Presenter's anger over indecent exposure jokes

Kirsten O'Brien hosts the BBC Radio Berkshire breakfast programme

A BBC radio presenter has described her anger after receiving "flippant" responses from men when she told them about meeting a victim of indecent exposure.

Delivering a monologue on her BBC Radio Berkshire show, former CBBC star Kirsten O'Brien said she recently met a woman in the countryside near her home who had been targeted by a man indecently exposing himself.

She said she warned neighbours about the incident and received concerned responses from women – but that some male friends attempted to make jokes.

“And that’s when I got angry – really angry,” she told listeners on Monday.

“Because this is an attack on women’s safety. This is a hideous harassment of a woman – a woman alone walking, doing what we all want to do enjoying the countryside.

“Not on any level is this funny. One mate said they wouldn’t have made the joke if [the suspect] hadn’t have been found – but that is nonsense.”

The presenter said the fear she felt returning to the area would not go away just because a suspect had been detained.

“I’ve got a wariness women learn to carry from such a young age," she said.

“All of us – when we’re walking down the street at night, when we’re being cat-called on a building site, when we ring a mate to chat because we’ve got in a cab because we’re feeling vulnerable when we’re just trying to get home safely.”

'Makes me sad'

Addressing men directly, she concluded: “Men, fellas – this isn’t funny. Perhaps it’s using the word flasher – I was thinking maybe that’s too flippant a word that we’ve got used to using.

“Perhaps it should be known by the term we use in law – indecent exposure… I feel sorry for having to say this this morning - but can we please all get on board of calling this a serious crime.”

Thames Valley Police said indecent exposure was considered a serious crime.

Assistant Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint said: "It happens more than we know about and it makes me sad to hear that some of Kirsten's male responses were flippant because actually it's a societal perceptive - we need to take violence against women seriously."

She added: “More often than not it is women who are subjected to this activity and I would encourage anyone to report it."