This is not to say that catcalling is a wonderful luxury and women who have it all feel blessed. Nor is it to be argued that such occasional disgust, however feigned it may be at times, does not lead to, or form part of, a constellation of truly aggressive, repulsive behavior. But it suggests it is unreasonable for Liz Truss – in a rare misstep during her leadership campaign – to vow to criminalize wolf-calling and wolf-whistling. It may be annoying, but it’s hardly worth the resources of our already strained criminal justice system. Nevertheless, in the officially indignant, over-indignant tenor of the era, Truss seems to be suggesting that every injustice, from the merely pathetic to the amusing and even cheered, should be considered “street harassment” and outlawed as part of a of ever greater cry for criminalization of “misogyny”. As if if we criminalize enough things, we can make people’s horrible thoughts go away and be replaced by clouds and rainbows. He may be trying to tell Labor and feminist campaigners straight that women’s safety is a priority, but their collective logic is worrying. “Over the past two years, our nation has been shocked by a number of high-profile murders of women,” Truss said last week. “It is the responsibility of all political leaders … to do more.” The bottom line is that because of the many cases in which cold-blooded monsters have murdered women on the street, all public, spontaneous interactions between men and women should be viewed through the lens of criminality. As a woman, I find all of this rather offensive, just as I find Rishi Sunak joining the battle over women’s bodies by pledging to criminalize ‘panting’, when men apparently take surreptitious photographs of a woman’s breasts, as a mixture of the absurd comic and the opportunistically crude. As if women are so fragile and defenseless that anything can break or injure us – and it gives the distinct impression that the public space is a zone of constant and omnipresent danger. The government’s obsession with women’s bodies is just plain weird, not to mention creepy, whether it’s Rishi talking about cleavage photography or Sadiq Khan putting up posters to call crimewatch if you catch someone indulging in ‘intrusive staring’ on the Tube. He thinks they think about it too much, with too much detail. Upblowsing, Rishi, really? I’d rather he stay focused on inflation, stagnant growth, Ukraine and China. The reality is that while this is not the case for women in many cities around the world, for the millions of women who make full use of London’s streets and public transport, there is no dreaded feeling of walking the plank while would-be rapists they are crowded. . But constantly telling girls and women about all the ways men can belittle, attack, or worse won’t stop the wretched men who do. It simply obliterates women’s sense of self-confidence as agents of freedom in the world. We are not powerless and we are not, by birth, victims. That would be a most valuable message to pass on. If the vast majority of women’s experience on the streets is unremarkable, it is no thanks to the police. It is hard to see how adding to the bloated statute books will make a force that is already incapable of prosecuting a high rate of real crimes against women – rape, murder, domestic violence – suddenly comfortable with us. Only 1.3 per cent of the 63,136 rape offenses recorded by the Police in the 12 months to September 2021 led to a suspect being charged and on average victims have to wait 706 days after reporting an offense to a trial, which is psychological torture for them. Then there’s the fact that the greatest danger for women is at home – not on the way home. Truss has now pledged to implement a registry for domestic abusers, which will be cross-referenced with the sex offender registry. This seems reasonable, but again, it is not clear how effective this will be when an investigation last year found that police are failing to impose restraining orders or bail conditions on men accused of rape. The truth is, it’s much easier to talk about criminalizing whistle-blowing and cracking down on domestic abuse than it is about implementing police reform. It is clear that the Met’s problems run deep, a combination of ideological and operational problems, plus too many bad apples. And the effect is not felt only by women: everyone feels it. We all want more police on the streets in general. Their yawning absence makes our cities feel like anarchic territories where anything can happen – to anyone. As anyone who has intercepted anything recently will know, petty crime is rampant – and the police don’t want to know. Misogyny is real, unforgiving and corrosive, entrenched and refined through dynamics at home and online. Addressing its root causes is an ongoing and complex battle. But I do expect a government that understands that such a battle – at least in clear terms – is none of its business, that resources are finite and that the really bad crimes must be dealt with first. Adding more crimes to the statute book is not necessarily the best way to change behavior. Its main advantage, Truss found, is that it is easier than dealing with the true enormity of the problems.
