An LSJ news poll shows only 1.6% of women feel safe everywhere in Lincoln, while 49% don’t feel safe anywhere.
This comes after UN Women UK published a report that showed 97% of young women have experienced sexual harassment of some kind in the UK.
Women have been showing solidarity in the wake of the Sarah Everard killing, with many taking to social media to share their own experiences.
Brooke Lawrence, 21, has been experiencing harassment since she moved to Lincoln to study.
She says it all began when her friend overheard a group of ‘middle aged’ men discussing a group-chat they had made for the purpose of sharing Brooke’s location with each other.
Since then, she has felt unsafe whenever she leaves her home, having been approached by a man who went back to his friends and said, “That’s her”.
“To start with it didn’t really sink in, as you hear and read about all of these stories all the time,” she said.
“The more I spoke to my friends about it, it began to stress me out, and now I’m too scared to walk around Lincoln by myself
“Every time a car drives by I panic and think they are going to pull over and kidnap me.”
Brooke says more streetlights and a greater police presence in the streets would help her feel safer while walking alone.
Another Lincoln resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted LSJ News with her experience of sexual assault.
She told us she lost her friends in a Lincoln nightclub and left alone to walk home.
She was then confronted in the streets by a man who assaulted her and dragged her to his house.
She passed out on his bed and woke up later to him assaulting her again.
“Awareness needs to be spread that men won’t get away with doing these things,” she said.
“I think it comes from small things like turning a blind eye in the club when someone is dancing with a girl who doesn’t want it.
Martial arts trainer Sam Tweed, who teaches at East Midlands BJJ Lincoln, is urging women to take self-defence classes when social distancing guidelines end.
“Unfortunately, we seldom see young women attending our classes,” he said.
“The general consensus seems to be that they would only take up learning if they were attacked or had an unfortunate encounter.
“I personally feel it is very important for any woman to have some kind of self-defence training.”
Also see Women campaign for safer streets
