Personal Finance

Spike in UK Google searches for "self-defence"

Google search volumes are a great way to see what people care about at the moment. Here's what we've noticed in the wake of the Sarah Everard tragedy.

Google search data reveals increased interest in self-defence in the UK since Sarah Everard went missing and the case rose to public attention. Searches for “self defence” have spiked in the last 10 days, reaching the current peak on 12 March. Compared to the past 90 days, the search volume for “self defence” on any given day has more than doubled.

Searches about self defence in the UK started increasing on 4 March, the day after Sarah Everard went missing in London. Out of related queries, “self defence spray” has surged by 450% in popularity, and “pepper spray” by 200%.

Google searches for “How to protect women” also saw an uptick on 12 March. However, compared to searches related to self-defence, the search volume for “How to protect women” has been considerably lower.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, search traffic for “women’s safety” or “female safety” in the UK hasn’t seen remarkable changes on Google in recent days, even though the topic has been highly prominent on the news and social media.

Chart showing the increase in Google searches for self defence UK
Maria Kull

Maria is a freelance writer with a particular interest in digital trends and technology. Her background is in marketing and communications, and she holds a Master's degree in PR from Cardiff University. Read more on LinkedIn.

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