Woman turns her unpleasant experiences with men on the street into eye-opening art project

A woman turned unwanted and unpleasant experiences with cat callers into an art project, showcasing the dangers of street harassment.

Noa Jansma was a student living in Amsterdam when she created the Instagram account @DearCatcallers.

The account, which was most active in 2017 but has been recirculating online again recently, saw Jansma pose for selfies with every person who catcalled her while walking around the city.

The selfies were taken in the month of September that year, and feature men from all different backgrounds – all appearing to show no shame for their actions.

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“They’re not at all suspicious because they find what they do completely normal,” Jansma said.

Writing on her social media page, Jansma said: “This Instagram has the aim to create awareness about the objectification of women in daily life. Since many people still don’t know how often and in whatever context ‘catcalling’ happens, I’ll be showing my catcallers within the period of one month.”

The account posted before the arrival of a 2018 law in the Netherlands which punishes catcalling and subjects offenders to fines of up to $220 (£175).

New laws in the UK were also brought in at the end of last year.

It was confirmed in December that sexually harassing women in public is set to be punishable by up to two years in prison under proposed laws backed by the Government.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman declared her support for the new legislation, brought forward by former Tory minister Greg Clark, to make the behaviour a specific offence, as she insisted every woman should “feel safe to walk our streets”.

Public sexual harassment was already illegal, but did not exist as an offence of its own.

The Government wants to make the law “clearer” to the public and the police, encourage women to report their experiences, and emphasise the severity of the crime.

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