You can now report sexual harassment and assault on public transport by text message

This Spring, London Police have teamed up with other authorities to ensure sexual harassment on London public transport is put to a stop; handing out leaflets to the general public that provide contact numbers to report “anything that makes you feel uncomfortable”.

TfL revealed in July 2013, following a safety and security survey, that although a substantial 1 in 10 Londoners experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport, over 90 per cent of those people didn’t report such incidents to the Police.

The leaflet emphasises that even if you consider the incident you are reporting to be minor, that they take “all incidents seriously”.

It additionally helps define what is meant by sexual harassment, and emphasises that often offenders have a pattern to their behaviour, so information provided by victims could also help assist with another case.

The leaflets are a continuation of the ‘Report it to Stop it’ campaign, which launched in the Spring of 2016, collaborating efforts from TfL, the Metropolitan Police Service, the British Transport Police, and the City of London Police, to tackle harassment on London Transport.

Last year’s campaign is alledged to have caused a “36 per cent increase in the number of people coming forward after experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour on the Capital’s Tube, rail and bus network”, as TfL reports.

The necessity for these campaigns results from the increase in the number of reports of sexual harrassment made to the Police, which suggests the number of incidents occuring are also on the increase. Stated by TfL, between April and December 2015, 1,603 reports were made to the Police, an increase compared to the same period in 2014, in which 1,117 reports were made.

The leaflets, like the ‘Report it to stop it’ campaign from last year, are intended to increase the number of people coming forward who suffer sexual harassment on London public transport.

TfL states that “no one should be made to feel uncomfortable on their journey”.