Oxfordshire teenager campaigns for end to violence against women and girls

  • ITV News Meridian's Kara Digby spoke to Niamh Dernie about her campaign

A teenager from Oxfordshire says more needs to done to tackle violence and harassment against women and girls after experiencing sexual assault.

Niamh Dernie, 17, has waived her right to anonymity and has been campaigning for change for two years.

She said: "My friends are cat-called daily, I'm cat-called daily. It's something that I see weekly. I see it all the time. Some of my friends have been stalked. This sort of behaviour can happen anywhere."

Niamh wants men and boys to help stamp out the problem by educating themselves on the impact it can have.

She said: "They need to want to learn. They need to want to help. Women are talking to other women about how they feel unsafe and men aren't really listening.

"It would be so useful if men would turn to each other and say actually that's not okay, that would hurt a woman's feelings or that's a really dangerous thing to say."

British Transport Police is encouraging women and girls to report anything which makes them feel uncomfortable. Credit: ITV News Meridian

Recent statistics from British Transport Police show a rise in reports of sexual offences and harassment against teenage girls on the rail network.

In 2022, 663 teenage girls reported sexual offences or harassment to British Transport Police.

In 2023, this rose to 886 reports, at 25% increase.

The 25% increase is thought to be partly due to more teenagers reporting incidents but police believe that many girls are staying silent.

Det Ch Insp Nia Mellor, British Transport Police, said: "Women and girls don't think that they will be believed.

"They don't think that what they've experienced is serious enough to report and for us we would say that nothing is too trivial, nothing is too small.

"Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable on your journey, please do report it to us."

Niamh is now working on surveying schools across the region to find out the impact sexual harassment is having on girls.

Niamh said: "Any person that speak up about sexual assault and domestic violence, it's really difficult.

"I think that if you come forward to the police or even if you just mention it to a friend or family member, that's really brave and you should be proud of yourself."

Niamh would like to see misogyny made a hate crime and will continue to fight for a safer future for women.

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