VAWG after Dark: Transport
On the 21st of December each year, at the most northerly point in Scotland, the sun rises at 9:10 am and sets at 2:52 pm. Winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, and the depths of a very long, very dark winter. On this day, parts of Scotland receive as little as 5 hours and 41 minutes of daylight.
On this day, it would be generous to claim that women have 5 hours and 41 minutes where they feel safe from the threat of men’s violence as this would assume that daylight guarantees safety for women, additionally, not accounting for those who, due to the threat of domestic violence, are no safer in their homes than they are in the public domain.
Women are told not to walk. If you must walk, be vigilant. Do not wear headphones. Do not wear your hood up in the December rain, so as not to obstruct your awareness of your surroundings. Take well-lit routes. Take public transport. Call a taxi. Book an Uber. The options women have to safely and affordably navigate public spaces, particularly after dark, remain severely limited.
This is not just about travelling from A to B as quickly and discreetly as possible in attempts to avoid harassment or abuse. It is about being able to equally enjoy and utilise what the public spaces in Scotland have to offer, without restriction or curfew, and without having to pay a ‘tax’ on safety.
In 2024, Glasgow Live reported that sexually-motivated crimes across Scotland’s rail network more than doubled compared to the previous year. This figure represents a broader story of a fractured transport system in Scotland that threatens the liberties of women to use public spaces.
Through SWC work, we know that women’s experiences of safety concerns surrounding public transport use remain a tangible barrier to their everyday lives:
“Just to continue on, it’s more than lighting, it’s around the whole kind of public realm, and women feeling like that they belong there. It’s their space as much as anyone else’s space, just being out in that civic area, and you know a lot of that comes into the kind of transport, and so on. That’s obviously a huge issue for our members, a huge issue is around feeling safe to use, and well, the lack of access on public transport is a huge issue. So, a lot of people end up having to rely on taxis, but particularly with you know, the cost of that now is unaffordable, really prohibitive, those barriers to being out and about, participating in your community, participating in the public realm is a huge issue. So, the cost and accessibility of public transport, feeling safe on buses and so one, that’s a massive issue.” SWC Gender Equality Roundtables 25
“Text me when you get home safe” are words that women are often told or utter themselves to loved ones, particularly after dark. This is a typical farewell. What lies beneath these words is the uncertainty that one will indeed get home safe, if at all.
Author - Sophie Bradley-Elliott, Policy & Event Support - SWC
References
Shepherd, J. (2024). Glasgow women and girls face ‘shocking’ rise in sex crimes on trains as assaults more than double. Available at: https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-women-girls-face-shocking-29760328
