Upskirting incidents on British trains have risen year on year since 2021

Hundreds of women have reported being ‘upskirted’ while on public transport since the 2021.

More than 200 incidents of upskirting, which is where a secret photograph is taken under someone’s clothing without their knowledge, have been recorded in British trains since 2021, according to Freedom of Information request seen by Metro.

In 2021 this figure stood at 39 reports, and within three years this number risen by more than 50%.

A total of 46 incidents were recorded by the British Transport Police (BTP) in 2022, and by 2023 it increased to 57.

In the first eleven months of 2024 alone 60 women have reported themselves as victims of the crime.#

The act became an offence in England and Wales in 2019 after a long legal battle.

Gina Martin, who became the face of the campaign to turn upskirting into an official offence, warned the victims of these crimes could now be haunted by what happened to them.

‘The feeling of being compromised doesn’t end when you get away from the perpetrator. It continues and doesn’t leave you,’ she told Metro.

Gina was at a concert with her sister in 2017 when she caught a man taking a picture of her crotch.

Police later informed her that because she was wearing underwear, they could not do anything about it.

‘My experience was the feeling of loss of control; something utterly humiliating and terrifying had been done to me without my consent and without my knowledge,’ she said.

‘And the result of that assault (photos of videos of my crotch) were now owned by, and in the hands of someone who wanted to harm me, and I couldn’t get them back.

‘In my experience I started to blame myself for wearing a piece of clothing I had been socialised into wearing since I was a child (a skirt) and I was blamed for my own assault by others too.’

Gina says she believes the figures are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true extent of upskirting crimes women face on trains.

‘Those of us in this space know that the anecdotal stories we hear far exceed the numbers reflected in reports,’ she said.

‘That’s why I think it’s critical we focus less on the numbers and more on the root of the problem itself.

‘I would question whether it’s a rising trend or rather a constant issue.

‘Whether there were 50 or 500 reports, we should, as a culture, approach it with the same intensity and vigor to reduce it.’

Upskirting on trains and tubes in London appears to be the most prolific.

Out of the 202 reports since 2021, 117 took place on the London Underground, Overground or Trams.

Gina said the BTP must be more proactive in tackling these rising rates of upskirting, while stressing that a shift in societal attitudes was needed to.

‘There’s no way that reducing cases of upskirting starts and ends with the BTP, but of course they must play their part in being vigilant about behaviours of harassment, leering, stalking, following and more which we know through anecdotal evidence run parallel to upskirting.

‘We rarely see someone removed from public transport until after an offence has taken place, which is understandable given upskirting is a covert assault.

‘But we also have countless stories of women expressing feeling intimidated or watched and being told “there’s not much we can do”.

‘This is a startling de-prioritisation of prevention. Ultimately prevention and cultural change is everything when it comes to reducing any type of sexual harassment, assault or violence.’

Since the introduction of upskirting laws, men have been prosecuted for engaging in the voyeuristic crime on trains.

As recently as 2023, a train driver from High Wycombe was given a three month suspended jail sentence after taking photos of a sleeping woman throughout the 45-minute journey from Blackfriars to St Albans in 2022.

Outside of the public transport offences, a former rugby coach was recently jailed after taking upskirt shots of girls at the school where he worked.

The End Violence Against Women Coalition, which campaigns against upskirting, said it saw a reason to be positive about the numbers.

Andrea Simon, charities director, said: ‘It is encouraging to see more women coming forward to report upskirting, as it likely indicates greater awareness of this offence and a desire for accountability.

‘It is crucial that women reporting any form of sexual violence see action taken and can access support.’

Simon added that upskirting needs to be tackled in part because other forms of violence against women come along with it.

She said: ‘Upskirting is a distressing violation in its own right, but it is also closely connected to other types of harassment and abuse and can form part of a broader pattern of offending by perpetrators that includes rape and sexual assault.

‘The police commonly fail to properly investigate or recognise these patterns of abuse, resulting in missed opportunities to prevent more harm.

‘We still need to see greater recognition of the seriousness of non-contact sexual offences, but they’re often downplayed when reported.

‘However, if we are to truly tackle this violence, we need to look at education so that we shift the societal attitudes that normalise it.

‘Only responding once the offence has happened isn’t good enough – we should be trying to prevent harm in the first place.’

Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood said these figures revealed a harrowing and unacceptable trend.

He added: ‘We’re committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade, which is why we’re working closely with the British Transport Police and train operators to drive down these abhorrent crimes.’

British Transport Police DCI for Public Protection & Vulnerability, Nia Mellor, said: ‘Upskirting is a truly disgusting invasion of privacy and it will never be tolerated on the railway network.

‘We have plain clothes officers patrolling the network every day who are specially trained in identifying these sorts of offenders and holding them to account, and we know that more and more victims are having the confidence to report these incidents allowing us to investigate.

‘It’s vital that we know what’s happening, so if you see or experience upskirting, please text us on 61016 or call 999 in an emergency.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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