Shockingly, nearly half of people who experience sexual harassment do not tell anyone, let alone report it.

It’s a sad reality that many victims have learnt to tolerate harassment, assuming that their experience might not be ‘big’ or ‘important’ enough to warrant contacting the police.

Other factors that prevent people from reporting incidents include the assumption that their reports won’t be taken seriously, or indeed the actual process of reporting, which many may find makes it harder to forget and move on from the event.

Despite this, it’s so important that all incidents are reported, no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ they may seem.

TfL’s network of CCTV, as well as eyewitness evidence, can help catch perpetrators so they don’t reoffend. Knowing more about what is happening on the network also helps TfL and the police put measures in place to stop it.

“By reporting incidents, you can help to reinforce and remind others that these behaviours are not acceptable and that sexual harassment or assault of any kind in our society needs to be addressed,” says Williams.

If you come across someone who has been harassed on public transport or have heard about a prior incident, encourage them to report it.

However, make sure you consider that there may be some emotional barriers as to why they haven’t – whether that’s feelings of embarrassment, shock or simply still being too upset about the incident to do anything about it. If this is the case, be supportive, gentle, and offer to help them report it together. If they don’t want to themselves, you can still report what you witnessed - TfL and the police are asking people who witness sexual harassment on public transport to report it as it provides vital information for the police.

4 ways to help if you witness sexual harassment on public transport