'Leave us alone, just let us run' - the women harassed and followed by men at night

Published2 hours ago

"Just leave us alone - let us run.

"What can we do? What more can we do to stop this? To have the safe, empowering space that we need."

Gwen Owen is the founder of a women-only running group and has taken to Instagram to express her despair at "intimidating" harassment she and Môn Girls Run receive from men at night.

"We're all glowing, we're in hi-vis, we had our lights on - we wanted to own the night - and we still got harassed."

During a recent 5K in Bangor, Gwynedd, men yelled and whistled at them out of car windows.

And they've also been followed by men who run alongside them.

North Wales Police officers have joined the group and witnessed harassment. Registration plates were recorded.

Owen, 28, from Anglesey, founded Môn Girls Run when she felt anxious running alone during the winter.

"I was running by myself for about six months, but then it started getting dark and I thought it was a bit scary going out on my own," she said.

After seeing similar groups in Manchester and Liverpool, she started her own on Anglesey.

"About six or eight women came to the first run, and I thought, 'yes, brilliant, I've created a community'."

Owen said female runners should not have to join a group in order to feel safe, "but for many, that has become inevitable".

"That's why the group is so important," she said.

Owen said harassment has become so common it is at risk of being trivialised.

"This shouldn't be normalised," she said.

"Because that's what's happening right now. People say, 'just ignore it, everything will be fine'.

"But it has gone too far.

"When I go for long runs on my own it happens much more often than people realise. I've had the same car pass me about five times before.

"We just want to be left alone. Even if you know us, don't honk your horn or shout at us, just let us run."

"We're always looking around and checking behind us," Owen said.

"We just want to be left alone and enjoy running."

The run in Bangor was part of the campaign Ein Nos Ni - Our Night, in English - by Welsh Athletics.

It aims to encourage women to run together on the 25th of each month to raise awareness about women's safety.

Owen said: "The evening was intended to empower women to go out and do things safely, but even when we are in a large group, it [the harassment] still happens."

North Wales Police has launched a campaign - Operation Cadence - to address harassment of female runners, and want incidents to be reported.

PC Catrin Hughes, who established the initiative, said: "As a police officer and someone who runs often, I understand how important it is to feel safe while running.

"Operation Cadence aims to build relationships, run alongside the community, listen to concerns and promote simple safety measures."

She said the initiative would involve patrols, including plain-clothed officers running on popular routes.

Related topics

Wales

Sexual harassment

Running

Violence against women

Bangor

North Wales Police

Women

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