Women don’t need police protection on the Tube

The Tube isn’t an obvious political arena, but recently, it has become the backdrop for a number of flashy feminist statements. Last year, a blog which pictured women eating on the Tube provoked outrage among female activists, who held a picnic on the Circle line in protest. More recently, the infamous Protein World adverts, which supposedly encouraged body-shaming, were defaced before they were eventually banned.

Yesterday, TFL announced that more than 100 police officers will be on patrol once London Underground’s 24-hour service begins. Her Majesty’s finest will be accompanied by extra Community Support Officers and the installation of a further 13,000 CCTV cameras. What call is there for such precautionary measures? A big call if you believe the British Transport Police (BTP). Last month, the BTP released a video encouraging women to report unwanted sexual behaviour as part of ‘Project Guardian’, a campaign that already involves 2,000 police patrolling the London Underground specifically tasked with tackling instances of unwanted sexual behaviour.