month period - the highest prevalence of any demographic (Stop Street Harassment, 2019). Trans women also experience very high levels of harassment - around 47% of trans women have reported that they’ve experienced sexual assault, with an even higher rate for trans women of colour (National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, 2019).
The impact of street harassment is huge. Most of run to grab an endorphine-filled slice of personal time, to carve out a little freedom in a busy day or simply because we enjoy it. But when we have to spend time worrying about whether we’ll be cat-called, flashed or worse all the physical, emotional and mental benefits of running are undermined. According to the Runner’s World/Women’s Health survey around 11% of women have stopped running because of harassment, which is heartbreaking.
“ ‘It’s not new information that when you’re heading out as a woman you expect to get heckled, but at the beginning of the first lockdown I was running every day and I was experiencing incessant catcalling and wolf-whistling. The traffic-free streets should have been liberating, but I was constantly on edge. And I just got tired of being wary every time I laced up my shoes.’”
The most galling thing about harassment is the culture of fear it creates. Even if harassment hasn’t pushed women to stop running, it’s likely to have influenced when and where they run. Runner’s World and Women’s Health found 91% of women have changed their behaviour due to fear of harassment with 34% of women surveyed saying they only run when its light and 54% saying they avoided running in certain places after dark, as we approach the autumn and the days get shorter you can see how limiting this could become. Fear is very real for women runners, and just 13% of those surveyed said they’d never feared for their safety while running. Assessing the threats and planning how to run ‘safely’ every time you put on your trainers is exhausting, it’s no wonder women decide it’s just too much.
Harassment Isn’t A Compliment
Like a lot of women, when I’ve experienced street harassment I’ve often been asked why I ‘just can’t take a compliment’. Harassment isn’t a compliment, it’s a threatening exercise of power that is rooted in entitlement and the belief that women are objects which are available to public scrutiny. Georgie Laming from Plan International UK offers an interesting perspective of this:
“There’s a false impression that there are some moments when you can do this. When a woman is dressed up for a night out, for example, or out running, there’s this assumption that she wants attention paid to her, but there’s a difference between a compliment and harassment. And that’s where it’s really clear that there’s a link between harassment and gender-based violence –that the harassment comes with a theory that there is some sort of implicit consent from women and that’s just absolutely not true”
The onus shouldn’t be on women to protect themselves from dangers they shouldn’t have to face and they are in no way responsible for. The pressure should be on men to learn that harassment is unacceptable and to hold their peers accountable for their actions. The way violence against women is reported needs to change and we need to put emphasis not on what a woman should’ve done to prevent harassment, but to why a man shouldn’t have behaved the way they did.
Staying Safe As A Woman Runner
The decision whether or not to take precautions is a personal choice. As an activist it’s really hard for me to say women should take steps to protect themselves from danger, but I am also a pragmatist and I believe we can fight against misogyne and violence against women while also taking steps that help us to feel more confident running outside in the current atmosphere.
Turn on Your Beacon And Apple Safety Features
Beacon is one of the most useful features on Strava because it allows you to share your live location with up to three people. While it’s not going to stop something happening to you it does mean that your safety contacts can keep tabs on you while you’re out and about and can provide you with assistance.
Apple Watch also has some great safety features, including the ability to call the emergency services from your watch by pressing and holding the side button until ‘Emergency SOS’ appears on screen. The fall detector feature is also brilliant as it can help you call the emergency services if you’ve had a hard fall, and if you can’t move it will automatically call the emergency service and then send a message with your location to your emergency contacts.
Don’t Share Your Running Route
When you’ve done something you’re proud of it can be so tempting to share all the details, but sharing maps of your regular running route for anyone to see can open you up to a lot of risk. If you really must share Strava has the option to obscure your start and end points or only share your runs with friends so strangers can’t see where you live.
Carry A Personal Alarm
When I’m running alone after dark I choose to carry a personal alarm from Ashley which emits a loud noise (it’s the loudest personal alarm on the market) and a flashing strobe when it’s activated. The goal of a personal alarm is to draw attention to the situation and ward off potential attackers. To be honest it’s not going to be of any use if you’re running somewhere isolated, but in a built up area it’s got the potential to make a difference.
If you think you’d benefit from an alarm Ashley have been kind enough to offer 10% off with the code BETHANTAYLORSWAINE.
Make A Pledge For Change
UK Athletics and the Home Country Athletics Federations have launched #WEWILL, a campaign to raise awareness of the sexual harassment of women runners and draw attention to the positive actions men and women can take to enable women to be safe and, crucially feel safe, in every part of their lives. #WEWILL believes small changes add up and that collective action leads to widespread change and crucially it includes advice on how to be an ally and develop awareness of how your actions might impact others.
#WEWILL encourages everyone to pledge the change they’re going to make to stand together and change our world. You can either come up with a pledge of your own, or use one of the pledges suggested by the #WEWILL campaign:
🤚🏾 I will actively seek understanding of women’s lived experiences
🖐🏻 I will tell friends and family my experiences of fear and harassment
🤚🏿 I will encourage my daughter/mother/sister/aunt/friend to run with confidence
✋🏼 I will advocate for women’s right to move freely
🤚🏾 I will never objectify women
🖐🏻 I will never restrict the human rights of women by my actions
🤚🏾 I will use my position to change policy
✋🏼 I will explain consent and respect to my children
🖐🏻 I will call out harassment when I see it
🤚🏿 I will support women who have been harassed
🖐🏻 I will explain what harassment is
There are no quick fixes when it comes to ending harassment, but if we all work together we might start making some progress.
