Is wolf-whistling a sex crime?

I occasionally get whistled at when some guy sees me from the back – tall, blonde and slim with a neat butt. I get my own back by turning around and creasing my wrinkly face into a smile. That shuts him up.

I think it would be better if wolf whittles went completely out of fashion – after all they are a sign of viewing women as purely sexual beings. Much more unpleasant and distressing are the sorts of comments such a "I could do you a favour" which can seem very threatening, especially to teenagers and young women.

Wolf whittles? Can wolves whittle? Sorry – whistles.

Absent
I would welcome even a wolf whittle these days!

I think the 'threatening behaviour' was that one builder jumped in front of her and said 'good morning'. That could make a girl on her own uneasy even if he was just being stupid.
After a month she has changed her route to work. What took her so long?

Sorry I think it is sad that some people actually want to be whistled at. Is this the only way they can find value in themselves? It seems a bit desperate. I though we settled this in the seventies and that most men wouldn't do it now. And as for standing in the girl's way that is totally unacceptable.

I wish I thought you were right, Mishap. I don't think men ought to feel free to shout at or whistle at women but neither do I think it should be a police matter. I don't think political candidates should make ignorant and prejudiced remarks about same sex couples but I don't think that should be a police matter either.

Soutra I was baffled as to why you kicked off at soontobe I thought she was saying some wolf whistles are okay (friendly, flirty) and others are not (aggressive controlling threatening behaviour)

That's my view of the matter. The woman concerned had probably come to dread passing those particular builders. The builders were probably aware of her discomfort and were having fun at her expense.

I am amazed there are so many posters on GN who don't seem to have a clue about the subtleties of sexual harassment.

Why should this young woman change her route to work? It's the male's behaviour that needs to change.

The reason I posted in the first place was that it was reported as being a sex CRIME. I think there is a difference between a crime ie criminal and harassment ,but I have ,hey what do I know?.

have decided

I think we do understand the subtleties of - and less than subtle - harrassment but perhaps learnt to deal with it and avoiding putting oneself in the situation by changing one's route could be one of them.
Going to the police and appearing in the national newspapers would seem to be cracking a nut with a sledgehammer.

I am more interested in who told the newspapers, more than one paper carrying the story.

Why does the young woman believe it is worth posing for the photos seen in the papers, or are they photos taken before the incident and either she or somebody else gave them to the press.

I would have thought a young girl who felt scared or intimidated by this 'ordeal' would hardly have wanted the story to be so openly publicised and more so accompanied by photos of herself splashed all over the place.

The front page spot in the DT, annsixty' is to enable its unreconstructed male chauvinist readers to sympathise with the builders by admiring a glamorous photo of Miss Smart. In The Times it's a less OTT photo on an inside page; they found a glamorous lady Everest mountaineer for their front page.

trisher Nobody is desperate to be whistled at. They are just saying a simple wolf whistle would not bother them . In most case it is meant as a compliment.

Petallus The builders probably gave it no more thought than 'there's a pretty girl'.

Yes, sexual harassment is wrong when directed at either sex but lets not get carried away with what counts as such. Next it will be 'He she looked at me as I walked past'.

Good point, POGS.

I thought that too POGS

What a lot of reactionary, condemnatory twaddle. The idea that if you can pose for a photo for the paper you can't be all that frightened by a group of men who pester you every day, is about equivalent to the idea that anyone wearing skimpy clothing is asking to be raped. The one has nothing to do with the other. Why shouldn't she tell her story and get her picture in the paper she has done nothing wrong and she didn't initiate any of the process. She complained about unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst I think calling the police is somewhat over the top, I do agree with Mishap obstructing a woman's path is threatening and intimidating.

I suppose wolf whistling could be deemed as harmless, but it's often often a complete pain in the arse to the recipient. When I was in my early 20s and working in St Jame's Square in the West End, there was an awful lot of building work going on next to the office where I worked. I had to pass the site every morning and I remember getting a whole load of wolf whistling and the usual inane "cheer up luv it might never happen" Is there anything more banal than shouting that out to a complete stranger? It really annoyed me and put me in a bad temper before I'd even started work for the day. I shared an office with a German girl and we used to lunch together and pass the same building site, being a very positive and assertive person she was quite happy to go over and admonish them in a very direct and Germanic way with comments along the lines of "I don't know you, so please shut up with your remarks when I go by" It rendered a couple of them slacked jawed for a nano second!

Yet another story about nothing probably if it is in the Daily Telegraph, just more grist to the mill for their unreconstructed readers. But......I cant help thinking that we do all take ourselves and our feelings too seriously sometimes. Tell that to the poor souls huddling in their tents in Katmandu.

Oh for goodness sake trisher, 'pestered her every day' . On one occasion someone stood in her way. Yes, unacceptable but whistling is hardly pestering ! Miss Smart says she was 'targeted' . Surely targeting is when an action is deliberately aimed at a particular person known to the perpetrators with intent to harm in some way.

As for saying those of us who wonder why it was reported to the press is equivalent to saying anyone wearing skimply clothes is asking to be raped . That certainly is a load of twaddle.

trisher

I was not making a condemnatory remark , that's how you read it.

I remain of the opinion that this girl would have no interest in her story being so predominate in the national press, especially showing photos of her. I would have thought she found it mortifying to read and see herself in the public eye .

Did somebody else create the story without her knowledge was my point.

Oh I think I a may be wrong I have just viewed the Mirror on line , can't do links.

She is making a statement of her own volition for the good by the looks of it.

So nobody set her up as I thought she is obviously a stronger character than I first thought.

I know this is totally non PC but a chorus of wolf whistles was a rite of passage for me.

I was about 15 and had a very domineering mother who was always criticising my appearance.

I was walking along a street with mum when a large group of builders greeted me with enthusiastic wolf whistles.

They were leaning over some scaffolding and pointing at me in case, I guess, mum thought they were for her

Mum was furious but it made me see that I was quite attractive and not the things she often said I was.

Don't suppose at my age I'll get any wolf whistles now but I was walking along a road with my Dil when a car driver gave her a toot toot on his horn. She didn't mind at all.

Pogs "I would have thought a young girl who felt scared or intimidated by this 'ordeal' would hardly have wanted the story to be so openly publicised "
Why not? She has done nothing wrong. Your inverted commas around "ordeal" reveals that you don't take her situation seriously.
She complained about persistant behaviour, shouting and whistling ginny not just about the one occasion someone stood in her way. I wonder what level of interference with her routine should be considered unacceptable? If they pushed her? if they touched her?
The reason it is the same as the skimpy clothes scenario ginny is that in both cases it is the victim who is blamed not the perpetrator.
Women have the right to walk in the street free from any harrassment, or fear of harrassment.

It always surprises me to read other women who are minimising sexual harassment and victim blaming ( change your route, don't have your picture in the papers, get a sense of humour, appreciate and welcome wolf whistles and shouts etc)

I worked in the offices of an engineering factory in the late 60's. One of my jobs was to brew up for the managers. This meant making the track across the work floor into the kitchen. It was a several times a day nightmare. Shouting, whistling etc, dreadful. I've never felt that this kind of behaviour was anything other than humiliating.

Our daughters were tall, skinny teenagers. I remember their dad being furious about the amount of horn pipping, chaps hanging out of windows making the universal sign for masturbation. The girls reassured him that they had got used to it, and to ignore it. They disliked it intensely of course, but were powerless to change the behaviour. Their dad is a gentle soul but came home ranting.

Why on earth should any woman or girl put up with this kind of behaviour.

What you describe is sexual harassment. Heavy sexual harassment.