The fear of practicing sports in the street

BarcelonaWhen Marina goes running outdoors, she listens to urban or techno music. At home, she might play Beethoven, but for sports, she needs more uptempo music to feel energized. In any case, the songs from Bad Bunny's new album only play through one earbud when they accompany her while she runs down the street. "I leave my other ear free to hear everything that's happening around me," she explains to ARA. During her outdoor runs, Marina, a 24-year-old Barcelona resident, laments having to regularly hear sexist comments, and the feeling of insecurity she experiences forces her to take precautions.

"There's almost always someone who whistles at you or makes a comment like, 'Okay, we should take care of ourselves.' But, on the other hand, by chance, this same man doesn't tell the man who is running a few meters in front of me that it's perfectly fine to exercise," she explains ironically. Schedules are also a concern for Marina. "Beyond not going out for a run at night, on Saturdays and Sundays I try not to go too early, to avoid running into the guys coming back from partying," she explains.

Helena, 32, and a resident of Hospitalet de Llobregat, also takes precautions before leaving the house to exercise. "I think we all have the dilemma with clothes. "Either you die of heat or you uncover yourself a little, but knowing that then you'll have to endure stares and comments," he says. And, once he leaves the house to run, he doesn't go just anywhere. "I think it's very dangerous to go running on the beach or in the mountains at times when there aren't many people around, especially if it's dark," he says.

When she leaves the gym, Ilsa usually walks home to get some cardio in after doing strength exercises indoors. But she doesn't take it easy. The nearly three-kilometer route through the Barcelona metropolitan area mostly passes through an industrial area that, when it gets dark, is sparsely traveled and lit. This means that Ilsa, 29, always tries to finish her gym routine with enough time to get home before it gets dark. "I was just telling a friend that a few days ago I did this route as it was getting dark and I approached a father with his young son because they reassured me," she explains.

Mònica, 53, a resident of Montcada i Reixac, explains that she has had two particularly bad experiences while walking through a natural area in her town. "Twice some guys yelled at me and I had to speed up. Maybe it would be more difficult for them to make certain comments to a man," she says. This has led her to stop going out for walks alone at her favorite time of day, around seven in the morning. This decision was also influenced by the fact that she witnessed two robberies of two women who were running early in the morning between La Sagrera station and her workplace on Rosselló Street in Barcelona. "Since then, I take the bus to make the journey I used to walk."

One in four women feels unsafe.

The cases of Marina, Helena, Ilsa, and Mónica are by no means isolated. A study by Sport Cultura Barcelona concludes that 25% of women feel unsafe when participating in outdoor sports activities. According to the study, this feeling of insecurity increases to 34% of those surveyed (in Barcelona and Madrid and their metropolitan areas) among those aged 18 to 30.

This summer, Barcelona City Council launched the first pilot test of women's sports circuits, which will run until December. The pioneering circuit is located on the Catalan capital's Paseo Marítimo, between Arquitecto Sert and Bac de Roda streets, and is approximately 1,500 meters long. The pilot test is linked to the SafeNow mobile app, which includes emergency assistance based on location and alerts to predefined contacts of family and friends, and to the group of volunteers made up of City Police officers who are in the same area. In addition, athletes can also request assistance from various nearby facilities, which have trained staff to provide it: the Mar Bella Municipal Sports Complex, the Marbella Municipal Nautical Base, the Comprehensive Coastal Management Building, the Nova Icària Municipal Sports Center, and the Municipal Sailing Center.

'Forbidden places' for sports

La Sesca, 31, a Barcelona resident, also has places that are off-limits at certain times. "I only run on Montjuïc during the day. It's not well-lit, there's little traffic, and there could be someone hiding anywhere," she explains. "I have friends who have that fear," admits Marina, 27, a Palma resident. "But I think it also has to do with a social narrative that's very focused on scaring women. Being afraid of doing sports outdoors seems contextual to me. Maybe I wouldn't go running alone in a troubled neighborhood, but I do in other places," she adds.

Ester, 68, a Granollers resident, practices outdoor sports, but she does them in a group. Specifically, she does TRX (suspension exercises to strengthen muscles) in a class for women over 60 in a small forest in the capital of Vallès. "In a group, even though in winter many classes are held when it's already dark, you feel safer, and you don't even think about insecurity," she says. In the past, however, she would walk to the gym and insecurity would creep in. "I would go early in the morning, and in winter it wasn't even fully light yet, and I was on alert. I had to feel some stupidity, and I also received some looks I didn't like," she recalls.

Raquel, 33, and a resident of Manresa, spent the winter a year and a half ago preparing to run the Madrid Marathon. Because of work, during the week she only had time to exercise at night, when it was already dark. She did it in natural spaces. "It wasn't a problem for me as such. I don't know if it's due to my personality or because when it starts to get cold there are usually few people around," she explains. "I don't think I avoided dangerous areas, but I did have certain routes that I knew and repeated. Above all, I looked for ones that were at least well-lit."