Turia Pitt is hoping to improve running safety for women

Content Warning: This article touches on the topic of sexual assault and murder which may be triggering for some readers.

Turia Pitt is once again proving she’s a seriously inspirational individual.

The athlete, motivational speaker, author, mining engineer, burns survivor and mother of two is hoping to improve running safety for women.

Taking to Instagram in early April 2024, Turia wrote:

“I’ve been thinking a lot about running safety and gendered violence lately. I’ve talked about it a bit with the women inside my running group, and the more I think, and the more I rage, the more I want to do something about it.

Turia Pitt is hoping to improve running safety for women.

“But I need to learn more about the problem we’re facing first.”

Turia then revealed she’s launching a survey to learn more “about running safety, harassment and gendered violence.”

Running safety in relation to gendered violence is an extremely topical subject in Australia at the moment.

In February of this year, Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy went for a run and never returned home. A month later, Victoria police charged a 22-year-old man with her murder.

In January of this year, a woman was sexually assaulted while she was running along the Dandenong Creek Trail.

The burns survivor, who did a shoot with The Weekly in 2023, is launching a survey in regards to running safety.

“This is a concerning attack on a woman who was simply going for a run through her local park,” Detective Senior Sergeant Glyn Woolley told the press at the time.

A 13-year-old boy was ultimately charged over the alleged attack in March.

It’s important to note, these aren’t isolated incidents only experienced in Australia.

Sportswear giant Adidas conducted a survey last year (similar to the one Turia will soon launch for Aussies), in which 9,000 runners from nine different countries were interviewed.

According to the results, 92 per cent of women said they felt concerned for their safety while running – compared to only 28 per cent of men.

Turia has been an avid runner for most of her life.

The survey also revealed that over a third of women have experienced physical or verbal harassment while running.

Many applauded Turia for her decision to try to improve running safety for women.

“Thank you for using your platform to shine a light on this,” one Instagram user commented.

“Women are not safe anywhere, whatever we’re doing; it’s so wrong. Thank you for trying to change this,” another wrote.

If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help is always available. Call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website.