Nearly a thousand women joined our annual LCC Women’s Freedom Ride on Sunday 3 March, calling on the Mayor, Metropolitan Police and London councils to make cycling safe for women in London ahead of International Women’s Day. The event began with the handover of a petition of over 5,000 signatures to the Mayor’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman.
Writing on X afterwards, Dr Norman said: “It was a privilege to join 100s of women from across London at #womensfreedomride & to receive their petition demanding action. I reaffirmed @MayorofLondon’s & my commitment to work with boroughs & @metpoliceuk to do more to make our streets safer for women & girls.”
It was great to see hundreds of women, many ‘dressed to protest’ and with flags and placards, riding around iconic streets in central London to music supplied by iBike London cargo bikes! This year, the vast majority of the ride marshals were women, and our ride leader was JoyRiders CEO Mariam Draaijer, who is also on the LCC Women’s Network steering group.
And watch LCC patron Carla Francome’s video as she asks women on the ride: “What does freedom on a bike mean to you?”
Only 1 in 3 cycle trips in London are by women. And 9 out of 10 women in London who cycle have experienced abuse or aggression; for over 6 out of 10 this happens at least once a month, according to the hard-hitting LCC Women’s Network report “What Stops Women Cycling in London?” published in January. This survey of over 1,000 women also found that 93% of respondents had experienced drivers using their vehicles to intimidate them.
Our women’s freedom campaign is therefore calling on the Mayor to make cycling a form of transport that women and men use equally, across London, by 2030. The LCC Women’s Network is calling on the Mayor to address this by working with the Metropolitan Police and local councils to address issues of physical safety, including lack of protected cycle routes; social safety, including the lack of police reporting on gendered abuse women face while cycling; and enabling cycling locally, where women undertake the majority of journeys.
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