Whistle Blowers: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Women Victims of Street Sexual Harassment in Quezon City Upon the Implementation of the Anti-Catcalling Ordinance

Abstract

Sexual harassment is defined by the Stop Street Harassment Organization (2015) as “unwanted comments, gestures, and actions forced on a stranger in a public place without consent and are directed at them.” According to the United Nations in the Philippines in February 2016, 3in 5 women experienced sexual harassment. In May 2016, the Quezon City Local Government introduced an ordinance against street sexual harassment in Quezon City (QC) –“Anti-Catcalling Ordinance.” With this, people expect it to lessen, but a year after the implementation, two cops were accused of catcalling while patrolling in November 2017. A qualitative design was used to ensure the phenomenological aspect wherein the selected respondents narrated the details of experiences about street sexual harassment, thus utilized purposive sampling. The study involved 14 women ages 13-24 years old, currently residing and employed/studying in QC and was victims of street sexual harassment that occurred within QC. The research started by a collection of documents through sources like studies, books, journals, etc.. Thus, one-on-one interviews were also conducted and recorded by the use of recording devices that were transcribed and encoded. The research problems suggested categories that were used for coding and analyzing the data, namely Experiences of Women on Street Sexual Harassment, Awareness of the Anti-Catcalling Ordinance, Victim’s Response, Victims who Reported and did not. Under these categories is a different theme that corresponds to the answers of the respondents. The victims experienced forms of Street Sexual Harassment like catcalling and wolf-whistling, which they experience almost every day. They were aware of the ordinance through tarpaulins/posters on the streets of QC, while some aren’t. The victims felt no change in their level of safety and deem it as not potent. According to the victim that reported, the authorities assisted her and were very helpful in solving the case, while for those who didn’t, they felt it was insignificant, there were no authorities, fearing the comebacks of the harassers, assumed that onlookers will blame the victim, and is part of the nature of men. Street Sexual Harassment was experienced by women, who are used to it, and aware of the simple details of the ordinance. The respondents mentioned that the effect of the ordinance isn’t potent, and there’s no change in the level of safety. Most of the victims don’t report for various reasons, while the victim who reported said the Authorities were helpful since they were affected by the media. The researchers recommend the victims to approach the authorities and report their experiences. That the LGU of QC will review the ordinance to increase potency, and the future researchers to focus on the experiences of other genders.