Select a region
Local campaign groups have responded to a social media post from a local woman who alleged she was followed and harassed by a man as she walked alone on Friday night [5 August].
The social media post was shared more than 160 times over the weekend, including by the Guernsey Women’s Collective, Girls Night In group and BE LADS women’s safety campaign.
The islander, named only as “Shanine”, posted about the incident saying she wanted to “put it out there for a bit of warning/awareness”. She said she did not report the incident to police “for [her] own reasons” but shared her experience on Facebook.
Pictured: Shanine's social media post was shared more than 160 times over the weekend. The alleged incident had not been reported to the police at the time of publication.
Shanine alleged that she was approached by a man “around the OGH [Hotel]” as she walked alone. She claimed the man then followed her “up the alley towards the Odeon [car park]” and that he continued to follow her, “tried to kiss” her and “pushed [her] against the wall”.
“Despite me saying no, he wasn’t stopping [until] I elbowed and showed him and shouted loudly. Then he said sorry and left,” said Shanine.
Guernsey Women’s Collective Co-founder, Daisy Chapple, shared Shanine’s post.
“This is something that women are aware of already. It’s something we’re all worried about walking home, but seeing it written down and hearing another woman’s story that took place on an island that is supposed to be ‘safer than the UK’ is terrifying,” she said.
Pictured: Bailiwick Law Enforcement launched its #showsomerespect campaign in December last year.
“Over the past few years, events like the Reclaim These Streets vigil, the BE LADS campaign and Girls Night In have shown the general public that women don’t feel safe in Guernsey. This post, and the amount of attention it has garnered on social media is further evidence of this.
“It’s times like this when we have to remind men to police their friends, and to not stay silent when they see somebody acting inappropriately.”
In November last year, a Girls Night In boycott of bars and clubs in town was organised. The organisers of the boycott have remained anonymous, but shared Shanine’s post to their Instagram page.
One organiser commented: “We originally organised the Girls Night In because we saw similar boycotts in the UK and we wanted to highlight that the issue of women being harassed, assaulted, followed and made to feel uncomfortable is a problem in Guernsey.
“We have been sent countless stories from local women and men who have had similar experiences to Shanine. There are countless barriers to these incidents being reported and it is a personal choice. No one should be shamed for not making a report."
Pictured: The Guernsey Women's Collective organised a "Reclaim These Streets" vigil last year following UK protests over the murder of Sarah Everard.
The Girls Night In organiser continued: “Bailiwick Law Enforcement’s ‘show some respect’ campaign was encouraging. We are keen to see the results from their recent survey about the nighttime economy, which we encouraged our followers to complete.
“We hope that both men and women in Guernsey continue to be aware of the issue and report any allegations if they feel comfortable to do so. Ultimately though, it is perpetrator behaviour which needs to change. Enough is enough."
Guernsey on global sex assault site
One year on: #reclaimthesestreets
Police launch #showsomerespect
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.