Twenty Dutch cities are joining forces with education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf in signing a pledge to tackle the public harassment of women and girls.

According to figures from national statistics agency CBS, two in three women and girls under the age of 26 have been harassed on the street and 20% of them experience this more than five times a year.  

The campaign aims to create more awareness of the problem and its impact on victims among men and bystanders, and to exchange information about best practices. 

Nijmegen’s welfare chief Cilia Daemen told broadcaster NOS that even comments as “don’t look so angry” can make the recipient feel uncomfortable. “If you see something happen and you know that the woman is unhappy about it, then you can ask her if she feels okay,” Daemen said. “Then you are removing them from the situation.” 

The problem is also down to group pressure, she said.

There have been several attempts to legislate against street harassment. In 2019, appeal court judges ruled that Rotterdam’s ban conflicted with freedom of speech rules. It had been an offence in Rotterdam to sexually harass women by hissing, intimidating them or following them in public places since the beginning of 2018.

The court was told that the man had gone up to women and attempted to strike up a conversation by saying ‘hey pretty ladies, where are you going.’

Amsterdam’s plan to introduce similar legislation was also ditched at the same time. “A ban on hissing is only dealing with the symptoms,” city mayor Femke Halsema said at the time. “You have to use education and get rid of the idea that is completely normal to shout at women in the street.”

Two years ago men walking around the centre of Utrecht were shouted and hissed at by a woman on a computer screen, one Friday afternoon, as part of a campaign to combat street harassment.