Catcalling: Cease the Catcalls
By Rohaina Dansal
Walking through any streets and public spaces is undoubtedly a normal part of our daily routines. Not until a woman passing by before strangers or “tambays” suffers an uncomfortable situation of catcalling and losing her balance in walking placidly. Whether one is alone or with company, catcallers know no number of passers-by to catcall. Catcalling gives women a constant and conscious struggle on how to protect their balance from this kind of potential threat.
The streets and public spaces within the huge premises and parameters of Mindanao State University are not an exemption for safety from catcallers. Catcalling, by definition, is “the act of shouting harassing and often sexually suggestive, threatening, or derisive comments at someone publicly.” It’s ironic to believe that women are perceived to be catcalled because of how they dress. However, this argument is contrary to the case of women inside the campus because the majority of the female student population were maranaos including niqabis. This substantiates that it is not because of how women dress, but the dilemma rooted in the catcallers.
Whether on social media platforms or hearing firsthand from my friends’ personal experiences, there are horror tales from students with augmented levels of concern about their freedom to walk peacefully within the campus parameters. One of the possible consequences of this street nightmare is for a student to decide to transfer to another school to protect her peace. Students choose to study on campus not just because of the low cost of living but also the quality of education and opportunities it provides to the students. But it is a sad scenario for a privileged student in a university to decide on her will to leave the repository of learning she once imagined to fulfill her dream.
Catcallers also know no law. Some people may not be aware of it but there is a law called the “Safe Spaces Act,” also dubbed as “Bawal Bastos Law,” that penalizes catcalling, wolf-whistling, misogynistic and homophobic slurs, unwanted sexual advances, and other forms of sexual harassment in public places, workplaces, schools, as well as in online spaces. This law might have no teeth and has not been strictly practiced within the local communities, but at the same time, this can be the primary tool that women can use against severe catcallers.
It is time for this law to be practiced by taking action and standing up for women’s safety from street harassment. Cutting the strings of catcalling may not be done overnight, but a collective effort or a brave voice from the local community to take action against it will make a change. Imagine a female family member of yours, whether it is your sister or daughter, who silently experienced being harassed or disrespected in any place. The worst they could gain is the trauma from this kind of harrowing nightmare.
The new law mandates that privately owned public spaces, businesses, educational institutions, local government entities (LGUs), and national government entities (NGAs) are accountable for providing their residents with protection. It is required that businesses and educational institutions establish an impartial internal structure, such as a Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI), to look into and handle complaints.
The rule additionally specified that schools must look into potential abusers and address the issue even in the absence of formal complaints. The presence of hostile settings, which can be detected by "reasonable knowledge" of someone engaging in gender-based sexual harassment or sexual violence, must be dealt with by educational institutions. Even if a victim chooses not to report the incident or does not ask the school to take any action, they are still required to look into it. Educational institutions have the authority to deny a guilty offender their diploma or order their expulsion.
Students,
specifically, female students, are dreamers who traveled miles away from their
homes to settle in their dream schools. Imagine the layers of the situation behind
a picture of a woman walking in a street or an alley. That female student who
is walking in silence could be coming from exhausting class lectures, burdened
with personal and financial problems, or just exhausted from school chores. Yet
she will still be even burdened when her peace is disturbed by the catcallers
in the streets. A dream of safe streets and spaces for women will be possible
if we ease the catcalling behavior.
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