Men in a van

Immaculada - the other difference is that seatbelts/smoking/drink-driving are absolute offences and easy to prove in court. The legislation around harassment and intimidation is wide open to clever lawyers mucking about which is one of the reasons why CPS drop such cases with depressing regularity.

Awful! Ive had bad stuff like that ahoutd at me but the fact that the children were with you makes this awful! I once had piss chucked on me by some lads in a van and they shouted what they'd like to do to me too....filth.

Try to move on....I still think of the time those lads did that to me but it's fading now.

Every time it pops in my head I imagine myself rubbing their faces in cow turd.

Thanks for the link BSM - duly added to my FB.

In terms of the law being a "blunt instrument", let's face it - the laws against this type of harassment clearly exist, but what's the betting they, like the improved law against rape, wouldn't achieve much because of entrenched misogynistic attitudes on the part of police officers (see above), the legal profession and juries (should this type of offence go before a jury).

But the seatbelt/drink-driving point is an interesting one. And smoking is becoming less and less socially acceptable to a large extent because of more stringent laws being applied more stringently.

The difference is that the offences mentioned above have a female victim. Who, it appears, "invites" this type of comment merely by being female in a society where women are increasingly objectified.

Jeez, there's a lot of work to be done.

Alphamummy what a horrible thing to happen

I am in tears at the memory of the scores of times this kind of thing has happened to me from 14+. I have spent my entire life from that age trying to appear invisible to other people on the street. Aged 36 it seems to finally be starting to happen and I can't wait.

It is so wrong. There are many women who are stupid twats as well, but I can't recall a single incident of a woman shouting at me in the street, from a car etc. And the obscenity...just horrible.

ashcampaign.org/take-action/#comment-245

I have added it to my facebook page.

Must this be all arguey?

I have really enjoyed hogsback's posts, it's been interesting hearing how the law is set up at the moment. I can see the bit that you have picked up on there Dittany but she has clarified.

I think it would be useful to get this stuff reported, en masse. Then they couldn't brush it under the carpet.

If I had reported everything that happened whan I was under 20 I'd never have been out of the police station. And that is the reality, isn't it. It's awful.

I posted a thread about something like this last year.

The annoying thing is the fact that the effect of it lasts in our minds far longer than it stays in the mind of the person who delivered it.

When it is from a moving vehicle you feel so powerless to say or do anything.

How about if everyone on this thread adds the Anti Street Harrassment Campaign link to their facebook page? There is a facebook button at the bottom of the website.

At least that would be something!

Yes lots of people whinged about seat belts and drink driving when those laws came in.

But the law, enforcement and public education campaigns, meant that very few people now argue publicly for the right to drive drunk.

Dittany: I specifically said that women should use the law in street harassment - see my very first post.

I've reiterated in several posts that the vast majority of the behaviour that often gets dismissed as "boys being boys etc" is criminal and can and should be prosecuted.

I'm sorry I gave the impression that I didn't think the law should be used in street harassment cases as this is the complete opposite of my beliefs.

I think both are needed. The law being enforced certainly brings home how unacceptable some actions are.

I thought hogsback was saying that it should be reported but that the courts wouldn't be interested in the more "minor" end of the scale Dittany. Which I'm sure is correct.

How many cases of consensual sex with a female under 16 but over puberty actually get taken to court though? I thought it was very unusual.

Sardine: in the case of the bus driver, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, maximum sentence 14 years. A child for this offence is anyone under the age of 16.

Not necessarily, SQ - statutory rape, for example is a very serious offence in the eyes of the law when it involves a pubescent child - which it often does.

Children meaning anyone under 16?

So in the case of the bus driver who said he would let my 13yo friend of her fare if she showed him her breasts, that would count as a really serious offence?

(My feeling is that since puberty had hit, the protection of being a child in the eyes of the law would be lessened).

Yes I think a lot of men don't understand that this starts when you hit 12/13 or earlier for some girls.

Girls who are just too young to understand or know how to handle this type of attention - which of course is often why they are targeted. I am convinced that men who do this aim it at younger women, not because of different levels of "attraction", but because they know they are more likely to get the sort of response they want from a girl/younger women, and that they are less likely to cause a scene or report it to anyone.

HerBeX: well, if you shout abuse at anyone of any age, there is the possibility of an s.5. If you actually sexually proposition children than that is a far more serious offence.

Yes I agree with that Hecate. One aspect is that I don't think they can ever quite get how intimidating it can be. eg the security guard saying it was just boys being boys, shouting about rape.

hogsback I suppose I'm just trying to understand whether its legal or not to yell stuff at people randomly, I can see that sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.

I would really like to see this type of thing become unacceptable in our society.

hogsback, some 10 year olds have breasts.

Lots of 12 year olds do.

You're right, Stereotype White Van Man hates peedos. But his definition of peedo, is someone who likes prepubescent children.

Pubescent children, if they are female, are fair game.

If they are male of course, it's a different matter - hark the cries of outrage when the age of consent to gay sex was lowered.