Hi! My name is Gemma Tutton, I’m 16 years old and the co-founder of Our Streets Now. Like you, I believe that women, girls and people of marginalized genders should feel safe and be safe in public space.
You’ve signed this petition, so I know you feel as strongly as I do about this. That’s why I’m asking you to take the next step by emailing your MP and asking them to support our campaign to make public sexual harassment a crime.
Over 200,000 of you have taken the time to sign our petition in the past week alone. Thank you! So I thought I would tell you a bit more about our campaign and how you might help us achieve our shared goal of public spaces being free for all.
I started Our Streets Now with my sister Maya because of my own experiences of harassment in public. The first time was at the age of just 11, in the summer of my year 6. I was walking down my local high street in broad daylight. A car slowed down beside me, and a man leaned out to make crude, sexual remarks about my body that I didn’t even understand. That incident has stayed with me ever since.
My experience of being sexually harassed as a schoolgirl is as depressing as it is commonplace. According to statistics by Plan International UK, two thirds of schoolgirls have experienced unwanted sexual attention in public. For over 1 in 3 girls (38%), this harassment happens on a monthly basis.
That is why our #CrimeNotCompliment campaign with Plan International UK, calls upon the government to establish a clear law that criminalises all forms of public sexual harassment and protects the rights of women, girls and people of marginalised genders to a life lived without fear. You can support our legal campaign by emailing your MP. You can also submit your view on the need for legal change to the Government’s Violence against Women and Girls consultation (use our handy guide if it reflects your lived experience).
We believe that cultural change is also crucial, and that’s why we started the Our Schools Now campaign to get public sexual harassment onto the curriculum and into schools. In doing so, we hope a new generation of girls will grow up to never blame themselves for the harassment they will likely face, and a generation of boys will never become perpetrators of this everyday violence. You can find out more about our work and access free, useful resources for parents, teachers and children alike here.
We also believe that higher education institutions could and should be doing more to tackle the public sexual harassment their students face. Compulsory consent workshops, well-funded awareness campaigns and a full-time sexual assault and harassment advisor are all crucial steps we’re calling on universities to take as part of our #StudentsNotObjects campaign. If you’d like to learn more or join our university campaign there’s plenty more info here.
Finally, I would like to thank you for signing the petition and joining our movement. Without your voices pushing for an end to public sexual harassment none of this would be possible.
Thanks again,
Gemma
PS. You can access more frequent and in-depth updates about the campaign through our social media (@ourstreetsnow) or by signing up to our newsletter.