Feeling unsafe in the UK

Up to 80 percent of women in Great Britain say they feel unsafe when walking through a park or open space after dark. According to the latest Office for National Statistics survey, for men this figure sinks to just under 40 percent. While the existence of a difference between men and women may not be all that surprising, the size of the gaps across the different survey scenarios is vast. After dark, all three of the situations put to the female respondents produced at least 48 percent saying they felt either fairly or very unsafe.

As summarised by Nick Stripe, Head of Crime Statistics Branch at the ONS: "We explored how these feelings are influenced by personal experience of harassment and if they affected behaviours. There are some clear findings: men and women both feel less safe after dark, but the extent to which women feel unsafe is significantly greater", adding: "Disabled people, too, are more likely to feel unsafe, even in the daytime in busy public places.”