#IWalkWithWomen: Over 70% of South West women don't feel safe walking home alone at night
Our exclusive survey has been looking at attitudes of women's safety
We can exclusively reveal 73% of women in the South West don't feel safe walking home alone at night.
Our #IWalkWithWomen survey has been looking at attitudes towards women's safety and if anything has changed nearly six months on from the murder of Sarah Everard.
Six months ago, an unimaginable act of violence rocked the country when Sarah, a 33-year-old marketing executive, was kidnapped off the streets of London on 3rd March and murdered by Met PC Wayne Couzens – a man she should have been able to trust.
It shone a light on the very real fears women face daily and triggered a watershed moment, as calls rose to tackle the epidemic of male violence against women and girls.
42% of women in the South feel LESS safe walking home alone following Sarah's death
To mark the anniversary of Sarah’s death, Bauer's publication, Grazia, conducted nationwide research in partnership with GoFundMe*, after holding a discussion on the issue of women’s safety as part of our #IWalkWithWomen initiative.
Our research shockingly found 42% of women in the region feel less safe when out alone now – despite 77% of both men and women agreeing the tragedy was a defining moment in terms of the conversation around women’s safety.
Terry Howard is the founder and operations director at the Cheltenham Guardians, the safeguarding and welfare team for people in the town's night time economy.
"We need to be talking about this day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out", he says.
"That demographic, the lone female within the night time economy is by far the most vulnerable.
"We need to get the message out there, we need to be talking about it. We assist women who are vulnerable who are on a night out in the town, but we also need to be educating men as well."
How can I watch the 'We Need To Talk About Women’s Safety' discussion?
Our Bauer Media panel and guests took part in an important discussion on women’s safety and what we can do to implement change. You can view the video below or on Closer's YouTube.
Trigger warning: You might find subjects in this discussion distressing. If you need any help and support you can call the Samaritans on 116 123.
If you need to report instances of harassment or abuse and feel comfortable to do so you can contact the Met Police, Police Scotland or the National Domestic Abuse helpline.