Should wolf-whistling really be a criminal offence?

After a group of builders were given official warnings, Sarah Freeman asks is wolf-whistling really a matter for the police?
Benny HillBenny Hill
Benny Hill

When Poppy Smart decided to complain to the police about the wolf-whistling she endured each day as she walked to work, it wasn’t just a group of slightly lecherous builders she was taking on.

As word got out, she also found herself the target of the ‘world has gone mad’ brigade. You know the ones. The kind who like railing against ‘barmy’ EU legislation that doesn’t actually exist in the belief it is taking the Great out of Great Britain.

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But back to Poppy from Worcester. The 23 year old involved the police after being subjected to what she called “disrespectful comments”. The response was entirely predictable.

Most of those who posted comments online went for the well-worn “she’ll miss it in 10 years time” line. Others, noting that she was not only young, but also attractive concluded that she had probably “been asking for it” and one enterprising soul suggested that if Poppy found British builders offensive she should try Italy - “It’s more than wolf whistles there,” they helpfully added.

Her version of events was also made to sound peculiarly tame. One incident repeatedly highlighted was the day she complained one of the builders had dared to say ‘morning love’. Cue ripples of derision from the ‘world gone mad lot’. The idea was presumably to make Smart, who works in digital marketing, look terribly oversensitive and lacking a very British sense of humour.

Had that been actually what happened they might have had a point. However, Smart had never objected to someone passing the time of day with her. She probably wouldn’t have complained about the odd wolf-whistle. What she didn’t like was a group of men purposefully going out of the way to make her feel uncomfortable. Not just once or twice, but every single day. For a month.

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“They would actually come out of the building site at the time I walked down the road,” she has since admitted. “I eventually contacted the building company and the police on the same day when it got so bad I even considered changing my route to work, but I thought, ‘Why should I do that?’

“People say it’s only wolf-whistling, but women shouldn’t have to deal with it. I think more women should speak out about this behaviour - maybe it will make people think twice. Imagine hearing someone speaking that way to your sister, mother, wife or daughter.

“I wouldn’t go up to someone and comment on their race to them, it is the same as sexism and its rife.”

A few years ago one of the country’s leading construction firms George Wimpey banned its workers from wolf-whistling. In a round robin email, staff were told that “savvy and sophisticated woman won’t stand at being whistled at by builders”. It didn’t say whether the ignorant and unrefined were still fair game, but like most workplace policies it was a case of Wimpey using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

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Do most women enjoy the odd wolf-whistle? Honestly? The answer is probably yes, particularly if you’re the wrong side of 40 and have spent the morning making packed lunches and sorting out PE kits. However, there is a difference between the occasional Benny Hill style wolf whistle and behaviour which deliberately and repeatedly makes someone feel uncomfortable, anxious even.

Smart said friends had suggested taking photographs of the offending tradesmen and naming and shaming them online or at least finding someway to get her own back. Instead of playing tit for tat, she decided to go down the official route and was happy for police to drop the investigation after the men were given an official warning.

It’s easy to portray Smart as a man hating feminist who needs to develop a thicker skin, but if there’s any one guilty of failure of common sense it’s those builders, a group of grown men who really should have known better.

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