Two in three young women in the Netherlands say they were harassed on the street last year. This appears from Wednesday published research of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The researchers surveyed approximately 8,000 Dutch people between the ages of 12 and 25 about their experiences: 67 percent of women in this age group say they have experienced street harassment. This includes behavior such as yelling, hissing, whistling or chasing.
Street harassment is more common in cities than in rural areas. In the four major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, an average of 77 percent of young women say they have been harassed. In non-urban municipalities that percentage is around 55. Of all forms of harassment, women were most often confronted with whistling. Unwanted napping also happens regularly.
Most women – 64 percent – said they ignore street harassment. Just over 30 percent of female respondents call someone if they are being harassed on the street. A small group says to grab something, such as deodorant or pepper spray, to defend themselves. Less than 10 percent of women reported the harassment to the police.
Men also intimidated
The researchers administered the questionnaires between February 2020 and April 2021. Statistics Netherlands has never investigated street harassment in this way, so it is not clear whether there has been an increase or decrease in recent years.
Young men are less likely to experience street harassment, the study also shows. About one in three say they have suffered from this; it mainly occurs in teenage boys. They are most often called after by others. Other common forms of harassment that men face are chasing or whistling.
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