Council issues fine for cat calling in landmark initiative against sexual harassment
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
A young woman who was catcalled for around 20 seconds has praised the speed and effectiveness of council officers in issuing a £100 fine to the man involved.
The incident marks a new era in tackling sexual harassment on London’s streets, after Hammersmith and Fulham council introduced the capital’s first borough-wide street harassment Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in July.
Sarah Jane, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said it “feels really good that people actually care” after action was taken following the incident in Fulham Palace Road in September.
The 26-year-old said: “Obviously catcalling is bad, but I just don’t think it’s seen as that bad because you’re brought up to just deal with it, it’s just something that happens.”
Ms Jane had been waiting at a set of traffic lights when a man in a vehicle began catcalling her. She said this went on for around 20 seconds.
The vehicle had his company’s logo on it, so a short time later, she searched ‘sexual harassment in public spaces’ online and came across the Law Enforcement Team (LET) which had been set up by the council to deal with antisocial behaviour and low level crime.
She quickly fired off an email, and was surprised when an LET officer came back within minutes.
Following some further correspondence with the LET, including a phone call, Ms Jane was informed the man was issued a £100 fixed penalty notice (FPN) just a few days later. This was later reduced to £60, due to it being paid within 10 days.
She added that she has been catcalled ‘so many times’, and that it was something she typically just tried to ignore. On the day in question, she said the length of time the catcalling continued left her angry and determined to do something about it.
PSPOs are implemented by local authorities to deal with nuisances in a particular area, but the use of them to deal with street-based sexual harassment is new.
Cllr Rebecca Harvey, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety, said: “I think if you hit someone financially they’re more likely to remember the message than if you just say ‘you shouldn’t do that’, because I think a lot of people already know you shouldn’t behave in that way.”
A council webpage said 97 per cent of women aged 18 to 24 have been sexually harassed in the UK.
Cllr Harvey said every woman she knows, including herself, has experienced this kind of behaviour.
She said: “We should be able to go to work, go shopping, go out at night and go home, and just move around the borough freely without the fear of someone saying or doing something or being made to feel uncomfortable just because we’re women and girls.”
Pictured top: Sarah Jane, not her real name, said she was catcalled for around 20 seconds in Hammersmith and Fulham (Picture: LDRS)