Catcalling: why women are whistled in the street and how to react to it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Harassment is not a compliment.

What is catcalling

In 2014, a video was posted on YouTube that gained almost 50 million views and went viral. A woman, dressed in simple black jeans and a closed black T-shirt, walks around New York for 10 hours in a row, and strangers whistle in her back, try to get acquainted, stalk and weighed out dubious compliments like "Hey, beauty!" and "Smile!" The credits say that in 10 hours the heroine received more than 100 unwanted tokens. The street harassment shown in the video is also called catcalling.

Most often, it is understood as verbal harassment from strangers:

• rude statements and shouts;
• whistling;
• clatter, smacking, attempts to call a woman like a cat - with the help of the sounds "kis-kis-kis";
• offers to have sex;
• greasy compliments and assessment of appearance, especially of certain parts of the body;
• use of the car signal;
• persistent attempts to get to know each other.

But in a broad sense, this is generally any form of harassment in the public space. Including:

• obscene gestures;
• demonstration of the genitals;
• the pursuit;
• attempts to block the road, detain, grab hands;
• unwanted touch, physical aggression.

Catcalling can be encountered on the street, in public transport, in a park, in a cafe or restaurant, in a bar or club, and in general where there are people.

Who faces catcalling

A 2014 US study found that 65% of women and 25% of men had to endure street harassment at least once. Another large-scale poll, conducted among residents of 42 cities around the world, shows even more dire numbers: up to 95% of women were harassed by strangers.

The age of the victims varies. Most women, according to these two surveys, first encountered some form of catcalling when they were not yet 17 years old. Some of the victims have not even turned 11. Tweets posted under the hashtag #firsttimeharrassed also speak of this.

You might think that harassment is provoked by defiant clothing, but this is not the case. Women in long dresses and hijabs, and in closed outerwear, encounter catcalling. For example, it happened with the chief editor of Lifehacker Polina Nakrainikova, who went out into the street wearing a cloak and a mask, but still ran into uninvited signs of attention.

Also, victims of harassment, including street harassment, write about their experiences under the hashtags #catcalling, #catcallingisnotok, #streetharassment, #I_need_publicity.

Making inscriptions on the asphalt

The Chalk Back flash mob (a play on words, which literally can be translated as "write back with chalk") was invented and launched by activist Sophie Sendberg. Participants leave quotes on the pavement - words and phrases that the street bailiffs used to say to them. There are relatively innocent statements: "Pretty woman!", "Let's get to know each other." But there are many and frankly frightening: threats of rape, bullying, murder. The inscriptions are made exactly where the incident occurred. This is an attempt to shame the offender, draw attention to the problem and give a belated but rebuff.

Joke about the problem

In 2019, at the feminist festival "Eva's Ribs", they showed a funny video by Daria Alahonchich about how to react to catcalling. It was suggested, for example, to pretend to be dead, fly away with the wind, or dance a crab dance.

Jokes aside, but this behavior can be unsettling for a street harassment.

Hanging up posters

For example, as the authors of this action. They post portraits of women, which are accompanied by slogans like "My name is not baby", "I owe you nothing", "Men are not the masters of the streets."

Teaching other women to resist harassment

Activists of the Stand by against street harassment movement conduct trainings in which they explain to the listeners how to react to harassment and rebuff offenders. In Russia, feminists also sometimes hold similar events, but not yet on an ongoing basis: in our country, the problem of catcalling is not widely discussed.

What to do if you get harassed

Holly Curl and Debjani Roy conduct trainings for women facing harassment. They shared key recommendations from their program with Business Insider.

Make sure you are not in danger

The main thing is safety. If there is no one nearby who could protect you, and there are many offenders or they are much stronger than you, drunk, aggressive, the most reasonable thing would be to leave or run away, and as soon as possible. Find a crowded and well-lit place, hail a taxi, ask for help, call the police, pretend that your husband or partner is calling you - in a word, do everything to increase the distance with the aggressors.

Make eye contact

If the situation does not seem very dangerous to you and you still decide to stand up for yourself, the instructors recommend that you look the harassment in the eyes with a firm and confident gaze (as much as possible). It seems to be a trifle, but persistent eye contact can knock off arrogance from the offender and make you think about what he is saying and doing.

Speak calmly but firmly

Do not try to lisp or, conversely, go over to insults: this can provoke aggression, including physical. Say out loud that you do not like what is happening, demand to leave you alone, step aside, remove your hands.

Another trick is to ask the aggressor to repeat what he just said. By this time, the attention of those around you will most likely be directed at you, and in front of the audience it will be a shame to repeat nonsense or insults to the bother.

Go away

As soon as you protested and got the aggressor to stop his actions, leave so that he does not take advantage of the situation and does not perceive it as an invitation to a discussion, a quarrel or even a fight.

If you have the strength, do not be silent about what happened to you. Share harassment on social media, such as women's communities where there are strict rules and no bullying, in anti-violence groups. So you will not only make the problem more visible, but also get support: you will understand that you are not alone, you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, and you are not to blame for what happened.