“I need a bodyguard just to go to the cinema”: Women’s experiences of ‘everyday’ sexual assault.

Associate Professor Sharon Hayes will be presenting findings of her newest research on everyday experiences of sexual assault. Read more ….

This paper reports on a study of sexual assault of women in ‘everyday’ situations. While serious sexual assault in the form of rape has had much attention over the past several decades, there has been little attention paid to minor sexual assault such as groping, flashing, inappropriate touching and masturbating. Using Laura Bates’ Everyday Sexism (2012) project as a starting point, I conducted an online survey exploring women’s experiences of such minor sexual assault in public places such as cinemas, public transport, bars and clubs, shopping malls and the street. The aim of the survey was to identify the types and prevalence of minor sexual assault of women in public spaces and how often such incidents are reported to police. Preliminary results indicate that women often do not believe their experience is ‘serious’ enough to report, which has important implications for cultural and criminal justice responses to such crimes, as well as impacting on women’s personal expectations and tolerance of assault and abuse.