London transport passengers are being reminded to report any sexual assaults or harassment they have experienced or witnessed while travelling, after a police operation.
The appeal follows a Project Guardian week of action, held between Monday, 14 July and Friday, 18 July, which led to the arrest of 13 people in connection with sexual offences committed on the capital’s trains, Tubes, and buses. Project Guardian is a multi-agency initiative involving British Transport Police (BTP), Metropolitan Police Safer Transport Command (STC), City of London Police and Transport for London (TfL). It’s to encourage victims of sexual offences to have the confidence to report the crime.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Deputy Director of Enforcement and On-Street Operations, said: “We care about our passengers and every journey they make and will not tolerate unwanted sexual behaviour of any kind on our transport network. If someone has made you feel uncomfortable, for example, touches you in an inappropriate manner, please tell the police or a member of our staff. They can then not only target the perpetrator, but also help to prevent it happening to someone else. Overall our transport network is a safe, low crime environment. More than 10 million passengers use our public transport services each day with very few ever experiencing or witnessing crime. With our partners in the MPS and BTP we are working together to make travel in the capital even safer.”
During the week of action, hundreds of uniformed officers were on patrol giving advice to commuters about Project Guardian, while plain clothes officers were deployed to identify any suspicious behaviour across the network. In the 15 months since Project Guardian was launched, there has been a 31 per cent increase in the reporting of sexual offences. About 2,000 police officers and PCSOs working on London’s transport system have now been specially trained to deal with these types of cases, which has led to a 26 per cent increase in the detection of sexual offences.
Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden, of British Transport Police, said: “Our message is clear – we want passengers to feel confident on their journey and to know exactly where to turn when they need help. A lot of victims do not report their experiences to us, for a number of reasons. Some worry that they won’t be taken seriously, or there is little that can be done to stop sexual crime, but this is not the case – you don’t have to suffer in silence. We will always be there to listen and will do everything we can to find those responsible. Unwanted sexual behaviour on the transport network is completely unacceptable and we will do everything we can to support you and bring offenders to justice.”
And Chief Superintendent Matt Bell, Roads and Transport Policing Command, of STC, said: “We want to make sure that any kind of sexual offence which occurs on the transport network is investigated and I would urge people to immediately come forward and report their concerns to the police to enable us to bring offenders to justice.”
“Our policing partnership approach is designed to protect and reassure passengers that the MPS, BTP and TfL will not tolerate any incidents of unwanted sexual behaviour and we do all we can to ensure safe and secure journeys for all.”
Project Guardian was founded in April 2013. Around 10 per cent of all commuters and 15 per cent of females have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on the network, though many do not report it.
