'Stop whistling at women like dogs': Cardiff students tackle harassment with catcalling street campaign

Two Cardiff students are aiming to tackle the harassment of women by writing down experiences shared by victims on streets.

'Catcalls of Cardiff' is inspired by a group in New York, which sees the experiences of harassment victims written down in chalk on the street in which they happened.

It comes amid calls for police to record crimes against women, motivated by misogyny, as a hate crime.

It also follows the death of Sarah Everard, which has prompted an outpouring of shock and anger.

Sarah Farrance and Grace Davies-Packham, both second-year midwifery students at Cardiff University, started their street campaign in January.Grace explained what inspired them to start: "We'd both experienced catcalling - but I think everyone has - and we felt it was unfair that we felt unsafe walking to our own homes. We didn't feel that was right.

"In recent events, it's even more relevant, and I think it's brought it home for a lot of people who hadn't realised how bad it was."

The messages aim to raise awareness and start a discussion. Credit: Catcalls of Cardiff

Describing how it makes her feel to be catcalled, Grace said: "I just want the ground to swallow me up. I feel so on edge - it's literally like fight or flight."

Sarah said she was first catcalled when she was around 13 years old.

She described a recent experience of catcalling from right outside her home.

"I was literally stood in the rented house that I live in, cleaning the windows, and someone drove past and catcalled me.

"I thought, if I don't feel safe here, how am I going to feel safe anywhere on the streets?

"I just think it's unfair and we want to change that narrative."

Grace and Sarah also write facts about harassment. Credit: ITV News

Sarah added that protecting herself against harassment and catcalling has become part of everyday life.

"It's normal that I send at least two people my location if I'm out of my own, so they know where I am.

"It's normal that I give people an ETA (estimated time of arrival), it's normal that if I'm walking on my own and I'm not on the phone and someone approaches me and I don't feel safe, I pretend to be on the phone so they think I've got that lifeline.

"It's mad the things that women and people who feel at risk do to feel safe."

Sarah and Grace want to reduce the amount of catcalling that takes place, and hope to make potential perpetrators think before they act with their chalk messages.

Sarah said: "We're not saying don't ever talk to women, but just be respectful and polite when you talk to people.

"Don't just shout at them out of your van, or kerb crawl them in your car and whistle at them like dogs, it just makes them feel unsafe."

The death of Sarah Everard has sparked widespread outrage.

Discussions around women's safety have got louder since the death of Sarah Everard, with others sharing their experiences of feeling unsafe on social media.

Ms Everard went missing on 3 March while walking home after visiting a friend in Clapham, London.

Her body was found in woodland near Ashford in Kent a week later.

#CurfewForMen was trending in the days after disappearance, following a suggestion by Green Party peer Baroness Jenny Jones that a 6pm curfew should be imposed on men.

But the First Minister said the Welsh Government is not considering such an action.

In a social media post, Mark Drakeford said: "We are NOT introducing a curfew for men in Wales – or even considering it. This is misleading and deliberately misses the real issue."It’s a sad distraction when what’s needed is a proper discussion about women’s safety and why a woman is killed every 3 days by a man in the UK."