Women don't feel safe on public transport in Scotland, report finds

The study found concerns about men as “potential perpetrators of harassment, assault or anti-social behaviour” made women and girls feel unsafe on buses and trains.

The research for Transport Scotland found women changed or adapted their travel plans to avoid the risk of harassment or assault.

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Women reported avoiding public transport completely, asking a male relative to meet them and taking steps like holding keys in their hand for self-defence and wearing trainers or flat shoes to be able to run if necessary.

Scotland's transport minister Jenny Gilruth said the report found women and girls are “constantly looking over their shoulder”.

Gilruth said: “It has become normalised and tolerated.

“Women should be able to travel safely on public transport and men should learn to behave themselves.”

Because of the risks associated with public transport, the study found, the likelihood of delays or cancellations put women off using public transport at night to avoid having to wait alone in the dark.

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Young women were more likely to report sexual harassment, disabled women were more likely to report anti-social and intolerant behaviour and women from ethnic minorities were most likely to report extreme examples of verbal sexist and racist abuse.

Women also noted that people, including other women, were unwilling to get involved “in situations that didn’t involve them”.

The report made 10 recommendations to improve safety for women and girls.

They include strengthening existing rules around non-consumption of alcohol on public transport and at points of interchange.

Other recommendations include more credible and accessible information and guidance for women and girls on what to do and who to contact if they feel threatened or unsafe.

Better lighting and security and increasing staff presence on board and at stations were also suggested.

Gilruth said what women face is not acceptable.

She said: “During our research, women and girls told us they shoulder significant responsibility for adapting their own behaviour to try to ‘be’ and ‘feel’ safe on public transport.

“They are often in a constant state of vigilance, particularly at night time, and as a result end up changing their plans, only travelling at certain points of the day or not using public transport altogether.

“This is simply not acceptable in 21st-century Scotland.

“We will now work with transport operators and stakeholders to carefully consider these recommendations and how we can implement them quickly and effectively, to ensure our transport network is safer and more secure for all who use it.”

Superintendent Arlene Wilson, of British Transport Police, said: “We will use these findings to work with our partners to ensure that sexual harassment will not be tolerated on the network and we will always take reports of this behaviour seriously.

“Our officers continue to patrol the rail network to catch offenders and reassure passengers.”

She urged the public to report anything by texting 61016 or via the Railway Guardian app.

She added: “In an emergency, always dial 999.”