If you usually say “compliments” in the street, think twice: in several countries it is already punished as street harassment. What is it about?
Giving compliments is one of the most common practices in everyday life. There are all kinds, from a seemingly harmless “have a nice day” even the most grotesque and disrespectful ones like “how delicious you are” or “mamacita”.
Although some consider them compliments, the reality is that they are behaviors inappropriate actions that may denigrate the integrity of a woman, limit her freedom and affect her right to move calmly through public spaces.
Aware of this problem, Germany has decided to raise its voice. In recent months, a group of legislators has promoted a national debate to establish sanctions that punish street harassment in all its forms.
The initiative, led by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), seeks to modify criminal legislation and criminalize comments, gestures, whistling and obscene actions carried out in public spaces.
“Verbal and non-verbal sexual harassment that is clearly unwanted, substantial in nature and targeted, deserves to be punished by law, MP Sonja Eichwede, one of the main promoters of the project, explained to DW.
The proposal aims to fill a legal vacuum, since currently in Germany only the cases of direct physical harassmentthat is, those that involve bodily contact.
Street harassment, on the other hand, It is not contemplated in the legislation, leaving thousands of women exposed to situations that, although they do not always end in physical aggression, do represent a form of daily violence.
Eichwede warns that street harassment “massively intimidates victims” and causes many women to avoid certain spaces or routes for fear of being harassed.
“Language and behavior are also a form of violence,” stressed the deputy, who considers it urgent to recognize the psychological and social impact of this type of behavior.
The proposal, currently under discussion, has the support of the Ministry of Justice, under the direction of Stefanie Hubig. This portfolio seeks to fully incorporate the new law, although the opposition has requested to carefully analyze its scope before approving it.
How did this whole debate start?
During recent years, the voices of young activists and feminist movements have been gaining strength by questioning why women must continue to endure street harassment as if it were something “normal.”
This questioning transcended the streets and also moved to social networks, where spaces for denunciation and visibility were generated. In 2019, the Catcalls of Berlin movement began recording the capital’s sidewalks with chalk. offensive compliments that women received daily.
Phrases like “what a body”, “how hot you are” or “come here, beautiful” appeared written on the floor, right where they had been said. The initiative sought to raise awareness and confront society with the verbal violence that is often minimized or disguised as flattery.
A year later, in 2020, Antonia Quell, a 20-year-old student, went a step further and presented a petition to the Bundestag (the lower house of the German Parliament) with more than 70,000 signatures to demand the criminalization of verbal sexual harassment. The proposal generated extensive discussion and laid the foundations for the current debate.
Germany would not be the first European country to legislate on this issue. France, Portugal and Spain have already taken firm steps in criminalizing street harassment, with laws that sanction sexist, obscene or intimidating comments in public spaces.
In some cases, fines can reach several hundred euros. If the German law is approved, the country would join this European trend of recognizing street harassment as a form of gender violence and not as a simple verbal excess. A step that seeks to guarantee that women can walk free and safe, without having to endure words that do not seek to flatter, but rather to control, intimidate or reduce your value to a look or a comment.
