MPs have approved plans to make street sexual harassment a crime carrying a jail sentence of up to two years.
Catcalling, following someone or blocking their path will become an offence in England and Wales under a bill backed by the government.
Sexual harassment is already illegal. The bill aims to improve enforcement and targets street harassment.
Conservative Greg Clark, who put it forward, said it was “astonishing” that this was not already a crime.
The move was unopposed, and now goes to the House of Lords for scrutiny.
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Mr Clark, a former business secretary, told MPs the intention of his bill was “to reinforce a change in the culture”.
“This closes a loophole in the law, as it has never has been a specific criminal offence to harass and intimidate intentionally a woman or a girl in public,” he told the BBC.
“Because it is not a specific crime, too many woman and girls think there is no point in reporting it to the police.
“This is something we don’t tolerate for racial harassment or harassment on the grounds of sexuality.”
Feeling unsafe
While targeted at changing behaviour towards women and girls, the proposals will apply equally to men and women.
The government backed the plans in December, meaning the changes are almost guaranteed to become law.
A survey by pollsters YouGov for the BBC, published last year, suggested two-thirds of women did not feel safe walking alone at night, at least some of the time.
Women and girls under 34 are most likely to be the target of sexual offences but the least likely to report them, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The CPS, which decides whether to take cases to court, recently updated its advice to staff about street harassment. The new guidelines also cover offences like exposure, stalking and sexual assault.
The murder of Sarah Everard, who was abducted and killed by serving policeman Wayne Couzens while walking home in south London in 2021, also increased concerns about women’s safety and male attitudes towards women.
Six months later, primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, was murdered in south London by a man she had never met.
The private member’s bill will criminalise:
Deliberately walking closely behind someone as they walk home at night
Making obscene or aggressive comments towards a person in the street
Making obscene or offensive gestures towards a person in the street
Obstructing someone’s path
Driving or riding a vehicle slowly near someone making a journey
Harsher sentences will also be introduced, increasing the maximum jail term from six months to two years.
Speaking in the Commons, Tory MP Christopher Chope said the bill could lead to a deterioration in mental health in young men.
“A reasonable worry about assault appears to have morphed into an institutional misandry,” he told MPs.
“Sexual assault is bad and treating men as inherent sex pests is also bad.”
But Mr Chope did not vote against the bill.
Wolf-whistling
Campaigners have also called for wolf-whistling and staring intently to be criminalised.
Last July, then Home Secretary Priti Patel launched a consultation on making street harassment a specific crime. The Home Office has now concluded this should happen after “the significant majority” of respondents were in favour.
Last year, Independent Government Adviser for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Nimco Ali claimed the government had blocked such legislation.
Crime and policing minister Chris Philp told MPs the government was pleased to back the bill.
“This is only part of a wider piece of work to protect women and girls in particular.
“There is of course a lot more work to do. I look forward to working with colleagues in government and across the House.”
Last year, the Home Office launched a campaign encouraging people to call out harassment.
It’s called Enough, and you might have seen posters for it popping up on public transport over the past month or so.
The adverts suggest ways for people to intervene if they see someone being harassed.
Source: BBC