Street harassment

"Catcall" redirects here. For the novel, see Catcall (novel).

Street harassment is a form of sexual harassment that consists of unwanted comments, wolf-whistles, "catcalling", and other actions by strangers in public areas. According to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, "violence and harassment against women and girls in public spaces remains a largely neglected issue, with few laws or policies in place to address it."

Definition

According to the non-profit organization Stop Street Harassment, street harassment is "unwanted comments, gestures, and actions forced on a stranger in a public place without their consent and is directed at them because of their actual or perceived sex, gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation." In much of South Asia, the term is called "eve teasing".

Prevalence

A number of studies from around the world have attempted to assess the prevalence of street harassment.

A 2014 study of 2,000 Americans was commissioned by an activist group and conducted by GfK. 65% of women and 25% of men reported having been the victims of street harassment in their lives. 41% of women and 16% of men said they had been physically harassed in some way, such as by being followed, flashed, or groped.

The Canadian government sponsored a large data research project in 1993 called the Violence Against Women Survey. In the data sample of over 12,000 women, 85% said they were victims of harassment by a stranger.

In a 2002 survey of Beijing residents, 58% cited public buses as a common location for sexual harassment.

Additional studies on the prevalence of public harassment have been conducted in the United Kingdom, Poland, Egypt, India, Israel, South Korea, Yemen, and others.

LGBT community

Members of the LGBT community may be particularly susceptible. 66% of LGBT respondents in a 2012 European Union survey said that they avoid holding hands in public for fear of harassment and assault. 50% said they avoid certain places or locations, and the places they listed as most unsafe to be open about their sexual orientations were "public transport" and "street, square, car parking lot, or other public space." The 2014 GfK survey of Americans also reported higher incidence of harassment for LGBT people.

Health effects

Street harassment, like other forms of sexual harassment, can induce a variety negative mental health effects on victims.

A 2000 article, based on Canada's Violence Against Women Survey, showed that past exposure to harassment from strangers is an important factor in women's perceptions of their safety in public. Harassment from a stranger, as opposed to an acquaintance, is more likely to induce fear of sexual victimization.

A study published in 2010 reported that "the experience of street harassment is directly related to a greater preoccupation with physical appearance and body shame, and is indirectly related to heightened fears of rape... Stranger harassment reduces feelings of safety while walking alone at night, using public transportation, walking alone in a parking garage, and while home alone at night."

Public attitudes

YouGov conducted a poll of about 1,000 Americans in August 2014. In their findings, 72% said it was never appropriate to make a "catcall," while 20% said it was sometimes or always acceptable. 55% labelled catcalling "harassment," while 20% called it "complimentary." Americans in the 18–29 age range were the most likely to categorize catcalling as complimentary.

Activism

Public activism against street harassment has grown since the late 2000s. A group called Stop Street Harassment began as a blog in 2008 and became incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2012. Another group called Hollaback! was founded in 2010.

Activists have made use of viral videos to publicize the frequency of unsolicited comments that women receive in public areas.

One American street artist used Kickstarter to raise money for a campaign called "Stop Telling Women to Smile." The artist posts portraits of herself and other young women accompanied with messages against street harassment.

A Minneapolis woman created a set of printable "Cards Against Harassment" (in homage to the game Cards Against Humanity) that she distributes to street harassers. The cards are meant to explain to street harassers why their comments are unwanted.

See also

• War Zone – a documentary on the topic
• 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman, an experiment where a woman walks through the streets of New York City with a hidden camera recording her from the front, and experiences 108 instances of what the video creators call street harassment over the course of 10 hours.