ITV Tonight investigation: Scale of sexual harassment faced by women exposed

  • Tonight

The extent of sexual harassment faced by young women has been revealed, with a barrage of catcalls and car horns a norm for many.

In a four-hour walk across central London for an ITV Tonight undercover investigation, one woman filmed the depressing reality.

As Naomi Hefter wandered the capital's streets, men walking by could be heard shouting 'hello sexy' and 'you're an absolute sort' towards her.

At one point, a photographer shamelessly attempted to take photos of her legs as she stood at the side of a busy road.

When she challenged the man and told him to stop, he insisted he was well within his rights to take pictures of her.

"The idea of how he thought it was OK to do that, the entitlement, is just beyond belief," said Naomi. "I felt quite violated by it," she added.

More than half of women aged between 18 and 34 surveyed for the Tonight programme said they had been sexually harassed. Of those, 40% feared violence with 20% actually suffering violence as a result.

While some may dismiss sexual harassment as banter, Pagan-Lilley Motlagh-Phillips knows better than most how quickly things can escalate, particularly if you try to ignore the perpetrators.

Pagan-Lilley Motlagh-Phillips had a moped driven at her when she ignored sexual harassment. Credit: ITV Tonight

The men who harassed her drove their moped straight at her, knocking her unconscious.

"The first time they came up the alley and they sped off and they shouted 'are you alright darling'?," she said.

"The handlebars of the bike went into my rib cage and I went underneath the bike. I couldn't walk for two weeks because the internal bruising was that severe. And that was all because of me not responding to 'are you alright?'."

For the past year, Nottinghamshire Police has treated misogyny as a hate crime on a par with racism and homophobia.

Nottinghamshire Police are treating misogyny as a hate crime. Credit: ITV Tonight

In 10 months, they have dealt with 83 hate incidents, of which 31 were classed as hate crimes.

Chief Constable Sue Fish said: "This is about significant harm to women in compromising their sense of well being, their personal safety and in some cases with physical and mental health."

It seems the decades long and weary battle for a woman's right to go about her business without fear of harassment or worse has a long road ahead yet.

  • Tonight: Harassment Uncovered is on ITV at 7.30pm on Thursday