If you’ve never done it before, the idea of cycling in London can be intimidating. Wrapping your head around all the different routes and cycle lanes can be confusing, and the roads are particularly busy and crowded. But these are things that get easier with experience. What doesn’t get easier is having to deal with abuse – something nine out of 10 women who cycle on the streets of London have experienced, according to a new report.

The research from the London Cycling Campaign, which aims to make cycling in London safer and more enjoyable for everyone, is based on a survey of 1,000 women who travel by bike in the capital. It found that 63% of women experience abuse from other road users at least once a month, with that abuse including verbal, sexual and physical attacks – including women being groped or slapped on their bikes while stopping at traffic lights. 

Women were also concerned about the safety of cycle routes and the infrastructure currently in place, with nine in 10 saying they would start to cycle or cycle more if they had safer cycle routes – for example, protected cycle tracks – for their journeys. Currently, over half of the women surveyed said they were forced to choose between cycling on busy roads without any safe space or through isolated, quiet or dark places for their journeys.  

The campaign group says these experiences – especially the on-road abuse – have a knock-on effect on the number of female cyclists in the city, where two-thirds of the daily cycle journeys are currently taken by men. And the survey backed this up: over 20% of the women said they’d given up cycling, temporarily or permanently, because of abuse.

Stylist’s deputy editor Ellen Scott knows all too well how scary it can be to cycle as a woman in London. “I cycle to and from work and I love the freedom of it, but every commute has at least one dangerous moment: most often male delivery drivers on their bikes speeding past or cutting you off without warning,” she says.

“I had an incident a few months back where a male cyclist pushed past me and another woman while we were stopped at a red light. He did it so forcefully that I was shoved off my bike and left with a massive bruise.

“And it’s not just other cyclists, of course. I was egged while riding my bike by some people driving past in a car. The same week I had a man in a van chase me while shouting out of his window because he thought I’d gone through a red light (I hadn’t).” 

Strong Women editor Miranda Larbi has also faced unwanted attention as a woman on the road. “Cycling is a massive part of my life, and I truly believe that it’s improved just about everything – my mental health, concentration, fitness and mood,” she explains. “In the winter – when it’s not raining – cycling is straightforward, but I’ve found that in the summer you tend to get quite a bit of unwanted attention.

“Just when it gets warm enough to cycle in shorts and a vest, that’s when the horn beeps and shouting starts. I’ve even had a bloke run up to me at the traffic lights and try to sit behind me on my saddle. Men have tried to run after my bike or kerb crawl in cars alongside me. I’m not intimidated but I can see how that would put new cyclists off.”

Following on from the survey, the London Cycling Campaign has put together a petition calling on Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, to take urgent action to improve women’s physical and social safety while cycling in London. The suggested changes include providing more high-quality cycling infrastructure so women feel safe cycling on their own and with children, and working to measure and reduce the abuse women are subjected to.  

The petition, which is still available to sign, also calls for local cycle networks around schools and businesses to be improved to encourage more women to use cycling as a way to get around their local area.

The final petition will be handed to a representative from the Mayor of London’s office at the group’s central London LCC Women’s Freedom Ride on Sunday 3 March.

“While more and more people are cycling in London and safe cycle routes are rolling out in many boroughs, there’s still too many parts of London where cycling isn’t and doesn’t feel safe enough,” Eilidh Murray, chair of London Cycling Campaign, said of the findings. “Women still face additional barriers to cycling and additional hostility when cycling.” 

Sophie Linden, London’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, also responded to the survey’s findings: “Every woman and girl should be able to enjoy the benefits of cycling in London without fear of violence and intimidation. Yet sadly, across the UK, we face an epidemic of violence against women and girls and today’s report demonstrates the significant impact this abuse and aggression is having on women cyclists.”

She continued: “It is simply unacceptable, and the Mayor and I are committed to preventing violence against women and girls and challenging the attitudes that enable these behaviours.” 

To find out more about London Cycling Campaign’s Women’s Freedom campaign and sigh the petition, you can visit the website.

Images: Getty