Making sure women don’t face worry and hassle isn’t much to ask - Susan Dalgety

​Despite Police Scotland’s involvement, this is not a anti-crime campaign. Rather, it is a public effort to encourage men of all ages to make small changes to their behaviour.

Two recent consultations showed that the majority of women in the city – 80 per cent – had experienced harassment or abuse while out and about.

Men are being asked to do simple things to make women feel more secure, such as not walking directly behind a woman when she is walking alone or calling out their friends if they are making inappropriate comments about women.

These changes may seem almost inconsequential, but as any woman will tell you, encountering a man when walking alone at night can be very scary.

Coming across a group of young men shouting abuse at women as they pass by is the stuff of nightmares, as some of my friends found out on their way home last Wednesday evening.

They had been at Edinburgh University for a screening of Adult Human Female, a documentary about women’s rights. This was the third time the university had tried to host the film, the previous two attempts were stopped by - mostly male - trans activists.

Thanks to a very large police and security presence the event went ahead as planned this time.

There were plenty of noisy protestors outside the lecture theatre, but they were corralled behind barriers. But on their way home, some women were accosted in the street by a group of aggressive young men, carrying trans pride flags and shouting in their faces.

One woman, who had not been at the film, but was simply out for her usual evening walk, was booed as she walked past the lads, simply because she was female.

These young men may consider themselves to be social justice warriors, but they are nothing more than hooligans.

If they had been shouting abuse at female passers-by on the streets around a football stadium on match day, they would have been arrested for breach of the peace.

Men simply do not understand the power of their sex. Women of all ages feel unsafe around men they do not know.

It’s nothing to do with what flag they might be waving or whether they have beards or shaved heads or wear jeans or a business suit.

Females are hard-wired to be wary of males and for good reason. An average of four rapes a day are reported in Scotland and this number is considered on the low side, as many sexual assaults go unreported.

Of course most men are kind and loving and would never dream of shouting abuse at a woman old enough to be their mother.

But in our increasingly fractured society, normal behaviour is no longer guaranteed. This is why campaigns like #RespectHerSpace are needed now more than ever.

Edinburgh University is one of the campaign’s official supporters. I hope the university leadership will make sure that their male students are made aware of it.

It’s a simple message - women want to walk without worry and get home without any hassle. It’s not too much to ask.