Study shows women often harassed while running

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A new study shows a prolific problem for female runners in New York City.

More than half of women under 30 say they've been harassed while running.

"It was shocking to us that this happened so often to women on the run and it didn't really happen to men, and they didn't even know it was happening to women," said Meghan Kita, of Runner's World Magazine.

Startling new statistics gathered by Runner's World Magazine reveal women are far out pacing men as moving targets for sexual harassment.

According to a recent survey of over 2,500 women runners, 43% reported being harassed compared to just 4% of men.

"I'm actually not surprised by the numbers," a runner said.

"Why aren't you surprised?" Eyewitness News asked.

"Because it's happened to me and to my friends," she said.

"It's horrible," said Meghan

Speaking with us via FaceTime Runner's World senior editor Kita says the survey was prompted by the recent tragic deaths of Karina Vetrano at Howard Beach and Vanessa Marcotte in Massachusetts.

"The stat that was most shocking to me personally was that 30% of women said they had been followed on a run by somebody on a bike or in a car and that was shocking to me because that's basically one in three women," Kita said.

The numbers alone may be enough to stop anyone in their tracks, the staff at Runner's World hopes this new survey will spur some much needed conversations and further awareness.

"This isn't something that just happens to women running, it happens to women who are walking down the street or going grocery shopping, it is a complex societal issue, Kita said. "I do think it's a prevalent problem especially in today's political environment, it's important to get this conversation going."