#ItsNotNice Campaign launched to raise awareness towards street harassment

Street harassment in an ongoing issue that most women have encountered at least once in their lives, if not more. It is such a huge prevalent issue, but it is massively under-researched and is sadly not taken as seriously as it should be.

In the UK, women are having to deal with verbal and physical harassment every day. According to a survey from PlanUK, a staggering 2 out of 3 girls in the UK have been sexually harassed in public. We’re asking you to raise awareness to this important problem, and to say “Its Not Nice”, as we call on the general public to recognise the issue and to take a stand for change on our streets.

According to our latest survey, women from the age of 18-24 are most likely to be experiencing verbal harassment like catcalling, wolf whistling and vulgar sexual comments on a regular basis, and much more seriously, physical harassment, such as being touched, grabbed and groped. From our survey, we can report that the most common places for this type of harassment is in bars / nightclubs and on the street.

Many girls are finding themselves changing their behaviour in order to stay safe, with many reporting that they take certain tactics to avoid being targeted. From crossing the street to avoid someone, to not going out alone at night and taking longer routes home to avoid certain dodgy locations.

With these statistics, it is clear that action must be taken to educate the public on the issue, to ensure we can feel safe on the streets.

Unfortunately, this sort of behaviour is often dismissed and therefore goes unreported, leaving the issue unresolved and the issue far greater, on a global scale.

#ItsNotNice is a campaign aiming to educate both males and females on street harassment, and what they can do if they find themselves a victim or even guilty of this particular type of harassment. Our main goal is to encourage more discussion on the subject, and for the government to consider treating street harassment a hate crime. We plan to introduce classes in education facilities such as universities in Manchester, as students seem to be the main targets to this wrongdoing. The subject of consent also needs to be addressed, and providing safe spaces for victims to report offences and offer free counselling.

The message behind our hashtag #itsnotnice, is to recognise that street harassment is not seen as a compliment, and for people to realise that these actions impact people, causing many women to feel uncomfortable, scared and vulnerable.

The campaign wants to make a step in the right direction in ending street harassment. No one wants to live their everyday lives in fear of these perpetrators. It’s time to speak up and say – It’s Not Nice!

Join #ItsNotNice to help take a stance by signing the petition
You can also follow the campaign by visiting its site
Follow #Itsnotnice on Facebook here , and on twitter @ItsNotNice3