Greens reveal plan to make catcalling and wolf whistling on the street ILLEGAL - with $1200 on-the-spot fines for those who break the law
- Queensland senator Larissa Waters advocates for anti-catcalling laws
- She says Australia should study the French catcalling laws enacted last year
- French laws allow authorities to issue on-the-spot fines for lewd remarks
- 90 per cent of Sydney women fear catcalling and groping after dark: report
A Greens senator has called for Australia to introduce new laws which would make it illegal to catcall and wolf whistle in public and allow authorities to hand out on-the-spot fines.
Queensland senator and co-deputy Greens leader Larissa Waters said Australia should follow the lead of France, which enacted anti-catcalling laws in 2018.
The French laws ban catcalling, wolf-whistling and lewd remarks on streets and public transport - with a maximum fine of AUD$1200.
Last year, French authorities fined a 30-year-old man who used lewd remarks on a public bus near Paris.
He was fined AUD$480 after a court found he had told a young woman she had 'big breasts' after slapping her on the buttocks.
Scroll down for video
Queensland senator and co-deputy Greens leader Larissa Waters is advocating for new laws, which ban catcalling in public and allow authorities to issue on-the-spot fines
Ms Waters said it was worth finding out whether the French laws were working.
'We think the concept is sound, and warrants to see whether it could work in Australia ... it deserves consideration,' she told 10 Daily.
'Women deserve to be safe. We're being killed in our homes, on the street, and not enough is being done to keep us safe ... if we can stamp out that behaviour that starts as a catcall and ends in a women dying, it's a worthwhile investment.'
Share this article
Australia has laws against sexual harassment, but there is no specific law which bans catcalling on streets and public transport.
A report by Plan International Australia last year showed about 90 per cent of young women didn't feel safe after dark.
'They’ve told us they’re being harassed, followed, cat-called, groped or leered at, often on a regular basis,' the report said.
The group interviewed 500 young women, aged 18-25 years, in Sydney to gain insight into how they experience public spaces in Australia's biggest city.
Ms Waters believes Australia can follow France, which enacted anti-catcalling laws in 2018. The French law bans catcalling, wolf-whistling and lewd remarks on streets and public transport
Most women, about 85 per cent, felt reporting systems for street harassment were not enough.
'Only one in 13 (seven per cent) young women reported it to authorities. Reporting to family and friends was more common (60 per cent), but almost a third (30 per cent) did nothing.'
The Greens 'equality for women' document says the party will task the Sex Discrimination Commissioner to provide advice on the success of France's catcalling laws and whether a national approach could be taken in Australia.
It said currently the Australian Human Rights Commission is undertaking the fourth National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces.
The party would scrutinise its recommendations and push for any recommended legal changes to keep women safe from harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
A report by Plan International Australia last year showed about 90 per cent of Sydney's young women don't feel safe after dark
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
