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MAKE SOME Noise

How Making Noise Keeps Women Safer

This is the practical side of our Make Some Noise campaign — how making noise actually keeps women safer, and what to do in the moment. New here? Start with the main Make Some Noise page.

Silence is What The Attacker Wants

An attacker depends on silence. Whether it's one person or a group, a man or a woman, they count on you freezing — too shocked, too embarrassed, too frightened to react. They count on no one looking, no one remembering, and no one being able to describe them afterwards.

 

Take that away from them.

Noise breaks the one thing every attacker needs to get away with it: anonymity.

Why Offenders Fear Being Identified

This is not a slogan — it is one of the most consistent findings in criminology. Research shows that the single biggest factor deterring an offender is not how harsh the punishment might be. It is how likely they believe they are to be caught. The certainty of being identified outweighs the severity of any sentence.

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But why does identification frighten them so much? Because being named carries consequences long before a courtroom ever does:

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  • Being recognised — by neighbours, colleagues, their own community

  • Being exposed on social media, in the local press, on the news

  • The shame and stigma of family and friends finding out

  • Losing relationships, reputation and standing in an instant

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Many offenders are not the fearless predators people imagine. They rely on secrecy. They tell themselves no one will ever know. Some act out of fantasy, control or a sense of power — and yet still carry real fear of being caught and deep shame at the thought of being seen for what they are. â€‹When an offender gets away with it, that fear turns into confidence — and staying undetected is exactly what lets the offending continue. In England and Wales, the Home Office reports that around 83% of male domestic abuse offenders go on to offend again within just six months. And research that reaches offenders the justice system never does tells the same story beyond the home. In an anonymous survey of nearly 1,900 men — where they could answer honestly, with no names taken and no consequences — most of those who described acts meeting the legal definition of rape said they had done so more than once, averaging around six offences each, and the majority had committed other acts of violence too. None of it had ever been reported to police.

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Getting away with it once feels like proof it can be done again. Confidence grows, caution shrinks, and offending patterns often escalate over time — more frequent, and more violent. Early identification interrupts that cycle. Naming an attacker out loud the first time isn't only about that moment — it can stop the next one, and the one after that.

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A person who believes they can melt into a crowd will act. A person who knows they have been seen, described and remembered loses their nerve. Naming them out loud is the most powerful disruption available in that moment — it turns them from anonymous to identifiable in seconds.

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​So if it is safe to do so, make noise. And make it the kind that catches them.

Shout What You See

Don't just shout "help." Shout who they are.

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The moment you describe an attacker out loud, everything around you changes. Witnesses look up. Phones start recording. Cameras pick up the sound. People turn around. They stop being a stranger no one noticed and become someone with a face, clothes and a direction of travel.

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If you can, shout out:

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  • What they're wearing — "Black hoodie, grey trainers!"

  • Their hair — "Dark hair, short, beard!"

  • Eye colour — "Blue eyes!"

  • Skin tone

  • Height and build — "Tall and thin!" or "Short, heavy build!"

  • Scars, tattoos or distinctive marks — these survive a change of clothes

  • If it's more than one — "Three of them, one in a red coat!"

  • The direction they run — "Gone down the alley by the chip shop!"

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You don't need a perfect description. One distinctive detail, shouted loudly, is worth more than a full description whispered later.

Why Saying It Out Loud Matters

Fear damages memory. Under extreme stress, the brain narrows its focus to survival, not detail — and the more frightened you are, the less you are likely to remember afterwards. Studies of eyewitness recall consistently find that high stress reduces both how accurately people identify an attacker and how much they remember about them. 

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That is exactly why shouting the description in the moment matters. You may not remember the details an hour later — but if you said them out loud, the people around you heard them, a phone may have recorded them, and the police have something to work with the second they arrive.

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Speaking it aloud also changes the encounter itself. The attacker came expecting a silent victim. They are now facing their description shouted out into the street. The risk has shifted onto them — and very often, that alone is enough to make them run.

But Isn't It Safer to Stay Quiet?

It's a fair worry, and usually the first thing people raise. The instinct says don't provoke, don't make it worse. We understand it — but the evidence points the other way.

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An attacker's whole plan depends on isolation. They have chosen a moment when they believe it's just them and you, with no one watching. Noise destroys that plan. The truth is they have no idea who is around the corner, who is walking up the street, who is at a window, or whose phone is already filming. The moment you call out a description, their private moment becomes a public one — and that is the thing they cannot control.

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You may not be able to physically overpower an attacker. You don't need to. What you can do is take away their cover. Fear of being seen and identified is what makes an offender back off — not because you fought them, but because you made it impossible for them to stay invisible.

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That said — you know your own situation better than anyone. If there is a weapon, or your instinct tells you that staying calm is the safer way out, that is a valid choice and never the wrong one.

 

Noise is a tool, not a rule. Survive first — always.

If You Cannot Shout

If You Cannot Shout

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Sometimes shouting isn't safe. Sometimes your voice won't come at all.

That is not a failure. Freezing is a normal, involuntary response to threat, and no woman should ever be blamed for it. If you can't make noise:

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  • Get to safety first — your life matters more than any description

  • Hold on to one detail you can remember (a tattoo, a logo, a limp, a voice)

  • Write it down or record a voice note the moment you're safe, before the memory fades

  • Call 999 when it's safe, or 101 to report afterwards, and ask for a crime reference number

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Can't Speak? Use the Silent Solution

If you need the police right now but it isn't safe to say a word, there is still a way to be heard.

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From a mobile: dial 999, listen to the operator, and if you can't speak, press 55 when the automated message prompts you. This tells the operator your call is a genuine emergency and puts you through to the police.

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Know this, because it saves lives: a silent 999 call on its own will not automatically bring the police — you must press 55 (or cough or tap the handset) so they know it's real. And pressing 55 does not share your location. So if there's any way to whisper or tap out where you are, do it. 

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(From a landline the system is different — there's no 55. Staying on the line, even silently, can connect you, and landlines give the operator your location.)

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Why does a landline know where I am, but a mobile doesn't? A landline sits at one fixed address, so when you dial 999 the system automatically shows the operator the address that line is registered to. A mobile moves around with you, so it can't do that in the same way — and pressing 55 doesn't send your location either. That's why, on a mobile, you should give any clue you can about where you are if it's safe to.

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(Note: this applies to a traditional landline. The newer digital "internet" home phones now replacing them only know the address you registered with your provider, and won't work in a power cut.)

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Silence protects offenders. Noise protects women.

Make some noise.

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If You Need Help or Want to Report

You do not need to give your name. If something feels wrong — report it.

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​Modern Slavery Helpline

0800 0121 700 (free, 24/7) 

Unseen UK

0800 121 700 

Crimestoppers (anonymous)

0800 555 111 

Emergency

999 

Non-emergency police

101

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Sources ​

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A note on this guidance: A note on this guidance: this page is for general awareness and education. It offers general information, not professional advice tailored to your individual circumstances, and it cannot account for every situation. No single action can guarantee your safety — you are always the best judge of what is safe in the moment, and your life comes before anything else. Nothing here replaces the guidance of the police or a specialist support service. In an emergency, always call 999.

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This page is growing. New content, resources, and further case studies will be added regularly.

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