Men Are Being Catcalled In This Dutch City & It's Just To Show Them What Women Deal With
They want men to feel "uncomfortable" on the street.
Utrecht. Right: Young boy looking at a screen.
City officials in the Netherlands have had enough of all the catcalling that women face, so they're launching a new campaign to show men exactly how awkward it feels to deal with that kind of thing on a daily basis.
The Dutch city of Utrecht aims to cut down on sexual harassment with the campaign, which will involve a woman cat-calling men from a screen set up downtown.
The campaign by the municipality of Utrecht began on May 13, and it's supposed to show men "how uncomfortable and sometimes even threatening" catcalling can be for women, reported NL Times.
The roles will be reversed, and men will be catcalled by women from the campaign screen.
After the men are catcalled, someone will chase them down and explain the campaign, the NL Times reports. The men will also be asked how they feel about being verbally called out on the street.
"With this action, the men and boys are really addressed or harassed as women often experience," explained a spokesperson for the municipality. "Men are also part of the solution when they confront their friends about this kind of behaviour."
The catcalling will start innocently but it will progressively get more aggressive and threatening, reported NOS.
"Just the way it goes in real life," added the spokesperson.
The campaign not only focuses on the female experience but also considers how it can affect members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people whose religious beliefs are visibly represented.
Catcalling is a massive issue for people worldwide and mostly goes unreported.
According to a 2017 study conducted in Rotterdam, 94% of women between 18 to 45 experience getting catcalled, reported The Dutch Review.
The municipality of Utrecht also reported that at least half the population of women deal with catcalling in the city.