Rachel at Strut Safe aims to make women feel safe, one phone call at a time

 

If you’ve ever felt unsafe walking home alone at night, you must be familiar with the keys-clenched-in-one-hand-and-phone-in-the-other stance. We have all done it: calling someone you trust while walking home to feel safe. You’d almost forget it’s not normal.

 

While attending a vigil for the murder of Sarah Everard in March, Rachel decided it was time for a change. “I felt so much rage and helplessness in the community, it felt like we were sliding backwards. That’s when we decided to do something that could cause an immediate and measurable difference.”

 

‘We’ is Rachel Chung (27) and Alice Jackson (21), and Strut Safe is what they came up with. “We’re an organisation dedicated to helping people of any gender, age, or ethnicity get home safely. Anyone who feels unsafe while walking home can call Strut Safe, and one of our 40 volunteers will stay on the phone with them until they’ve reached home. We also assign walking buddies within the city of Edinburgh.”

 

Being a woman today is almost reason enough to get into activism. As an undergraduate in New York, Rachel dealt with a lot of catcalling. “My friends and I often travelled alone at night. We’d give each other advice on how to get a catcaller to leave us alone, or on how to avoid being catcalled altogether. Not that anything ever worked, but it taught me that I couldn’t prevent it from happening, because it wasn’t my fault.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Simultaneously, it was a very contentious time for sexual violence on campus. I saw first-hand how people didn’t believe a student who shared her story. They were so violent and vitriolic. It influenced the way I conceive gendered violence, and as a result, shaped a lot of the volunteering I did as an undergraduate trying to get recognition for these victims.”

 

Rachel is currently studying at the University of Edinburgh, where she is finishing a PhD in English Literature on sexual violence in Shakespeare’s work. “My academic work and my work with Strut Safe inform each other a lot. I was already interested in systemic gendered violence before starting Strut Safe, and in return, Strut Safe validates that the academic work I’m doing is still relevant and necessary.”

 

A study from the UN shows that only 3% of women between the ages of 18 and 24 in the UK have never experienced sexual harassment on the street. “I’ve spent so much of my twenties ready to be harassed. It’s daunting how you get used to it and you’re not even aware of how tense you’re feeling. I try to be more mindful about how my body reacts these days. Am I walking faster? Is my heart rate increasing? It reminds me that even though I haven’t been in a distressing situation, it doesn’t disappear.”

 

Now that Rachel is in her mid-twenties, the harassment has gotten notably less. “I think it’s a common trap that women fall into when younger girls complain about harassment. We tend to diminish their experiences because it has become less prevalent in our lives.”

After a while, Rachel adds: “It’s just so twisted. Men often use the excuse that they ‘didn’t know how old she was’. But the fact that men find young women more attractive and assume they’ll get away with it is as insidious as them not knowing.”

 

Although Rachel finds working with Strut Safe extremely rewarding, there’s also a flip side to the coin. “We vouch for every volunteer we take on, and even though there’s an extensive application process and we run a thorough background check, it’s a big responsibility to carry.”

 

Every time Safe Strut gets someone home safely, it makes Rachel feel more at peace. “Even though it can sometimes hit a little close to home, it’s such a rewarding job. I get at least one caller a week who is extremely thankful we helped them get home safe. But even if it’s only one person, it would still be worth it.”

Optimism and hope for the future are what drive Rachel, and Strut Safe, to keep going and make a permanent change. “I do have hope. There are so many amazing organisations out there: Cradle Community, Racism Unmasked, Sisters Uncut… I truly believe that those are the people that can break down systems that prevent progress and replace them, brick by brick, with more sustainable systems.”

 

You can call Strut Safe anywhere in the UK from 7 pm to 3 am on Friday and Saturday and from 7 pm to 1 am on Sunday at 0333 335 0026.