Praise and ire as U.K. police pose as joggers to stop men from harassing women on runs

female person runners ar often told to go in groups, go with a canis familiaris, run in a well-lit area, run without earbuds, run with a whistle, run with tech, run varied routes, and — despite the fact all this advice might make them even more fearful — to also run assertively, standing tall and swinging their arms with purpose to not appear vulnerable.

As experts have previously pointed out, there's a lot of onus on women to stay safe in public spaces. And that's likely part of why a new police campaign in the U.K., which is aimed at stopping people from harassing women runners in the first place, is getting so much attention. 

For the last month, undercover female police officers in Surrey, a county in southeastern England, have been posing as joggers in areas identified as high-risk. If they experience harassment, including cat-calling or sexually suggestive comments, a support team steps in.

"The change I'd like to see is for people to recognize that it's not right. It's not just a small act. It's a thing that can make someone feel really quite uncomfortable," said Const. Abby Hayward, one of the officers who went undercover, in an Instagram video posted by Surrey Police.

"One of our officers was honked at within 10 minutes," Surrey Insp. Jon Vale, who runs the operation, told LBC News on Wednesday. "Then another vehicle slowed down, beeping and making gestures just 30 seconds later. That's how frequent it is." 

The initiative has made headlines around the world and elicited strong reactions online. But amid a wave of both praise and criticism, with the U.K.'s Free Speech Union reportedly calling it a "bizarre social-psychology experiment," some experts say the campaign misses the point and raises new concerns.

"But I worry about directing resources this way ... [and] reinforcing stereotypes of who is 'dangerous.'"

Running is arguably one of the most rewarding physical activities, with time spent outdoors, a sense of personal accomplishment and a supportive community cheering you to push just a little faster or tiny bit further.

But for many women, the rewards are tempered by the potential risks. An empirical study published in May in the British Journal of Criminology, for instance, found "high levels of abuse" reported by female runners, ranging from verbal comments to being physically and sexually assaulted.

"Although women rarely report incidents to the police, their frequent experiences lead to the normalization of abuse, high levels of fear and women runners engaging in significant 'safety work' in order to avoid such intrusions," wrote the authors.

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Another recent U.K. survey found that 70 per cent of women said they experienced an intimidating incident while jogging, such as being followed or honked at. An Adidas survey in 2023 found that 92 per cent of 4,500 women in nine countries reported feeling concerned for their safety when they go for a run. 

According to Statistics Canada data released in 2019, one in three women reported experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour in public. And survey data released by the Canadian Women's Foundation (CWF) last summer found that just 32 per cent of women said they felt safe walking or running on or in a recreational trail, park or forest, compared to 61 per cent of men.

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

While the Surrey Police campaign doesn't put the onus on women to prevent violence against themselves by changing their behaviour, Ketterling also doesn't think it's going to be particularly effective. That's in part because it doesn't address the deeper issues, she said.

"It focuses on individual perpetrators, not the structural conditions that make such violence quotidian, especially in intimate and family relationships," Ketterling said.

"While I agree that education is an important part of the solution, I want to see resources go to quality, comprehensive sexual health education done in classrooms by trained and well-resourced educators."

Surrey Police explained in a news release that harassment is significantly under-reported. Insp. Jon Vale said they'd already made a "number of interventions following reports of harassment of our plainclothes runners."

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

And many people online have expressed enthusiasm for the campaign.

"We need this! I've had two catcalls this week while out," wrote a commenter on a recent Instagram post from Canadian Running Magazine..

"Police everywhere: make this a widespread practice, please. So much violent stranger crime against women originates in men following and harassing women in the wild," wrote Elle Kamihira, a women's rights podcast producer, on X.

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Khan, with Carleton University, said catcalling or street interactions can be experienced as deeply invasive, frightening and unwelcome.

But she has concerns about the approach of using undercover police to "catch harassers," explaining that these kinds of interventions risk disproportionately targeting lower-income and racialized men, as well as reinforcing "stranger danger" narratives.

Plus, some people may come from places or contexts where greeting one another in public is considered friendly, she added, and women might interpret encounters in a variety of ways based on race, class, identity and past experiences.

"A 'good morning,' a compliment, solicitation for a date and even a hateful epithet all get lumped into a single category of harassment," Khan said. "It's reductionist, to say the least." 

Senior Writer & Editor

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