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British campaigners have been holding protests across the country to denounce an increase of 4.1 percent in rail fares for the 6th time in seven years, local media reported.

The protests come as of next January it will be the 6th time that rail fares are outstripping wages, soaring 40 percent since 2008, compared with a 15 percent rise in average incomes, British media reported.

This is while that train companies are allowed to increase fares, including season tickets, for certain routes, which would mean some tickets could rise by as much as 9.1 percent in January 2014.

Simultaneous with the announcement of next year’s price rise in accordance with inflation, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and campaign group Action for Rail staged a series of protest gatherings at almost 50 stations on Tuesday.

The findings of a research carried out by Campaign for Better Transport showed that the jump in rail fares is almost twice the increase in earnings.

“Getting to work is now the biggest single monthly outgoing for many commuters – more than food, more than housing”, said Chief executive Stephen Joseph.

Labour Party chief Ed Miliband tweeted: “Instead of sticking up for passengers David Cameron has sided with train companies, letting them hike fares by up to 9 percent”.

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UK Uncut campaigners have forced shut several branches of HSBC bank across Britain, protesting against large corporations’ tax-dodging, media reports said.

Campaigners targeted the bank in 13 locations on Saturday, including Glasgow, Sheffield, Brixton and Regent’s Street in London, British media reported.

Demonstrators complained that large corporations such as HSBC had made matters worse by “dodging tax”.

They also protested against the government’s spending cuts or delays in benefits payments which have transformed people into relying on food banks.

The campaigners highlighted research showing that 500,000 people regularly rely on food banks, with almost half saying it was because of cuts or delays in benefits payments.

The protesters set up a food bank on the street in front of the branch and put tape across the front door which had the message “Closed by UK Uncut” written across it.

A HSBC spokesman said the branch “shut temporarily at 11.30am as a precaution”, adding: “It may open later.”

Earlier, the spokesman said: “Our branches will be open as usual this Saturday; however our clear priority is the safety of our customers and staff. We are aware that our branches are a focus of UK Uncut for the day and we will take any precautions necessary.”

Murray Worthy, a spokesman for UK Uncut taking part in the protest on Regent Street, said: “We came here to shut it down and it’s shut down. We can’t go on with business as usual with the big banks dodging tax, while hundreds of thousands of people go hungry. That’s what we came here to do and that’s what we’ve done.”

He added: “We’re here today because we think it’s an outrage that half a million people now rely on food banks in the UK.”

Worthy accused HSBC of using tax havens more than any other bank.

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In the aftermath of former Egyptian President Morsi’s expulsion, a mix of dazzling fireworks and frenzied flag waving soon gave way to warring clusters in Tahrir Square. The death toll has been dutifully accounted for – albeit, in varying numbers – by media outlets, government officials and opposing groups as clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters continue.

What has gone largely unreported are the horrifying accounts of sexual assault occurring amid the daily demonstrations, activist groups say. At least 91 women have been sexually assaulted and in some cases raped by mobs in Tahrir Square as of July 3, according to Human Rights Watch.

Zeinab Sabat, a member of the anti-sexual harassment organization Tahrir Bodyguard, voiced this glaring disregard in an interview with PBS.

“We’re doing the job of the police,” said Sabat. “We’re doing the job of people who are in power who should be responsible for this.”

These attacks were magnified on a global scale after five men, self-proclaimed “revolutionaries,” raped a 22-year-old Dutch journalist on June 28. This incident echoed the horrifying rape of CBS correspondent Lara Logan, who was severely beaten and raped by a mob of more than 200 men in 2011.

“I saw victims and I…it’s traumatizing,” Sabat said about patrolling Tahrir Square. “And I see them, and I feel that it’s not…you cannot trust a man anymore.”

Tahrir Bodyguard and fellow anti-harassment organizations like I Saw Harassment, Fouada Watch and Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH) have been assisting victims, providing ground intervention, and chronicling sexual harassment. Still, the overwhelming number of bodies in Tahrir Square and surrounding areas has made doing so a formidable task.

Hardly as clear cut as the factions fighting in Tahrir Square, the issue of sexual assault has spread across all involved parties. The military, police officers, protesters and medical officials have all been accused of violating women protesters. Some attackers even disguised themselves as rescuers, according to assault victims, removing the women from violent situations only to molest them once more.

The seriousness of the attacks ranged from mob sexual harassment and assault to raping female protesters using knives and sharp objects, read a report by OpAntiSH.

Recent statements denouncing these mob attacks have been made by the Egyptian presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet, the report also blasted these parties for trying to exploit these occurrences for political gain against their opposition, noting that sexual harassment is nothing new in Egypt.

“It’s worth mentioning that reports of sexual harassment and assaults have not only been marginalized and not taken seriously by the government, but those who try to submit a report against sexual violence often endure insults and mockery, and in some cases even harassment.

“The current regime also continues in the tradition of the Mubarak regime and the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) to use sexual violence as a means to torture and terrify men and women in prisons and police stations.”  

A U.N. report released in April confirmed this claim, showing that 99.3 percent of Egyptian women interviewed said they had been subjected to some form of sexual violence. A lack of laws preventing sexual harassment against women and a number of social stigmas have fueled that popular belief that victims of assault are to blame.

Those attacked are left with little to no options.

Investigative journalist and author Nina Burleigh called on foreign spectators, namely “American progressives” to step forward and help combat the on-going sexual assault in Egypt.

“As the Egyptian revolution enters another chapter, and more women get stripped and sexually assaulted in the streets while being systematically excluded from the halls of power in Cairo, it is high time for American progressives and other Arab Spring commentators to stop separating anti-female violence from the politics of the Muslim Brotherhood’s revolutionaries,” wrote Burleigh.

“In the broadest sense, the West’s response to the treatment of women in post-Arab Spring countries, from Egypt to Syria, says a lot about the status of women here.