England To Criminalize…Cat-Calling

Or, “wolf-whistling” as they call it. Unless there’s a differentiation I’m unaware of. Anyone?

Whatever you wanna call it, you may not be able to do it anymore in Britain without risking a jail sentence.

According to the sourcelink, the Home Secretary Suella Braverman has announced her plan to criminalize catcallers beginning next year. Catcalling falls under her new street harassment law, and will outlaw “behavior or gestures that deliberately harass, alarm, or distress someone in a public space based on their sex.”

So to the point of the Tweeter above, if you look at someone too long, or they PERCEIVE you as looking at them too long, OFF TO JAIL YOU GO.

Now, I’m not defending catcallers. I think it’s the most useless, counterproductive thing to do ever, and the men who engage in this practice are just beyond stupid, because literally NO WOMAN responds to catcalls in the way that the catcallers likely hope they will. I mean, find me a woman who got catcalled and said “Hi catcaller! Here’s my phone number!”

No. Most women roll their eyes or ignore the catcallers completely and move on with their day. Unless of course they’re Ashley Judd, in which case they loudly yell back, “INAPPROPRIATE AND UNWELCOME” so that it’s immediately clear to the catcaller that they’re dealing with someone who’s batsh*t strong and independent. Don’t believe me? Watch the first 20 seconds of this video she did for Teen Vogue.

The legislation is called Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public. Braverman said, about the bill, “Every woman should feel safe to walk our streets without fear of harassment or violence. And that is why we are supporting this bill to introduce a specific offence on public sexual harassment.”

I mean, I get it, but like everything else the government does, it’s an incredibly slippery slope, and fraught with potential abuses.

Discuss.