This journalist just exposed what happens to drunk women on a night out. She was completely sober.

It's Promising Young Woman in real-life.

An incredibly courageous woman, pretending to be inebriated and alone, filming men's interactions with her, all while she's in a perceived vulnerable state. It's an experiment that poses a risk to her safety undoubtedly — but one that sheds an important light on what women have to deal with on any given night out.

Ellie Flynn is a British journalist who is known for her investigative work. It's her 2022 documentary Undercover: Sexual Harassment, The Truth, that people still can't stop talking about.

The documentary highlights the reality of being sexually harassed, as well as Flynn's experience with it and how men responded to being caught out. 

Elli Flynn reflects on her experience of working undercover for the documentary. Post continues below.

Flynn used hidden cameras to document her experiences at popular nightlife spots across Britain while pretending to be intoxicated.

For one weekend she took part in the social experiment, acting drunk and separated from her friends, appearing incoherent enough to be unable to consent, let alone have a normal conversation. 

It was her night in Liverpool that was most chilling. 

Stumbling over a bollard and propping herself up on it, she attempted to roll a cigarette with her eyes half closed. A man appeared almost instantly next to her. He asked how she was, firing questions, such as where was she going, who was she with, and whether or not she wanted to "hang out". 

Recounting the situation, Flynn wrote for The Sun: "I barely respond, slurring occasionally that I'm going to find my friends, or that I'm fine on my own."

Flynn staggers away from the scene and heads to the hotel room she had booked. She changes direction a few times, sensing that the man is still following her. Nothing deters him.

"Come home with me. We go to the hotel," the man tells Flynn. "We come together. I like you."

She still comes across as tipsy, but clearly refuses the man's advances, saying: "No. I'm fine, I need to find my friends. I'm going home."

Less than 10 minutes into the man first meeting Flynn, he is in her hotel room. Without her consent. 

Fortunately, Flynn's room is rigged with secret cameras. Production has been tailing her from the nightlife streets in Liverpool's CBD, and producers are also closely monitoring the room's cameras. There is a security guard hiding in the room's bathroom as well. 

Pragmatically, Flynn is relatively safe in this situation. But she still feels terrified. 

She then confronts the man.

"I didn't give you any indication that I wanted you to follow me here. So why have you followed me here?" she says with full clarity. "I gave you no indication that I like you. Why have you followed me into my hotel room?"

The man responds by asking her for sex. She asks him to leave. He does, mumbling sorry multiple times.

It's a haunting exchange, one all captured for the documentary.

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Speaking to Variety, one of the producers of the documentary said production had to step in following the incident, with Flynn's safety front of mine.

"We were really surprised by the frequency with which Ellie was, or would have been approached. We had to stop filming because she was so shaken up," he said.

"Had she stayed out, she would have kept on getting approached, again and again. People who were approaching her were sober men. It seemed like they were out to do exactly what they were doing: Approach and harass drunk girls."

In Australia, sexual harassment is prevalent.

As per the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021-2022 — which is the most recent data available — 1.3 million women experienced sexual harassment in that period. 

Of these women who were victims of sexual harassment, 97 per cent were harassed by a male perpetrator. 

It's also prevalent in the workplace, one in three people saying they've experienced sexual harassment in a work-related setting in the last five years.

Reflecting on the experience, Flynn said on Good Morning Britain: "I really want people to become more aware of the threat that women face. So often the onus is put on women, we need to better protect ourselves, we need to be aware of our surroundings, we need to drink less. Rather, I think this needs to be a conversation that everyone is having, to make sure everyone is safe when they go out."

She has also thanked her team and security profusely for their support during filming, saying "it was the most difficult film I've made to date".

"One thing that I just keep thinking about is what could have happened if I wasn't a journalist, if I didn't have security, if I wasn't there with a whole crew of people. That could have ended in a life-changing experience."

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Feature Image: Channel 4.