Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to expand public awareness campaigns that encourage reporting of sexual harassment on public transport.

This Government is committed to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. Achieving this means concerted work on prevention and overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes.

The Department for Transport is working with partners across government and the transport industry to play its part in achieve this mission.

This includes working with the British Transport Police to encourage reporting via the 61016 text reporting number. We are also supportive of the Rail Delivery Group’s ‘Zero Tolerance Campaign’ which raises awareness of sexual harassment and encourages reporting and bystander interventions when safe to do so.

We are also bringing forward measures in the Bus Services (No. 2) mandating training for staff in the bus industry on how to recognise and respond to incidents of violence against women and girls, as well as anti-social behaviour (ASB).