If you are a woman, you've probably been catcalled numerous times in your life, I know I have and I'm only in my 20s. If you live in a city, it probably happens to you most days that you walk around that city and know this also to be true as I experience it most days on my walks to and from work in Cincinnati's downtown area. You don't have to be the resident of a city, though, to be catcalled, and you do not have to be outside and walking down the street. You can get catcalled by anyone, anywhere and at any time of the day.
This July, it was declared by Nottingham Police that catcalling is a hate crime. This means that in Nottingham, if a woman files a complaint about being catcalled, it can be tagged as a hate crime against women. This allows the police to then know how and where the harassment starts and then be better able to prevent it from happening.
This idea all began with a local Nottingham community group though. It was the Nottingham Women's Center that recommended that changing the way catcalling is handle would increase safety for women. Their suggestion was taken seriously and to heart and now officers are being trained on how to recognize and prevent catcalling.
The policy is new and, therefore, not perfect, but it's still an important step forward. According to a nationwide study in 2014, 65 percent of women in the United States have experienced street harassment in some way or another. According to a study done in Egypt in 2014, the number of women who had experienced street harassment was a shocking 99 percent, and in the Untied Kingdom, the number was 84 percent.
Some people may think catcalling is just being yelled at on the street, but it comes in many different forms, such as unwanted sexual advances, unwanted verbal or physical contact and sending unwanted message or photographs through mobile device without consent.
More cities need to follow Nottingham's lead and make catcalling a hate crime. The police department there has already seen more and more women come forward about their experiences to help educate officers and help make it a safer world out there for women.
This is not just a fight to help women, though. Men, too, feel the affects of street harassment. Just the other weekend, I witnessed a woman yelling at a man to take his shirt off, and I could not help but think to myself how she would have reacted if he was yelling at her to do the same. This is a fight for the safety of everyone. This is a fight, so everyone is able to walk down the street and feel comfortable and safe where they live or even where they have decided to visit.
