It’s “just part of being a woman”: The abuse and fears of women runners

• In Event: Social Dimensions of Fear of Crime

Abstract

In 1995, Stanko discussed the endemic, everyday, and mundane nature of violence against women, including the harassment of women in public spaces, highlighting the impact of gender-based abuse and violence on women’s fear of crime. The research informing this paper reveals that almost thirty years later, women runners are experiencing everyday abuse from men in public spaces, have high levels of concern for personal safety whilst running and are rarely reporting these experiences. In this paper, we draw on three sources of data: police data covering a two -year period across two UK forces; survey data from 498 women runners; and audio diaries from 10 women runners. The key findings evidence that women’s experiences of abuse whilst running are so frequent that they are normalised; only a small proportion report their experiences to the police despite high levels of fear; and as part of their running routines, undertake risk assessments and numerous safety precautions to avoid abuse and mitigate their fear.

Authors

• Rose Broad, University of Manchester

• Caroline Miles, University of Manchester