2 out of 3 girls in the UK have been sexually harassed in public. Girls as young as 10 report being followed down the street or receiving sexually-charged comments.

 

At the time when I joined the Crime Not Compliment project, the existing legislation was a mess. There was no specific law against street harassment. One of the objections some people had to introducing legislation against Public Sexual Harassment was that some of the proposed offences — like wolf-whistling — seemed too trivial. But in the UK people get fined and prosecuted for a lot less. Once you hear that it's illegal to spit out chewing gum or cycle on the pavement but not to shout abuse at underage girls walking to school, you really can't unhear it. So that’s what I decided to highlight in the campaign.

 

Our goal was to change the law on public sexual harassment by pointing out this legal asymmetry to the public, the MPs and the government, and explaining why new legislation was necessary. 

 

The petition gained 464,360 signatures, and in September 2023, a new Act came into force, amending  the Public Order Act 1986 to create a new offence of intentional harassment, alarm or distress on account of sex. Turning ‘Crime not Compliment’ from a campaign line into an actual law.

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Agency: Unfold Stories

Strategy: Olga Pope with Jessica Lea and Marisol Grandon

Creative Direction: Marco Ammannati and Olga Pope

Copywriter: Olga Pope

Illustration and Animation: Marco Ammannati