The UK government’s independent adviser on tackling violence against women and girls has suggested her calls for street harassment to be made a crime are being blocked.
Nimco Ali, a close friend of Boris and Carrie Johnson, told the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson that her proposal had experienced “pushback” and hinted the prime minister had not fully supported it.
The murder of Sarah Everard, who was abducted while walking home in south London last year, triggered nationwide scrutiny of women’s safety and attitudes towards women.
Ali said: “For me, I would specifically love (for) public sexual harassment to become a crime.”
“One of the things that I’ve seen is that a department and a secretary of state can have an opinion and then there can be other things (where there is) pushback,” she said, before clarifying the pushback came from “other people”.
“And cabinet responsibility is a thing – so that’s why I’m saying ‘as a thing’, it’s not just individual, so I do think that there is at times a very masculined conversation where the government, in how government and institutions work, so we need to be able to address that,” she added.
As part of a crackdown launched last year, the government said it would not rule out creating new laws over street harassment, saying: “We are looking carefully at where there may be gaps in existing law and how a specific offence for public sexual harassment could address those.”
At the time, Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: “The safety of women and girls across the country, wherever they are, is an absolute priority for me.
“It is unacceptable that women and girls are still subject to harassment, abuse, and violence, and I do not accept that violence against women and girls is inevitable.
The government also said it would look at whether street design features could help improve personal safety in public, and would also pilot an online tool called StreetSafe, allowing members of the public, anonymously, to highlight locations where they feel particularly vulnerable.
The announcement also contained measures including a public campaign “focused on creating behavioural change” that the government hoped would challenge misogyny in society, as well as pledges to ensure police know how to respond effectively to allegations.
A government spokesperson told the BBC that tackling violence against women and girls remained one of its “top priorities”.
“Since July, we have delivered on our commitments, including the first ever national police lead for violence against women and girls, implementing the landmark Domestic Abuse Act and the pilot Safety of Women at Night Fund, along with a further £25m for Safer Streets projects.
“In March, the prime minister launched a new £20m business partnership to continue to improve girls’ access to education in developing countries, and the UK has been clear it supports women’s reproductive rights globally, including the right to access safe and legal abortion.”
