With sexual offences on trains involving under-18s tripling in the last decade, the BBC’s latest investigation reminds us — safety isn’t just about vigilance. It’s about readiness
Because Everyone Deserves to Travel Without Fear
If yesterday’s BBC report left you feeling angry, unsettled, or protective — channel that energy into readiness.
Start today. Practise daily.
Teach your children that confidence and calm are the real superpowers.
Subscribe to the WarriorUp Smart Series on YouTube
Learn the drills that build instinct — then set aside under a minute each day to practice what you learn..
Because no woman, man, or child should ever feel trapped on a train again.
Eighteen-year-old Rhiannon Williams thought she was heading home after a carefree day in Tenby. Instead, she found herself trapped on a train, surrounded by drunken men, unable to move or escape.
“You can’t go anywhere,” she told the BBC. “You just have to sit there and put up with it.”
She’s one of 2,661 people who reported sexual assaults or harassment on UK trains last year — a 37% rise in a decade.
Even more disturbing, reports involving under-18s have trebled, climbing from 146 in 2015 to 443 in 2025. Over the past 10 years, there have been more than 2,900 reports involving children.
Behind every number is a person who froze, a parent who worries, or a young person who doesn’t yet have the tools to respond.
When Fear Meets Paralysis
Another survivor, Maddie Waktare, told the BBC she was sexually assaulted by a man sitting beside her on a crowded train.
“I never thought I’d be someone who would freeze,” she said.
“It made me realise how normalised it is in society.”
That “freeze” is more than fear — it’s biology. The human brain’s fight-flight-freeze response decides our actions in milliseconds.
But when we don’t know how to act, we often do nothing — and afterwards, regret fills the space where readiness could have been.
Why We Teach Readiness, Not Fear
At Mu-shin Self-defence, we don’t teach fear.
We teach instinct.
Our Simplified Instinctive Response System (SIRS) is built to rewire hesitation into calm, decisive action.
It helps people practise simple, repeatable movements that train the body to respond automatically under stress — because when pressure hits, thinking time disappears.
Even 30 seconds of daily practice builds new neural pathways between awareness and action.
This isn’t about learning to fight.
It’s about knowing what your body can do — and that changes everything.
Start young, build confidence
As a mum, this issue hits home in more ways than one.
When I read that assaults involving children have tripled, I thought of my own 10-year-old daughter — and the importance of helping her grow up confident, not fearful.
Every morning, she practises a simple WarriorUp drill — a block, a turn, a step — to build awareness and control.
She’s learning not just to protect herself, but to own her space.
And it shows. The same habits that prepare her for danger also help her speak up in class, walk taller, and believe in herself.
This is the ripple effect of readiness.
Why Awareness Alone Isn’t Enough
British Transport Police are investing in undercover patrols and surveillance — even plain-clothes officers trained to spot “people hanging around not catching trains.”
The government has pledged £17 million to expand CCTV, and the Rail Delivery Group insists on zero tolerance for harassment.
These are vital steps — but prevention doesn’t end there.
Because cameras can’t move your body for you.
And confidence can’t be legislated.
Readiness must come from within.
From Hesitation to Habit
Our WarriorUp Smart Series on YouTube is free; the micro learning videos teach real-world awareness, assertiveness, and instinctive responses and are usually around 5 minutes.
It’s not about aggression — it’s about composure under pressure.
Whether you’re a commuter, a parent, or a teen — these micro-habits build real-world confidence that translates far beyond self-defence.
So, I’m repeating the first part of this article –
Because Everyone Deserves to Travel Without Fear
If yesterday’s BBC report left you feeling angry, unsettled, or protective — channel that energy into readiness.
Start today. Practise daily.
Teach your children that confidence and calm are the real superpowers.
Subscribe to the WarriorUp Smart Series on YouTube
Learn the drills that build instinct — then set aside under a minute each day to practice what you learn..
Because no woman, man, or child should ever feel trapped on a train again.
