Apparently sexual harassment on public transportation in the UK has risen by 63% since 2019:
I wonder what else has increased significantly during that time…
Lots of new neo-Nazi groups.
Inflation is way up.
Dog whistles are becoming increasingly popular
Olive oil prices have increased by over 50% the last few years.
Stand up paddle boarding is showing an 800% increase in interest across the UK.
It must be the olive oil and paddle boarding.
Counterquestion: How much sexual harrasment do you think is ok before these kinds of ads are justified?
And another one: What would you replace these ads with?
What would you replace these ads with?
Art
I’d much rather see this than any of the commercial adverts.
It is useful information too. Most people won’t interrupt or help, and partly because they are not sure how. I saw this recently and it did make me think, if I did see something happening I have a better idea of how I can help.
It also creates an environment where you cannot justify not acting because you don’t think you can help, and that we as a society are saying it is not acceptable. If one person challenges harassment that would not have done so before seeing that, I’d count it as a success.
Stuff like this helps pull people out of the bystander effect which is what you’re describing. It gives everyone a call to action, either actively asking a question or silently reporting it, which is pretty rad.
Distract with a discharge of bear spray to their face.
You may be surprised to learn that pepper spray or varieties thereof are classified as firearms in the UK under section 5 of the 1968 act and possession of such has a sentence of upto 10 years.
That’s crazy! You can buy pepper or bear spray over the counter here. No special anything required. 10 years for a non lethal form of self defense that causes no permanent harm seems ridiculously excessive.
Edit: you guys can’t carry pocket knives either. Right?
You can carry a folding blade if its 3" or less. Anything else must have a reasonable explanation e.g. I am chef commuting to work.
Oh, at least that’s a reasonable regulation for the knives. I had heard that no pocket knives were allowed. What’s the justification for the pepper spray?
A knife has a utility beyond inflicting harm on others, pepper sprays have only that use.
Pepper spray is useful for self defense though, and doesn’t cause any permanent harm. Is punching someone who is robbing you also illegal?
Deaths from asphyxiation related to pepper spray. Are far from unknown. And while odds are other health conditions are involved in most past cases. Those deaths are why it has been banned here.
We are def what the US would call a nanny state. But most are fine with this to the greater extent.
And self defence in the UK stops at the idea of going prepared. UK laws do not allow anything that is intended as a weapon to be carried. So no punching someone in the process of robbing you is fine. Only if you feel at threat of physical harm. If you are a 6ft muscled man and cought an 80yo tiny pick pocket taking your wallet. And punched him. The police would arrest you both. In fact in most situations where you attacked someone robbing you. You should expect to have to show you felt at threat. Not uncommonly in court. Depending on the result of your attack.
Punching someone with a knuckle duster would mean your were preparing for a fight when you decided to take it with you. So illegal. And attacking someone running away after robbing you would be a crime.
Probably yes, but also these “stop crime” ads make people more afraid and make the police state worse. Especially “see it, say it, sorted” gives me the creeps
It’s also a part of “no broken windows” theatre. The story says that if there’s an abandoned house in the neighborhood and hooligans break one window, it must be covered up as fast as possible, otherwise, they are going to smash all the windows because they do not fear being seen anymore.
All of those traffic tickets, small fines for petty crime, etc. are designed to reinforce the idea of “we’re watching you, obey the law” because if you can get away with small crimes, you will be more likely to commit more serious ones.
Personally, I don’t like it, but a lot of petty government functionaries subscribe to this philosophy and that’s why we can’t have nice things.
“stop crime” ads make people more afraid and make the police state worse
Can you explain this for me?
Human beings are really bad at understanding statistics. Generally crime is trending down in the long term. Statistically, the world is a much safer place when it comes to interpersonal violence.
These facts are harder for us to grasp than the flashy, shocking “if it bleeds, it leads” news story. People’s anecdotal knowledge of the world tends to beat out the statistics we read when we shape our perspective of the world. That leads to frequent mismatches between what people believe the world is like and what the world is actually like.
A prime example of this is the “stranger danger” public awareness campaign in the US. The effort encouraged parents to be wary of strangers that may abduct their child. The problem is that the vast and overwhelming majority of child abductions are perpetrated by family members or by individuals known to the family - not strangers.
Across the US the “anecdotal” event of being frightened by a stranger danger TV ad had a strong impact on the perceptions of many parents. A lot of those people continued to believe that the greatest risk of kidnapping came from strangers even after the (correct) contradictory statistics became widely publicized. Similarly, these “stop crime” ads can frighten people just a little bit at imagining the scenario they describe. This experience can shape perception in a large and lasting way and make people perceive the problem as being more prevalent than it is.
