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Serious violence and violence against women and girls

Serious violence (including against women and girls, and sexual violence) is one of Herefordshire Community Safety Partnership's main priorities.

We are currently involved in the Jog On campaign.

Jog On campaign - Tackling the harassment of female joggers

The Jog On campaign is focused on tackling harassing behaviour on our streets, which often creates barriers to women running. Jog On sits within the Herefordshire Community Safety Partnership's duty to tackle serious violence and violence against women and girls (VAWG), alongside West Mercia Police's VAWG plan. The campaign is powered through strong partnerships between West Mercia Police, Herefordshire Council, Worcestershire County Council, the University of Worcester, and Active Herefordshire & Worcestershire.

Jog On addresses the harassment female runners too often face, including catcalling, intimidation, and assaults. These are not just unwanted behaviours – they are often crimes. A national survey by Runner's World magazine found that 60% of female runners experience some form of harassment, particularly from men in cars, but we know that these offences and incidents are significantly under reported. We must not minimise the impact of these behaviours and crimes have on women, and encourage people to report all incidents to the police.

Jog On has two key elements – engagement and enforcement. Colleagues from partner agencies are visiting local communities via established events, running clubs and other campaigns and initiatives which promote women's safety within sport. We will be encouraging the recognition and reporting of incidents, and speaking with all runners to support them in being active bystanders to these behaviours.

The enforcement aspect involves female police officers in plain clothes in key locations, in line with established operational tactics used to identify offences such as shop theft or burglaries. These officers have volunteered to take part and will not be readily identifiable as police officers. When they are subjected to harassment such as catcalling, assault, and sexually suggestive comments, they will call nearby support crews to deal with the perpetrators as appropriate. These operations can take place at any time of day and are designed to be varied and unpredictable.

Our message to perpetrators of street-based harassment is this: your actions will not be tolerated. For too long women have changed their behaviours to feel safe, but now the onus to change is on you. Misogynistic remarks and predatory behaviours are not acceptable within our communities.

For more information visit https://www.westmercia.police.uk/jogon

If you experience any form of harassment, please contact West Mercia Police via:

If you do not wish to speak to police, you can also call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.