British cops go under cover as joggers. Will this prevent female runners from being harassed?

The runners are often informed to run in groups, to run with a dog, to run in a well -lit area, to run without headphones, to run with a whistle, to run with technology, to run various routes and – despite the fact that all these tips could make them even more scary – to also run assisted, standing and swinging their arms with a goal not to appear vulnerable.

As experts previously highlighted, there are a lot of oinus on women to stay safe in public spaces. And that is probably part of the reason why a new police campaign in the United Kingdom, which aims to prevent people from harassing women’s runners in the first place, attracts so much attention.

During the last month, infilating police officers from Surrey, a county in southeast of England, presented themselves as joggers in regions identified as at high risk. If they undergo harassment, including cat comments or sexually suggestive comments, a support team is involved.

“The change that I would like to see is that people recognize that it is not good. It’s not just a little act. It is something that can make someone really uncomfortable,” said the constant. Abby Hayward, one of the police officers who became under cover, in an Instagram video published by the Surrey police.

CBC News contacted the Surrey police and has not heard. But according to local news LBC News, the Surrey police carried out 18 arrests last month in his operations, including jogging patrols, to fight violence against women and girls.

“One of our officers was horn in the 10 minutes,” said Surrey Insp. Jon Vale, who heads the operation, told LBC News on Wednesday. “Then another vehicle has slowed down, in Beep and making gestures just 30 seconds later. It is how frequent it is.”

The initiative made the headlines worldwide and caused strong online reactions. But in the midst of a wave of praise and criticism, the British union of freedom of expression qualifying it as “bizarre experience of social psychology”, some experts say that the campaign is missing the point and raises new concerns.

“I do not want to minimize how unpleasant or frightening these moments can be, in particular for joggers who just want to stay in the area without dealing with unpleasant men,” Ummni Khan, professor of associated law at Carleton University in Ottawa who is looking for gender, sexuality and law, told CBC News.

“But I worry about directing the resources in this way … (and) strengthening the stereotypes of who is” dangerous “.”

Women frequently engage in “safety work” on races

Running is undoubtedly one of the most gratifying physical activities, with time spent outside, a feeling of personal accomplishment and a support community encouraging you to push a little more or a little further.

But for many women, the awards are tempered by potential risks. An empirical study published in May in the British Journal of Criminology, for example, revealed that “high levels of abuse” reported by runners, ranging from verbal comments to physical assault and sexually.

“Although women rarely report incidents to the police, their frequent experiences lead to the normalization of abuses, high levels of fear and women’s runners engaging in a significant security work in order to avoid such intrusions,” the authors wrote.

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A study by researchers from the University of Simon Fraser examined what makes the trails attractive for runners and joggers – and found that some women were less likely to run in the woods for fear of being attacked.

Another recent survey in the United Kingdom revealed that 70% of women said they had an intimidating incident during jogging, such as being followed or horn. An Adidas survey in 2023 revealed that 92% of the 4,500 women in nine countries felt concerned about their safety when they take place.

According to statistics Canada data published in 2019, one in three women said they had unwanted sexual behavior in public. And the survey data published by the Foundation of Canadian Women (CWF) last summer revealed that only 32% of women said they felt safe to walk or run on or in a path, a park or a recreational forest, against 61% of men.

It is a fact that women are affected disproportionately by sexospecific violence, said Jean Ketterling, assistant professor in the program of female and gender studies at the University of Saskatchewan, and a runner herself.

Although the Surrey police campaign does not put the burden on women to prevent violence against themselves by modifying their behavior, Ketterling does not think that it will be particularly effective. This is partly because it does not solve the deeper problems, she said.

“He focuses on individual authors, not the structural conditions that make this daily life of violence, in particular in intimate and family relations,” said Ketterling.

“Although I agree that education is an important part of the solution, I want to see resources go to a full education of quality sexual health carried out in classrooms by trained and very resources.”

The problem with stalkers “catch”

Surrey police explained in a press release that harassment is considerably underdeveloped. Inspired inspired Jon Vale said that they had already made a “number of interventions following harassment reports of our in civilian runners”.

“The next time you see a female jogger, just think, they could be a police officer with nearby colleagues ready to stop you. Your behavior is not welcome in Surrey,” he said.

And many online people have expressed their enthusiasm for the campaign.

“We need this! I had two catcals this week during the release,” a commentator wrote on a recent Instagram post in the Canadian race magazine.

“Police everywhere: make it a widespread practice, please. So many violent foreign crimes against women come from men who follow and harass women in the wild,” she wrote Kamihira, producer of Podcast on women’s rights, on X.

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Leah Fulton, the founder of Victoria Queer Run Club, said that the group creates a welcoming space for runners at a time when there seems to be less inclusiveness in events.

Khan, with the University of Carleton, said that Cattalling or Street interactions can be experienced as deeply invasive, frightening and unwelcome.

But she is concerned about the approach to the use of the infiltrated police to “catch harassuses”, explaining that these types of interventions may disproportionately target men with low income and racialized, as well as stories of “foreign danger”.

In addition, some people can come from places or contexts where to greet in public is considered friendly, she added, and women can interpret meetings in various ways based on breed, class, identity and past experiences.

“A” hello “, a compliment, a request for a date and even a hateful epithet all come together in a single category of harassment,” said Khan. “It is reduced to say the least.”