No, Street Harassment is Not a Compliment!

Written by Leiann R. Castillano

Photo cred - rookiemag

Street harassment is one of the most known issue in the society, however it is barely given attention and action by the government resulting to some people thinking that it is an acceptable act to do. Street Harassment is a collective term used for different action done in the street that gives the person being harassed a sense of fear and disrespect. It often happens in the from of cat-calling, whispering, lewd stares and disrespectful gestures towards the person being harassed. This kind of act mostly happens to women, however; several men have also experienced this kind of unethical act. In an article from GMA News Online posted by Bartolome states that the top three forms of sexual harassment are wolf whistling, lavicious language, exhibitionism and public sexual act.

Rueckert article in GLOBAL CITIZEN states that women around the world have often experience unwanted stares, whistles, and whispers which makes them feel scared, demeaned, and even threatened. He concluded in his article that those kind of acts have to do with the level of education and he believed that the less educated the person is the higher chance of harassing others. He added that it is also possible for younger man with high educational attainment to harass others when he experienced violence as a children. In his article,he also quoted an excerpt from the research of Shereen El Feki stating that people who harass others with the reason of putting the harassed in his or her place.

According to the statistics released by UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women), conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on year 2016, states that 3 out of 5 women have experienced sexual harassment at least once in their lifetime where 88% are women from 18-24 years old. In addition to that the chart shows that 70% of the harassment come from a total stranger. 58% women being harassed claimed that the harassment happen in the streets, major roads, and eskinitas. 70% stated that harassment are commonly experienced durign the day from 6 AM to 6 PM. This kind of act affects people in psychological way. It affects both man and women being attacked by the harasser. IN the infographic, it shows that 20% of the women felt afraid after the harassment. Having numbers of statistics regarding women being harassed, it does not mean that the only victim of street harassments are women.

Due to the growing numbers of people being harassed, an act is approved to provide protection to the people. Senate Bill 1326 or the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2017 is approved on October 8, 2017. This act aims to protect people from street harassment and seek to penalize cat-calling, wolf-whistling, cursing, leering, groping, and persistent request for name and other contact details after clear refusal, public sexual act, and stalking. This senate bill has three level of violations raging from light violation, where offense is punishable by a fine of P1, 000 and/ or communty service for eight (8) hours inclusive of a seminar by the Philippine National Police known as the Gender Sensitivity Seminar. Medium violation that includes offensive body gesture, exposing of private parts meant to harass, demean, threaten or offend the other person is punishable by a fine of P 3,000 and/or eight (8) hour community service, can also be punished by 11- 30 days imprisonment for a fine of P 4,000 upon second offense and a 1-6 months imprisonment and a fine of P5, 000 upon third offense. Severe violations that includes stalking, acts preciously mentioned accompanied by touching, pinching, or brushing against the person's body is punishable by 11-30 days imprisonment with a fine of P 4,000 on first offense, 1-6 months imprisonment with a fine of P5, 000 on second offense and 1-6 months imprisonment with a fine of P10, 000 on the third offese.

In conclusion, though many people considered this act as a normal act due to the large number of people doing this act, it is still considered as an unethical, disrespectful and unacceptable act. It is never a compliment to the people being harassed and can affect them psychologically.

References

Bartolome, J. 2016. The numbers are alarming: Harassment vs. women in PHL. GMA News Online. Retrieved on Feb 6, 2019 from, https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/healthand wellness/558251/the-numbers-are-alarming-sexual-harassment-vs-women-in-phl/story/

Rueckert, P. 2017. They Catcall Women on the Street. GLOBAL CITIZEN. Retrieved on Feb 6. 2019 from, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/street-harassment-study-men/

Elemia, C. 2018. Senate approves bill punishing catcalling, street harassment. Rappler. Retrieved on Feb 6, 2019 from, https://www.rappler.com/nation/213812-senate-approves-bill-vs-catcalling-street-harassment