One in four people in Wiltshire believe that public sexual harassment is a ‘major or moderate problem’ in the county, a new survey has revealed today.

The survey, conducted by Opinium for the girls’ rights charity Plan International UK, also found that more than one in five people in Wiltshire (22%) have experienced public sexual harassment themselves or know someone who has.

While nearly one in six (13%) said that experiencing or worrying about PSH has prevented them from doing certain activities - like taking their usual route home or exercising.   

Worried residents feel that local authorities are not doing enough to tackle the problem. The survey found that:

· More than one-third (36%) feel their local MP is ‘not doing much, or doing nothing’ to address public sexual harassment in their local area.

· One-third (33%) feel their local MP does not take the issue of PSH seriously.

· Over half (53%) said that existing laws are not enough to protect women and girls from harassment.

Today’s findings come almost nine months after the Government promised to review gaps in legislation and consider a new public sexual harassment law as part of its Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. 

However, they are yet to make any movement on this, meaning that thousands of girls are being left without legal protection from harassment.

Rose Caldwell, CEO of Plan International UK, said: “It is extremely worrying that many women and girls do not feel safe in public places in their hometowns. Even more concerning is their feeling that those in power either will not listen or do not care.

‘We know from talking to girls that they are facing public sexual harassment every day – they are being followed, shouted at, groped and exposed to unwanted sexual advances. Enough is enough.

“We have laws to prevent people from dropping litter on the street, but we have no single piece of legislation to protect girls from public sexual harassment. The government must act now to change this once and for all.”

Plan International UK and Our Streets Now are calling for a new law to criminalise public sexual harassment through their #crimenotcompliment campaign. To find out more visit: www.plan-uk.org/crimenotcompliment.