WOLF-WHISTLING AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE ARE LINKED

One of my male friends wants to know if wolfwhistling ‘will be made a crime next?’ He rolls his eyes and tells me the police have got ‘ better things to do’.

His eyes nearly pop out of his head when I reply: ‘Wolf- whistling should be a crime. The safety of women is “better things to do”.’

Lucky him, he’s never seen his petrified 13-yearold in tears after a vanload of men yelled ‘show us your t**s’ in her face on the way to school at 8am.

What men can’t seem to grasp is that wolf-whistling and sexual violence against women are linked. even the smart ones who don’t wolf-whistle don’t see that the root cause of female sexual harassment is misogyny. And misogyny is born out of society’s culture of sexism, which starts with a whistle.

And despite the tsunami of evidence proving this, men still don’t seem to believe misogyny motivates perpetrators. These aren’t sex crimes, they are hate crimes. Classifying misogyny as a hate crime is a step forward because it helps us compile data around trends on sexual violence towards women, which will help define future laws to protect us. Hopefully, it will encoura g e more women to come forward and it will educate police forces. And, hopefully, it will educate men too. Sadly, most men reckon things like wolfwhistling aren’t worth making a fuss about.

Maybe they haven’t had to watch their daughter’s eczema get worse under the stress of dreading her journey to school; maybe they haven’t had to buy a bigger coat to cover their child’s uniform to protect her from wolf-whistlers.

Maybe if all men understand this better, they will trust us to tell them what needs to be done to ensure the safety of all women.