Cherry Healey explores women's safety in urgent new book Safer

NEW BOOK

What would it take for women to feel safe in the modern world? This is the critical and urgent question British TV broadcaster and health advocate Cherry Healey asks in her powerful new book, Safer: The Truth About What It Costs to Be a Woman – Cherry Healey Investigates.

Globally, one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most often at the hands of someone they know. And in 2024 alone, Police in the UK failed to resolve 89 per cent of violent and sexual crimes against women.

At a time when women are being increasingly subjected to threatening behaviour, harassment, intimidation, violence and abuse, Safer examines the systems that shape women’s safety across everyday life, love, dating, healthcare and the world of work.

Combining hard-hitting, investigative journalism with touching personal testimony, Cherry interviews a range of leading voices across activism, journalism, campaigning and education, exploring themes such as sexual violence, drink spiking, online safety and toxic masculinity, to draw on expert insight and build a practical toolkit for change.

Cherry said: “For too many women, issues of safety and harassment can feel like ever-present background noise - and it's hard not to be affected by that, especially as sometimes it feels like just when we think we've heard the worst thing possible, we turn on the news and hear something even more upsetting. It's hard to just get on with your day afterwards. 

“The scale of this issue can feel overwhelming, and, like so many women, I have my own experiences that have stayed with me. As my frustration has grown, I've wanted to channel that in a constructive way. I don't have all the answers, but I hope Safer will help us make some sense of what's happening - and move us closer to a world where women are truly safe and equally respected. That feels more important now than ever.”

Guest contributors include: 

Soma Sara - founder of the anti-rape movement Everyone’s Invited

Sophia Smith Galer - author of Losing It: Sex Education for the 21st Century

Sharon Gaffka – award winning violence against women and girls activist

Ben Hurst – educator and expert on masculinity

Safer: The Truth About What It Costs to Be a Woman, written and narrated by Cherry Healey, is out in audio format on 19 November 2026, published by W.F. Howes.