Should Street Harassment Be Made Illegal?
Unless we can understand what causes street harassment and fight against it, criminalising street harassment will only have a surface level impact.
Plan International UK and Our Streets Now recently launched a campaign to make street harassment illegal in the UK. France outlawed street harassment in 2018. Perpetrators can expect to receive a fine of up to 750E, with more for aggressive behaviour, so why is street harassment still legal in the UK?
The #crimenotcompliment campaign claims that
“From parks, university campuses and bus stops to our local high streets, girls across the UK are harassed every day”
It argues that street harassment holds girls back by impacting their mental health, restricting their freedom and making them feel unsafe. Their petition which currently has over 15,000 signatures can be found here.
Like most womxn I know, I’ve experienced street harassment since I was about 12 years old. Over the summer, when it’s hot and I wear less clothes, street harassment can feel relentless. So, I would welcome a change in the law that criminalises street harassment and invokes a fine like France does.
Street harassment or catcalling is a strange phenomenon where mostly men but some womxn, make their sexual desires known by verbalising it publicly. This can range from something as seemly harmless as a wolf whistle, to, and here I quote from personal experience, “I want to lick your p*ssy in the back of my car”.
Street harassment occurs without any suggestion that its reciprocated and leaves victims in an extremely uncomfortable position. They either have to respond to the harasser, which can lead to more harassment. Or, they can ignore them, which might also lead to more harassment. Hence, many womxn are starting to speak out against the somewhat aggressive and dehumanising practice which persist in today’s society.
That being said, we can’t just stop at criminalising street harassment. This sends an important message to potential perpetrators. But it doesn’t get to the root of the problem, that being, why does street harassment exist in the first place? Unless we can understand what causes street harassment and fight against it, criminalising street harassment will only have a surface level impact.
I suggest that there are multiple patriarchal notions which normalise street harassment. One such notion is the well-documented hyper-sexualisation of womxn. Specifically black womxn and womxn of colour. In western society this means it’s perceived as somewhat okay to objectify womxn.
Objectifying womxn explains why street harassment typically has a sexual undertone; either that the harass would or wouldn’t, if you catch my drift. But it still doesn’t explain the extremely bizarre phenomenon of shouting this objectification publicly. Most of us learnt from a young age that it’s rude to shout and holler, especially unprovoked at people we don’t know. So, why is this childhood lesson forgotten when it comes to street harassment?
As unpleasant as it is to say in 2021, I think it still comes down to respect. When people click or whistle at waiters, we think they’re disrespectful. When people perpetrate street harassment, they make it clear they don’t respect the victim. This objectification and disrespect is then fuelled by social expectations of womxn being coquettish and initially reject men’s advances. Womxn are expected to say no before they say yes, otherwise they’re too easy.
This all culminates in instances of street harassment that where perpetrators persist even if they are ignored or rejected by victims.
Yes, criminalising street harassment is one way of protecting womxn. In fact, it is vital. Street harassment controls where womxn can walk and feel safe. It controls what womxn feel comfortable wearing. It puts them on edge and makes them anxious. Subsequently, street harassment badly impacts womxn’s mental health which is should be reason enough to socially condemn it.
However, street harassment has a negative impact because it reminds womxn that they are still sexually objectified and disrespected within society. As such, it is these social norms which constitute the root of the problem and these social norms which must be targeted if we are to see genuine positive changes for womxn. If we don’t educate around such topics, criminalising street harassment is simply sweeping the problem under the rug.
Alternative educational institution Revolution Hive provides social programs which, include: ‘Challenging Gender Stereotypes & Toxic Masculinity’, ‘Challenging Femininity & Boosting Girls Confidence’ and ‘What Is Consent & How to Create Healthy Relationships’. Programs like this dispute negative social assumptions about womxn before they become embedded in the next generation. As such they are vital if we want to tackle the damaging root causes of street harassment, and other outdated aggressive behaviour like groping strangers bums in clubs.
If we learn about proper communication, respect and care in romantic and sexual interactions, then harmful practices like street harassment will naturally go down. As will other practices resulting from the objectification and disrespect of womxn. Until then, I welcome the criminalisation of street harassment and a continuation of womxn speaking out against aggressive behaviours that have been normalised for too long.
Written by Jasmine Khan
Jasmine Khan is a journalist, public speaker and mental health advocate. Having achieved a Masters in Global Ethics and Justice, she now hopes to use this knowledge to promote practical changes for social justice across the UK and beyond. Jasmine also runs bespoke mental health masterclasses, for inquiries please see @jazwritesjazspeaks