Run choices 'shouldn't be skewed by men's actions'

Phoebe Lake says many women run together because of bad experiences

"It's terrifying quite honestly. You don't know if it is going to escalate, whether they are going to take it further, you don't know what is going to happen."

Phoebe Lake, from female running group These Girls Run, said members had faced issues like cat-calling, being followed or videoed, or physically grabbed.

Nottinghamshire Police has launched a campaign called "Walk in My Shoes", which will ask women and girls where and when they feel unsafe in public, to help agencies prioritise action.

Supt Heather Maelor said: "It's a huge threat to society. One woman is killed every three days by a man - it's a massive issue."

Supt Heather Maelor said every woman had public places where they did not feel safe

Officers are encouraging women and girls to share their experiences and opinions in an online survey.

One of the scheme's main objectives is to identify particular areas - such as streets, car parks or bus stops, where unwanted attention or behaviour has been experienced.

Potential action could be additional patrols, better lighting or CCTV coverage, officers said.

Ms Lake said she was backing the initiative due to the impact the issue had had on her and friends.

"A lot of women and girls come to our run group to feel safer because they have had really bad experiences on their own.

"It feels really good the police are treating this as a priority because it is something we have to think about every day when we go out for a run.

"Our safety is important and our ability to go out for a run shouldn't be skewed by men's actions," she said.

Caitlin Boughton said men had to understand their actions could be deeply upsetting

Fellow runner Caitlin Boughton said she chose many of her routes simply to feel safe.

"It makes me feel quite angry to be honest and I don't think it is fair.

"My partner does a lot of running and it doesn't even cross his mind that I wouldn't go running in the same locations he does.

"I know a lot of women who stop running in winter or the evenings for safety reasons.

"I hope [men] can understand that what they think is so minor - which it really isn't - how something which they think is fine to do, but how experiencing it so regularly makes women feel," she said.

Supt Maelor is one of the leads for the eight-week campaign, and emphasised it was intended to help all women, not just runners.

She said: "Every single woman will have a place they don't go or they change their behaviours because they don't feel safe there.

"But they aren't going to phone the police or the local authority and let them know that.

"So this is the opportunity for women and girls to come forward and tell us where they don't feel safe, and we will make improvement where we can."