Sexual Harrasment: it’s never acceptable

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen I first heard about the Warwick PhD student taking photos – without consent – up women’s skirts at a wedding, I was filled with a deep sense of disgust. When I realised that this man attended Warwick, and that I had shared a campus with him, this disgust turned to anger, sickness and fear.

While it is a commonly known fact that wherever you go, you are unfortunately going to be around people who think it is acceptable to act in such a way, I had never had to be fully confronted with this reality at Warwick – at least, not to this extreme.

Like most other people at this University (and this country), I have been catcalled and inappropriately touched. This is an everyday style of harassment that we seemingly believe is just the norm.

Like most other people at this University (and this country), I have been catcalled and inappropriately touched.

But why do we believe it is the norm? Why did I feel so utterly outraged and scared by the case of this PhD student, yet willingly accepted the situation when crude comments are yelled at me by groups of guys while I’m walking on my own?

When this happens, all I do is go home, tell my housemates about the incident over a cup of tea, and begrudgingly forget it ever happened – because what else can I do?

Crude comments are yelled at me by groups of guys while I’m walking on my own

But these ‘everyday’ incidents of harassment are undeniably just as intrusive and upsetting as any other. The difference is that one causes far more moral outrage than the other: and I just don’t understand that. Whatever the specific act of harassment, the harasser still clearly believes they have the right to someone else’s body. It doesn’t matter if it’s commenting on it, touching it or photographing it – all of these are harassment when done without the other person’s consent.

This way of thinking is simply unacceptable. And what is worse is that the people who harass others know that they are unlikely to ever get caught for it: like me, when these things happen, most people will just shrug it off as an unfortunate reality of life.

The harasser still clearly believes they have the right to someone else’s body.

Only once this year has a friend of mine actually complained about being catcalled, after the builders near University House began hurling sexual commentary at her.

Unfortunately, her official complaint is one not often made, meaning ‘everyday’ harassers (and I use ‘everyday’ ironically, as no form of harassment should be seen as more acceptable as another) almost always get away with it. It is only when big cases come to light, like the one of this PhD student, that we become introspective on matters such as this.

Unfortunately, her official complaint is one not often made, meaning ‘everyday’ harassers almost always get away with it.

So, instead of just feeling repulsed at extreme cases of sexual harassment, let’s start looking closer to home, at the little things that happen every day at our University. If we begin to tackle these, perhaps there will be a time when everyone feels safe at Warwick: let’s stop protecting the harassers and start protecting those that are harassed.