Cat-calling. A.k.a. Public Sexual Harassment
Why We Must All Step Up
Thanks to organizations like Hollaback in the USA and Plan UK and Our Streets Now in the UK, cat-calling (as it’s more commonly known) is receiving a lot of attention right now. According to Plan UK’s research, since June 2020 in the UK, 51% of girls have experienced PSH, and 94% think it should be made illegal. During lockdown women and girls reported feeling less safe on the streets, probably because while deserted streets means fewer people, it also means fewer witnesses.
A quick look at the Our Streets Now Insta account shows post upon post about what girls are still experiencing:
I was walking home from school one day in my school uniform, when a group of men started harassing me. When I told them I was 13, they said age did not matter to them.
At the age of 18 I walked past a group of men one evening and one of them said “there’s 3 of us and only her, do you think we could have a go on her?” This was the scariest encounter by far, I had nowhere to run as I was on a bridge.
Fortunately, these organizations (and others) are making strides to combat public sexual harassment. Plan UK & Our Streets now are in talks with the UK government to make it illegal, and Hollaback has partnered with many businesses to provide bystander training so that…
