Women's safety: London gyms sign up to night-time safety charter

Dozens of gyms across London have pledged to help make women feel safer at night.

The venues have signed up to the Mayor of London's Women's Night Safety Charter which requires businesses to commit to a set of safety principals.

City Hall said funding of £108,000 will go towards specialist training and online resources for the 75 gyms.

Reclaim These Streets, which campaigns for improved safety for women said the move was "positive".

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "We've all got to play our part and we must all face up to the issue of violence against women and girls."

He urged more gyms to join up adding: "I am determined to make London a place where women feel confident and welcome at night, whatever they're doing."

Sites run by the Gym Group and Everyone Active have joined 700 other venues agreeing to the charter, which consists of seven safety pledges.

They include include training staff to deal with incidents appropriately, designing spaces to be safe, and communicating advice to customers.

Sexual harassment

City Hall cited research by Sport England, which found that 64% of women using leisure centres said they have taken measures to protect themselves from sexual harassment.

Of 1000 women who took part in the survey, 52% said they had been the subject of "sexual jokes" and "sexually inappropriate language" at a gym.

Ann-Marie Murphy, COO of The Gym Group, said the chain was "proud" to join the charter.

"We want to drive the conversation within our sector on these issues, in order to tackle them collectively," she said.

Jamie Klingler, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets said the move was positive but during the winter particularly, it could feel like there was a curfew.

"Personally, I don't feel safe enough to get to or from a gym in Camden after dark even though I'd love to be able to do really early or late workouts," she said.

The Women's Night Safety Charter was founded in 2018, along with the Mayor's Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

City Hall said the mayor had already spent £60m on tackling violence and abuse against women and girls.