Increasing awareness of public harassment

Despite the so called “hiss-ban” in Rotterdam and campaigns like the StopApp, in which sexual intimidation can be reported, public harassment still occurs often, and only a slight decline was found in the research of Fischer and Vanderveen. This is not just caused by the persistence of the issue; the numbers are also influenced by the increasing awareness amongst women.

Awareness of catcalls

There has been a significant increase in the awareness of public harassment, and the research of Fischer and Vanderveen has contributed to this: “Women realised during our research that these harassment related events were not normal. Men and professionals on the streets, like police officers, also have a better understanding of what the women are experiencing, and they are possibly better aware of the signals.

Help from the judge

However, it becomes apparent that these initiatives to reduce public harassment have not been sufficient to combat the issue. Recently, the court ruled that the hiss-ban conflicts with the freedom of speech.  According to the judge, it is not up to municipalities to introduce a measure with such a restriction of the freedom of expression, that must be done through national legislation.

In June, the Stop Street Intimidation Foundation, together with Erik Verweij, Rotterdam based lawyer and alumnus of Erasmus School of Law, presented a petition in the House of Representatives to encourage the political groups to vote in favour of the new law. “Of course, the problem requires a comprehensive approach, but the law makes it clear that street intimidation is not accepted and provides an investigating officer with an instrument to do something about it,” according to Verweij.

Effectivity of a new law

Not everybody is optimistic about the expected effectiveness of a new law. There are doubts about the practical use of this law because of the slight chance of being caught and the challenges of proving the suspects’ intentions. Fischer and Vanderveen also have their doubt about the implementation of the new law but also see the additional value: “the boys this concerns often say: we are not scared for fines, because the chance of being caught is low. At the same time, however, making something illegal does contribute to setting societal rules. It offers law officers a mandate to speak up to people. It also helps to increase awareness about the issue and.”

Though a new law might not fully solve the problem, it will help to create lasting awareness. This alone is an improvement, says Vanderveen: “Many women tell us that they find our research important. They seem grateful for the fact that there is attention for this issue.”