Kerb crawling is rife outside UK schools – it’s time to make it illegal

If misogyny is left unchecked it can escalate into more worrying and violent behaviours

‘It is not an offence to kerb crawl a girl while she is walking home from school, or kerb crawl to harass girls and women’ (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

As a teenager, I have vivid memories of men driving slowly by my school in Hackney, shouting and making lewd comments as I walked home from school in my school uniform.

I remember the fear it instilled in me and the embarrassment I felt. No woman or girl deserves to be made to feel this way.

Kerb-crawling has this effect on the women and girls who are targeted, which infringes on their rights to walk freely on our streets.

Sadly, kerb crawling is not something that has died out or gone away as London has progressed in so many other ways. Nor is it something that is only targeted towards young women – far from it.

I speak with many women and representatives from the sector organisations who address and tackle violence against women and girls who tell me that this horrendous behaviour still goes on frequently outside our schools, colleges and universities.

While kerb crawling is an offence if a man is seeking to buy sex, it is not an offence to kerb crawl a girl while she is walking home from school, or kerb crawl to harass girls and women. This is despite the deep-rooted fear and intimidation this kind of behaviour causes.

We have an opportunity to do something about this. The House of Lords is debating a proposal put forward by the long-time defender of women’s rights, Harriet Harman MP, which would extend the offence of kerb crawling to the harassment of girls and women.

This would certainly be a step in the right direction and make a statement about the kind of society we want to be and help put a stop to those who behave in this vile way.

We all have a duty to tackle misogyny wherever we see it. We know that if left unchecked, this unacceptable attitude towards women and girls can escalate into more worrying and violent behaviours.

To that end, the mayor of London and I would wish to go even further than this, and that is why we have long supported calls to recognise misogyny as a hate crime, and for all hate crimes based on protected characteristics to be treated equally.

We all have a duty to tackle misogyny – which, left unchecked, can escalate into more worrying and violent behaviours. We need to prevent male violence rather than simply respond to it. That means properly addressing abhorrent behaviour and committing to educating men and boys about the sexism and misogyny that leads to abuse and violence towards women and girls.

This also means teaching young people about the importance of healthy, respectful relationships. This is something that the London Violence Reduction Unit – the first of its kind in England – is working on.

People don’t start off as violent perpetrators. There is a spectrum of behaviour, a pattern that acts as an indicator of someone’s ability to go on to commit more serious and violent crimes.

We can spot the signs early on. And as a society – we must do more to put a stop to them before harmful ideas have a chance to take root.

Outlawing kerb-crawling would be a significant step in the fight to end violence against women and girls once and for all.

Sophie Linden is London’s deputy mayor for policing and crime