‘All women have likely experienced sexual assault, they may just not realise it’ 

In hindsight, it wasn’t comic erstwhile comedian Lou Sanders was flashed successful a parkland by a man. But much connected that later.

For those who missed the memo, 46-year-old Lou – whose property has historically been connected Wikipedia arsenic younger – has go 1 of the astir lovable comedians connected the British country with galore sheet amusement stints connected QI, Would I Lie To You? arsenic good arsenic Live At The Apollo.

She besides won Taskmaster – nary biggie – and was partnered with Brendyn Hatfield connected the 2024 bid of Dancing On Ice, successful which she finished eitghth, skidding disconnected the occurrence of her Instagram roller-skating antics.

Lou has a knack for luring audiences into her astir cutesy, daft persona – her website begins with, ‘Hello my small ducky egg’ – earlier ripping it to shreds by saying thing deliciously wry.

While I see Lou a charming, haphazard beingness successful a fabulous faux-fur jacket, I ideate galore men person astir apt smiled and nodded on to Lou’s endearing, hurried code without really listening to the omniscient words she’s saying.

She is simply a delight. But the alien successful the park, we ponder portion sitting successful the rooftop barroom of a members nine connected The Strand… not truthful much.

At the clip determination was a tickle of hilarity astatine the aforementioned flasher’s penis retired successful the open, Lou initially admits to Metro, earlier conceding: ‘I really didn’t deliberation it was funny, I thought it was beauteous gross.

‘But what I didn’t realise astatine the clip is that flashing does pb to different stuff.’

We spoke to Lou soon earlier launching our This Is Not Right run to item the epidemic of violence against women in the UK, and she had immoderate insightful thoughts, arsenic accustomed – and revealed that she filmed the antheral successful the park.

‘Not for my ain idiosyncratic collection, but much to scare him,’ she says. ‘That’s a bully happening to bash due to the fact that they bash tally off. Then you’ve got evidence.’

Flashing is not the astir superior transgression of unit against women, but it’s 1 that is simply a grounds of the aforesaid mindset that justifies rape and intersexual assault, classed a nationalist emergency successful the UK.

‘It’s similar if you get a d**k picture, you think, “Oh it’s not that offensive,” but it’s trying to marque you consciousness a definite mode and it is fearfulness inducing,’ Lou says.

‘It’s like, “I volition get into your inbox and your caput with thing that tin beryllium a weapon.” You know? The penis can beryllium a weapon.’

It’s a chilling thought.

Lou has besides experienced those charming explicit pictures successful her inbox. A peculiarly harrowing instantly pops into her mind.

‘It was truthful violative connected truthful galore levels. Mainly the bedding. It was similar this not adjacent afloat erect penis. I was like, however situation you deliberation I’m successful the calibre of receiving an mean penis with unspeakable bedding?’ quips Lou.

However, jokes aside, what Lou couldn’t flight was the enormity of what was going connected astatine the time; this horrendous enactment happened the aforesaid week arsenic quality broke of different woman’s execution successful the capital.

Turning serious, she adds that she ‘sent him a truly considerate reply’.

While Lou tried to get this antheral to spot the inappropriateness of his enactment -especially successful specified a clime wherever women were fearing for their information – she failed miserably.

‘His response? “Sorry you felt this way.” Some radical you can’t reach. It’s like, wow, nary responsibility. Unbelievable. Also get immoderate bedding, you’re a f**ing man.’

Lou is fearlessly honorable and impressively fluent successful her ideas astir the world. And, of course, she is hilarious, thing that volition nary uncertainty beryllium proven (again) erstwhile she takes to the signifier for her upcoming circuit No Kissing In The Bingo Hall.

It’s going to beryllium a ‘silly’ one, Lou says. I don’t blasted her: Lou indispensable beryllium successful request of immoderate airy alleviation aft penning her memoir, What’s That Lady Doing?

‘Raw,’ is the incorrect word, I’m told. The wounds she wrote astir were healed.

‘It was cathartic to write, but not painful,’ Lou says.

Okay past – it was honest. Astonishingly so. Lou enactment everything connected the leafage it seems, binning silly for sobering (literally, she got sober) – with a dense sprinkling of lols on the way.

From leaving location astatine 15, to her precocious ADHD diagnosis, and from alcoholism to comedy, she’s been done a lot.

The astir shocking pages were Lou’s harrowing relationship of her acquisition of rape by a aesculapian nonrecreational overseas who offered to thrust her location from hospital.

It’s a brave communicative to archer the world. And it came on with a drawstring of different terrifying accounts of assaults. One was successful wide daylight by a alien who pinned her down successful the mediate of the street.

‘I deliberation immoderate radical don’t deliberation it’s common. And I would reason that astir women person experienced immoderate grade of intersexual assault,’ she asserts.

‘Even if they deliberation they haven’t, if you deliberation harder, you astir apt have.’

It’s a bleak sentence.

In England and Wales, according to Rape Crisis, 6.5million women implicit the property of 16 person been raped oregon sexually assaulted. Many women don’t study these crimes. Why would they? Around 3% of reported rapes successful 2023 ended successful conviction.

All the while, unit against women is getting worse. Between 2018 and 2023, determination was a 37% summation successful convulsive crimes against women.

‘A portion agone maine and immoderate girlfriends were each talking,’ Lou explains, ‘and everyone’s like, “Yeah, I’ve been raped,” oregon “I’ve had this”, oregon “I’ve had that”, and past 1 miss was like, “I honestly don’t deliberation I have. I’ve been truthful lucky.”

‘And past she’s like, “Oh, no. There was a antheral that ran aft maine trying to get maine successful his van once.” If you excavation heavy capable determination volition beryllium something.’

Hence Lou’s candid relationship successful her memoir.

‘I wanted to constitute astir it due to the fact that it’s portion of beingness unfortunately, and that doesn’t look to beryllium ever fading,’ she says.

‘We person to speech astir each facet of beingness truthful radical cognize it isn’t conscionable women being hysterical oregon whatever.

‘We ne'er utilized to speech astir periods, and that’s saying it is shameful. But if we speech astir it’s not shameful.’

Comedians connected the full person experienced a emergence successful threats of unit from assemblage members successful caller years, arsenic Metro investigated earlier this year.

But arsenic with galore different industries, the concern seems worse for women. They person to get location from enactment successful the dark.

Lou was astatine a gig successful Reading a fewer years ago, and was heading retired to the artist’s carpark erstwhile she spotted a antheral from the assemblage loitering there.

‘He knew that I was going down determination to the car and helium was hammered. He’d been annoying successful the show,’ she remembers.

‘I didn’t privation to spell down there, due to the fact that it’s precise acheronian and scary. I was with this parent and daughter, and we looked astatine each other, and we’re like, “This isn’t good.”  

‘They said they would travel down determination with me. And past we each got spooked, and I went backmost up. 

‘I was trying to get idiosyncratic to spell down with maine from the absorption but the theatre was closed and I needed to get back. So I was like, f**k it, I’m going.’

‘He was hiding down a wall, and past I got successful my car and helium ran astatine me,’ Lou recalls.

Safely managing to fastener her car doorway down her, Lou rolled down the model and shouted: ‘You bash NOT travel women to car parks.’

‘Then I benignant of reversed… benignant of into him,’ she says, casually.  

A fewer months aboriginal Lou returned to the venue and was told he’d been arrested for flashing astatine different pistillate comedian.

‘Yeah, truthful that’s not ideal,’ Lou trails off…

It’s not perfect astatine all. Far from it.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a personage story, video oregon pictures get successful interaction with the Metro.co.uk amusement squad by emailing america celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 oregon by visiting our Submit Stuff leafage – we’d emotion to perceive from you.

MORE: ‘I volition archer my girl astir the maltreatment I suffered astatine the hands of a man’

MORE: Small things you tin bash to marque a pistillate consciousness safer

MORE: Married antheral murdered large woman aft she refused to get abortion