Safer journeys for women and girls

In July 2024, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the e College of Policing said that violence against women and girls is a “national emergency.” The Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and has published a strategy setting out how it intends to do so. The safety of women and girls when making journeys is an important part of this.

The Transport Committee is launching an inquiry into how well the Government is keeping women and girls safe as they travel in the UK—whether by public transport or by other means, and what more could be done to ensure that they can make their journeys without fear of violence, intimidation or harassment.

The Committee welcomes written evidence that addresses any of the following questions:

The Department for Transport’s role in ensuring safe journeys for women and girls

1) How well do Government and transport providers understand how safe women and girls’ journeys are, and what impact perceptions of safety have on travel patterns? Is there a need to improve how data is gathered and used to identify and address risks?

2) How effectively does the Department for Transport work with other departments, local authorities, transport providers and wider stakeholders to improve the safety of women and girls?

3)Are the transport-related actions set out in the Government’s Strategy to reduce violence against women and girls adequate to improve women’s safety, and is the Department making progress in implementing them?

Preventing and addressing risks to women and girls’ safety

4) What preventative measures are most effective in reducing risk to women using transport?

5) How can transport systems be designed or adapted to make women and girls feel safer while travelling?

6) How can Government ensure that transport systems effectively prevent and address violence and intimidation against all women and girls—including transport staff, disabled people, LGBT+ people, and people of colour and those from minority groups?

7) What additional interventions are needed to ensure that women and girls feel and remain safe when making journeys?

8) How should the Government make the most effective use of technology to ensure the safety of women and girls journeys, while protecting privacy?

Dealing with the perpetrators of violence and supporting victims

9) Are current reporting, response and enforcement processes (and resources) sufficient to tackle harassment and violence across public transport systems quickly and appropriately?

10) How can agencies better identify patterns of offending behaviour or high-risk services and times of day within transport environments?

11) What interventions or sanctions should be prioritised to deter repeat perpetrators on public transport?

Sending us evidence

Organisations, researchers, transport operators and others with a professional interest in this topic:

Members of the public with a personal interest in this topic:

You are welcome to make a formal submission instead if you would prefer, but the Committee is unlikely to publish submissions that refer to very personal experiences or which could identify other people, in order to protect confidentiality.

We cannot investigate or provide support for individual cases or incidents.

Please do not mention any incidents which are or could become the subject of court proceedings, and please do not include information that could identify individuals.

Support

We understand that this can be a distressing and sensitive topic. You may find it helpful to reach out to a specialist organisation for advice and guidance:

If you have immediate concerns for your safety or the safety of someone else, please contact the Police on 999.

Transport for London (TfL): reports can be made to TFL, which will then refer the case to the police. They provide support for victims and encourage bystanders to report incidents.

British Transport Police: this service will help you report rape and sexual assault, and other sexual offences like indecent exposure and upskirting. You can also report sexual harassment using this service.

Crimestoppers: you can report a crime anonymously via the website or by calling 0800 555 111

Specialist organisations offering support and guidance include:

Find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre on the NHS website.

More information

Further information about the terms for submitting evidence is available throughout the online submission process. Please contact us at transcom@parliament.uk if you have any questions about this.

The Transport Committee is looking at how effectively the Government is keeping women and girls safe as they travel, and what more could be done to ensure that they can make their journeys without fear of violence, intimidation or harassment.

The Committee will consider how government could most effectively prevent risks to women’s safety when they make journeys in the UK, what interventions are most effective to respond to incidents of violence, intimidation or harassment, and how well the Department for Transport is working to ensure safer journeys for women and girls.

Read the call for evidence.

Evidence goes to the committee through Parliament’s own form. There is no way to submit it from here: Parliament publishes no API for written evidence, so the button above opens the committee’s page.

What you send is published under your name and can be quoted in the committee’s report. Keep it under 3,000 words, send it as a document rather than a letter in the body of an email, and answer the questions above rather than writing generally.

This committee accepts submissions after the closing date, though earlier is better.