The fear of walking home alone on closed streets

Women and girls have a legitimate anxiety about walking home alone on roads that have been closed to traffic.

There are no official statistics about how many women face sexual harassment and it is widely under-reported. However, a recent YouGov poll for UN Women (March 2021) found that 71% of women of all ages in the UK have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space, rising to 86% for 18- to 24-year-olds.

This colours the way women think about their journeys home, especially at night. In an interview with the BBC, Caroline Nokes, chair of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, pointed out that this is an experience that men may not understand. ‘I say to male colleagues, how many of you walk home with your keys already in your hand? How many of you change your shoes before you leave [work] every night? I do that. I put a pair of trainers on because, you know what, I can’t run in heels.” 

Of all places in the UK, London appears to have the highest rates of sexual harassment. Despite this, there is no mention of women’s anxiety about abuse or physical attack in TfL’s overarching policy on road safety, which looks specifically at vulnerable groups of pedestrians.

Areas like Dulwich, parts of which have extremely poor PTAL (accessibility to public transport) ratings, can feel particularly unsafe. For many women who live some distance from bus stops or main public transport hubs like North Dulwich or Herne Hill stations, the final mile home is likely to involve walking down streets that, since restrictions and closures were introduced, now appear dark and deserted. 

As one local resident says, “Previously with safety as my main concern, I would plan to drive somewhere during the day so I could avoid this long walk late at night.  But the active travel policy, and the shutting of so many roads, is now strongly discouraging this, and I find that frequently this option is no longer open to me.  Active travel has made me less able to control my own safety late at night.”

A resident of Court Lane has contacted One Dulwich to say that she no longer feels able to walk home through the closed junction after dark, as the roads are empty and no one would hear if she called for help.

Groups like Reclaim These Streets are encouraging women to voice this anxiety. Nimco Ali, the government’s independent advisor on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, said in the Telegraph on 11 March, “Following the disappearance last week of Sarah Everard in Clapham, there has been an outpouring of emotion and anger from women online, who are sharing their thoughts, stories and experiences about what it’s like to constantly feel unsafe.”

One Dulwich hopes that decision-maker Cllr Catherine Rose, and cabinet member Cllr Radha Burgess, will champion women’s safety needs in the forthcoming review. 

We also be writing to local MPs Helen Hayes and Harriet Harman – who is a strong supporter of women’s safety (see her recent tweet) – to ask for their help and support in making sure that Dulwich roads feel safe for the women who live here.

If you have a personal story that would help us illustrate the extent to which women’s safety on Dulwich roads has become an issue, please email onedulwich@gmail.com. We will keep all details confidential, and will only share with your permission.