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Stepping outside for a nature walk or just to run some errands, something like this looks extremely normal, right
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A woman getting her exercise in with a nice jog. But in the UK, there may be more than meets the eye in a police force's latest Jog On campaign
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Surrey police in the UK launched a month-long crackdown using undercover woman officers posing as joggers to catch cat collars
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and the result 18 people arrested. The BBC tagged along for a run in July and reported within 20
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minutes the runners had already experienced harassment. One undercover officer told the
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independent she just hopes people will realize it is harassment and it is not okay. In a press
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release Surrey inspector John Vale says for repeat offenders or where the behavior is more serious
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we will robustly pursue all criminal justice outcomes. We recognize this is a significant worry for women and girls and will continue to patrol running routes throughout Red Hill A 2024 study by the University of Manchester asked 498 women who regularly exercise about their experiences
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68% said they'd been harassed, but only 5% reported incidents to the police
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The Guardian reports other police forces, like the Metropolitan Police in London, have also tried safety programs
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including a buddy system for women's run clubs, but Inspector Vail says the message in Surrey is clear
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Street harassment is not welcome, and the next time you try to stop a female jogger, she just might be an officer
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Now, here in the U.S., there's no national jogging sting like Surrey, but some cities are taking action against street harassment
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Washington, D.C. enacted a Street Harassment Prevention Act in 2018 and groups like Right to Be trained people on how to safely intervene as bystanders
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With Straight Arrow News, I'm Kennedy Felton. Download our app or visit san.com for more
