We live in fear of falling victim to an upskirt photographer on our commute to work - especially in summer when tube carriages get sweaty and the site of women with bare legs seems to make some men think they have license to snap away freely. And this young woman's harrowing account of how being sexually assaulted last October at London Bridge station by Cao Cooc, a father of two, explains why.
The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, has spoken out to say that the incident has left her terrified to travel alone. ‘I don’t want to feel like this and it makes me angry that this man has done this to me, not just physically but emotionally as well. No one should make me feel like this, and this man should know the effect his actions have had,' she's said, according to The Evening Standard. 'I can’t imagine ever feeling comfortable near strangers again, since this incident I have become paranoid about anyone being near me, especially men.’
Police arrested Cao Cooc at the time - as the woman put it 'I don’t know what would have happened if the police had not been there and grabbed this man' - but in court he admitted to filming up other women’s skirts between August and September last year. Despite that, Cooc was spared jail time. Instead he was ordered to pay his unnamed victim only £250 in compensation, £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge and was required to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years - which has only added to the young woman's paranoia that he's still at large and could assault her again.
So is upskirting illegal? 'The case in question was investigated as a criminal offence as the filming was up skirts of women. This has been proven to be a criminal offence of ‘Outraging Public Decency’ which is a common law offence,' Ricky Twyford from Project Guardian, an initiative involving British Transport Police (BTP), Metropolitan Police Safer Transport Command, City of London Police and Transport for London, told* The Debrief*.
‘This was an intimidating and very distressing experience for the victim and I’d like to commend her for assisting officers at every stage, which was vital to securing the conviction of Cao Cooc,' Detective Inspector Twyford added. ‘We don’t tolerate unwanted sexual behaviour of any kind on the transport network and take all reports very seriously. Project Guardian aims to improve the levels of reporting among victims of sexual offences and create an environment on the transport network which does not tolerate intimidation and sexual harassment.'
To report an incident of a sexual nature that occurred on a Tube or train, call British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 with details of what happened. In an emergency always dial 999.
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Picture: DCS
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.