The clocks have turned back, the evenings are drawing near, the weather is changing. None of this makes it easy for people to exercise. For many, winter nights can be a threat to mental well-being.
Historically, people like me (men) have dealt with these winter fears by ignoring them. Active men like me love to tell anyone who wants to listen how good exercise is for physical and mental health. And when my wife hasn’t immediately left the house to jog around the block in the dark and gloom, I’ve repeated the message, but louder.
But it was on an autumn afternoon, while walking the Wirral Way with my wife Sally, that I learned what the real barrier was to her getting out and exercising in winter. She listed for me all the things that would prevent her, as a woman, from using the old railway we walked on for exercise after dark. It turned out that her fears had to do with the behavior of the half of the population who are men. Her barrier to exercise was people like me.
One in five women are concerned about sexual harassment when exercising, and three in 10 have experienced it first-hand while physically active, mostly on streets and in parks. And we know that people won’t do something, whether it’s walking or cycling to school, or jogging before work, if they don’t feel safe doing it.
As a parent, I think very differently about the safety of my two daughters compared to my sons; I don’t expect my kids to be holding keys and texting when they get to their destination. I don’t feel the need to advise you not to stay up too late or walk home with a friend. As my wife listed all the reasons why she wouldn’t be running the Wirral Way that night, I realized that she had put the responsibility of keeping my 17-year-old daughter safe on him, instead of focusing on taking his mind off it. – and my – anxiety. As men, we can play an important role in reducing the stress that women endure. Of course, I know that most of the men reading this are not the bullies and would never harass a woman, but the point is that women don’t know what.
So this is my call to arms: Sport England’s this girl can The campaign has laid out some steps for men to guide them on how to make women feel more confident when they’re outdoors this fall and winter. First, keep your distance: the closer you are, the more threatening you appear. If you’re walking or running after a woman, pause to give her some space or cross the street so you’re no longer behind her. Understand that women’s wariness and suspicion are not personal, so don’t take offense. Women have no way of knowing that you’re not a threat.
Never make comments, even if you think it’s a compliment. It’s intimidating for a single woman. Stay calm. If you see friends or family members making disrespectful comments to a woman, challenge them and explain why it’s not okay. We need to break the cycle of misogyny that contributes to women feeling insecure. Show younger men what it looks like to listen to women. Talk to them about what bullying is. Help them understand why a comment they think may be harmless can terrify women. If you notice a woman being harassed, show your support; it can be as simple as coming between a woman and the harasser.
Finally, share these tips with all the men you know. The more we educate men, the safer women will feel. Nothing I have written above is burdensome or difficult. We can all play our part in ensuring that the future world is safer for women: the potential gains are enormous and the cost of achieving it is very low.
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Chris Boardman MBE is a British former World and Olympic champion cyclist and Chairman of Sport England and Commissioner of Active Travel England.
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