‘I stop running after men following the house’

Olivia Brown was 11 years old and was running home from school for the first time when she was sexually assaulted by a man.

At the age of 16, he raced to improve his mental health, as a boy had sexually assaulted him, although a group of men stopped him when he followed his house.

Ms. Brown has forgiven her right to objection as a sexual harassment to talk to BBC Wales about her ordinance.

It comes as one Sound Simru survey Out of 500 men in Wales, 30% of respondents shown Catakoling is considered, the task of making a threat or disturbing comment on a person publicly is not harmful – which is 26% above the previous year.

Ms. Brown said that there is a need to call men to take responsibility and improve women’s safety.

Warning: This article contains details of sexual harassment and attack

Cardiff’s 24 -year -old Ms. Brown said that she was 11 years old when a man slowed his car to tell her “sexy looking”.

He had a “drowning feeling” that it would be one that would be like the rest of his life.

In 2017, she raced as she was in the “Rock Bottom”, when a boy sexually assaulted her.

“It really affects me. I took time out of school, I lost my hair a lot from stress, and I did not know what was wrong with me at that time, because I had a form of Ptsd,” He said.

To improve her mental health, she moved to her second place on a well -used road during the day.

In her 20s, a car filled with men slows down to drive with her and shouted to go inside.

“I remember I was completely crippled and ill,” he said.

“It was nowhere that I could not go, it was a road.”

Ms. Brown was forced to run with her, which she said was “derogatory”.

“It really turned me away from running,” he said. “I remember going home and crying my eyes.”

He said that he felt that “there is really anywhere for me” where he would “be free from harassment or male violence”.

In 2024, Ms. Brown again participated when she and her friend started training for half a marathon.

She said that she prefers to run due to “escapism” and health benefits, but hate that she still sexually harassed.

He said that men have touched him and his friends without their consent, often slowed down to stare at their cars, and shouts, he said.

“I used to run the previous teenagers in the park a few months ago, they were really 12 and 13 years old and they were screaming things like ‘we can see your butts’.”

He said that women are taught to take precautions to stay safe, for example she shares her place with friends and family, her music is on small quantities, does not walk in the dark – she also has her paths even Changes regularly because “you never know who is looking at you”.

But she says what women should do to stay safe, should focus on what male can do to prevent gender-based violence.

“I know that many men become quite defensive when the subject comes,” said Ms. Brown. “These are not all men, but changing it should be the responsibility of all men.”

“Women are killed, women are followed, and they harm.”

Ms. Brown said that when women are murdered or sexually harassed, they are depicted as “isolated events”, but “they have not only come out of anywhere”.

“It comes from a large issue, which is behavior and structural,” he said. “They can be your friend, your brother, your family members.”

He said that while “average day-to-day men do not have the power to change an entire economic political system, everyday men have the power to reflect, reflect and actually do something about it it occurs” .

Ms. Brown said that gender-based violence is an epidemic.

“I have seen many times in nightclubs where I have seen that a man really catches my friend’s vagina, and then I called her on it, and then he punched me on the face.”

She said that she was locked in a car during work experience and the other time, a man stopped her and a friend from leaving a lift late at night.

He said that women should not worry about their safety every day.

Ms. Brown, who is a member of Cardiff’s Sunday Run Club, attended an event on Tuesday, which is a funded campaign of Welsh government, which aims to improve the safety of women.

He said that conversation with men revealed that sexual harassment is often not spoken about male friendship groups.

Sound Cymru/IAWN CYMRU was launched in 2023 to encourage men of 18-34 years of age to know about gender-based violence.

In its survey It was found that 10% of male respondents did not know what sexual harassment was.

28-year-old Liam Jones, owner of Overseas Apparel at Cardiff and co-founder of Overseas Apparel Run Club participated in the run and said that when he runs, only caution takes care that there is enough water and planning a route.

“I really don’t think of it at all, I am very lucky that I don’t.”

He said that it is important that male engage in conversation about sexual harassment, “to understand that they are the cause of change”.

“We can’t just hope that women will continue to speak about it, we also have to do our share,” he said.

Ms. Brown said that men can help women feel safe by crossing the road if a woman is ahead of them, “to show that you are not a threat”.

He said that “the place you take is important to give women enough space to pass”.

He said that avoid staring at female runners, especially if you are in a group, make women feel more comfortable, they said.

“If your friend says something that is out of order, he is upset, do not tolerate it.”

“Try and put yourself in the woman’s shoes,” she said.

“Men are the key to changing gender-based violence.”

If you are affected by the issues raised, help is available through it BBC Action Line,