After interacting with various awareness-raising profiles, two Edinburgh (Scotland) girls, Lisa (21) and Sylke (22), decided to face catcalling in their own city. They started an Instagram profile to reach their target audience. Despite being started on March 15, the profile already received over 100 submissions from both women and underage girls.
Every day, Lisa, Sylke, and volunteers go to the streets of Edinburgh and chalk out the comments and threats women receive on the pavement where they happened. They do so without filtering anything, and a series of rude and inappropriate comments started appearing all over Scotland’s capital.
Their first action (and Instagram post) reveal the comment/threat:’’If you don’t stop and kiss me, I’ll have to follow you home.’’ Sexual harassment is sadly persistent all around the world, and it almost never ends with catcalling. Recent numbers show that 27% of women in the UK are sexually assaulted on the street.
Both Lisa and Sylke remain active to raise awareness about this issue, but also to call out the catcallers at the very place harassment happens. They believe that by facing these men they will at least reduce their numbers and discourage them from behaving in the same pattern again.
In addition to showing a clearer picture of how frequent catcalling is in the streets of Edinburgh, @catcallsofedi revealed an even more worrying issue. While submissions and testimonies keep coming every day, they are very frequently from school girls who are approached by older men.
Social media have become an integral part of our lives, the means to fall in love and to keep in touch with friends. Cyberbullying is often the topic discussed when it comes to social media, but the story behind the account @catcallsofedi will inspire you to re/join and become more active across the network.
