Sexual harassment refers to unsolicited comments, gestures, catcalling, or speech that people (most often women) receive while moving about in public spaces, for example, during their commute, on the way to work, using public transport. This unwanted attention is frequently perpetrated by strangers, and often takes place in broad daylight and in the presence of other people.

Women frequently do not report sexually motivated street harassment for a number of reasons including because they think the behaviour is too minor to warrant attention or because it is culturally normalised. Women may also not report because they fear danger from the offender if they respond or take action, because they don’t believe that the authorities will do anything if they do report, or because they are simply too scared to do anything in response (see the results of the EMPOWER survey and focus groups). All of these responses create the impression of impunity for offenders, isolation, and increased fear for victims, especially as harassment is often not clearly defined in criminal law.

Street harassment forms part of the continuum of (sexual) violence against women, despite the seemingly innocuous content of the speech that makes up the harassing behaviour. Women are placed in a vulnerable position by the attention given to them, and these encounters often carry the real or perceived fear and threat of escalation to physical violence.

Sexual harassment limits women’s freedom of movement and ability to be in public and it also limits the possibility of women working in transport. It has been recognised as a human rights violation by the United Nations. The UN has called on states to “increase measures to protect women and girls from violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and bullying, in both public and private spaces, to address security and safety, through awareness-raising, involvement of local communities, crime prevention laws, and policies.”[5]

Harassment is enabled and exacerbated by societal beliefs that normalise predatory behaviour, for example, catcalling, wolf-whistling, indecent gestures, or groping. These forms of behaviour undermine women’s dignity and underpin victim-blaming. Weak community norms or beliefs against sexual violence and traditional gender and social norms that value (often violent) masculinities and promote men’s unfettered sexual access to women often predict higher rates of harassment and sexual violence.

Most countries in Africa have laws against sexual offences although most of these laws focus on harassment in the workplace or domestic violence, rather than in public or on the street. South Africa is an exception.

Women employees also face assault and harassment and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2019 has adopted a new Convention and Recommendation to combat violence and harassment in the workplace and it has also developed the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019, and Violence and Harassment Recommendation, 2019.

Although these are designed to protect workers and employees, irrespective of their contractual status, including persons in training, interns and apprentices, workers whose employment has been terminated, volunteers, job seekers and job applicants, it reminds ILO member States that they have a responsibility to promote a “general environment of zero tolerance”.