Catcalling – why this topic deserves a place in criminal law

Trigger warning: (Verbal) sexual harassment

Comments like "Hey beautiful, I'd really like to have my way with you" or "I bet no one could satisfy you like I could" fall under the term "catcalling". This refers to any form of verbal sexual harassment. This happens on the streets of various cities almost daily – here in Würzburg too. Whether on the way to shopping, to sport, to friends or to a club: catcalling is not uncommon, but it can have fatal consequences. That's exactly why it should become a criminal offence. Antonia Quell is 20 years old and studies media management at Würzburg University of Applied Sciences. When a friend tells her that catcalling is punishable in France, she asks herself why this hasn't been the case in Germany for a long time. After thorough research on the topic and the legal situation, she starts a petition in August 2020 with the help of a friend. Her goal: catcalling should also become punishable in Germany. I asked Antonia if she could explain the whole thing to me in more detail to make clear why this topic is so important.

Probably the most common counter-argument in the catcalling debate: "Those are just words – they don't hurt! Usually it's just a flirt, if not even a compliment." What speaks against that?
Catcalls never aim to do something good for the recipient, but rather to strengthen the self-esteem of the person making them. Through catcalling, those affected are objectified. Catcalling attacks sexual self-determination. It is everyone's right to decide when, where, with whom and to what extent we want to have (sexual) contact with a person. So catcalling is not simply hurtful and stupid, but attacks a legal right that is supposedly protected by law. A very simple rule of thumb: anything I can't answer with "thank you" was not a compliment, and anything I wouldn't dare say to my mother's face cannot have been a compliment either.

How can catcalls then be distinguished from flirts?
Catcalling is exhausted by a sexual reference. Anything that has no sexual reference cannot be sexual harassment. Each of us has a right to sexual self-determination. Sexual self-determination is the freedom to decide when, where, how and whether at all I want to have sexual contact with a person. So if a stranger addresses me in a sexually connotated way, it can be assumed that there was no consent. We don't know each other. What people who know each other do consensually and how they talk to each other – that's all private, a matter of taste and miles away from the topic of catcalling. So: you don't address strangers in a sexually connotated way because you can't be sure of their consent. Flirting is possible without comments on sexual characteristics, honking after someone, whistling, following and pressuring. Pretty sure.
By the way: in employment law, verbal sexual harassment can be grounds for dismissal. A distinction is therefore definitely possible.

Suppose the petition is successful and catcalling becomes punishable: how can the burden of proof then be clarified?
Some stated that France, for example, only makes catcalling punishable if a police officer can witness it. Hence the question: how do victims prove that the act took place, or how do wrongly accused people prove their innocence? We have the problem of verifiability with many sexual offences. Rape, sexual harassment and insults – all difficult to prove and yet punishable. How the exact implementation will look is something that should be planned by people who can do it much better than I can. People who do it professionally. Without evidence, no conviction. Falsely attributing a "catcalling act" to someone would be about as difficult as pinning a theft on someone. In case of doubt, for the accused.

For Antonia, the most important thing about her initiative is that there is open discussion and debate about the topic of verbal sexual harassment. But her petition is not only of symbolic significance: "Our criminal law is deficient with regard to verbal sexual harassment and that needs to change. The most important thing will probably be that everyone makes the effort to put themselves in the shoes of those affected. Especially because most people at the levers of justice are less affected and some don't even see catcalling as a problem," she says. The petition was submitted to the petitions committee. This will soon deliberate on the topic. Now it's a matter of hoping that Antonia's voice will be heard.