"How much do you cost?"
"Hey doll!"
"You cunts can spread your legs for me ..."
Was that just uncomfortable for you?
Very?
These are just three examples of so-called catcalling, i.e. verbal sexual harassment in public spaces, to which women in particular are repeatedly exposed.
The sayings come from Instagram accounts like "catcallsofberlin".
The initiators want to draw attention to the problem and ask people to pass on their experiences.
With colored chalk they write the statements on the sidewalks and streets and publish a photo of it.
The idea comes from New York, meanwhile there are similar campaigns in many German cities.
Many of the statements made in Germany are not punishable so far - and that is exactly what the student Antonia Quell wants to change.
"I think sexual harassment doesn't start with physical contact," she says.
The 20-year-old has started a petition demanding that catcalling be made a criminal offense.
She has collected more than 47,000 signatures since August 11th.
Anja Schmidt conducts research at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, among other things, on sexual criminal law.
The lawyer advocates a law against "catcalling".
Some statements could currently be punished as an insult, but it is disputed whether sexually assaulting acts or statements should fall under this offense.
"It would be clearer if we had a verbal sexual harassment crime," she says.
Schmidt also finds another aspect problematic: "A punishment for insulting does not make it clear that these statements are about sexual objectification, a violation of the right to sexual self-determination."
Antonia Quell, the initiator of the petition, comes from Fulda and is studying media management in Würzburg.
With the young woman and her friends, situations like the following are regularly a topic: Quell was, she says, on the way home by bike at night when two young men drove next to her in their car, held a bottle out of the window and said: "Hey honey, don't you want to drink something."
She felt uncomfortable and got angry: "I said: 'Don't you want to piss off?'" Then the men drove away - not without calling out to her: "You stupid bitch, we just wanted to be nice."
For many young women it is part of everyday life to be approached undesirably and derogatory from the side, says Quell.
From her point of view there is still a lack of awareness of the problem in society: "Many consider it a natural fact that pretty women are turned on on the street."
She also wants to change that with her petition.
The verbal attacks made her feel more unsafe on some routes through the city and, for example, took a detour that seemed safer to her.
From her immediate environment she received a lot of support for her petition, said Quell.
Many young women who were happy about their commitment turned to her on the Internet.
Above all, however, she also gets comments on social networks from men that "are either totally below the belt or miss the issue".
Some would be afraid of not being able to say anything to a woman soon - an argument that the student does not accept.
In her opinion, it is not difficult to distinguish compliments or flirting from "catcalling": "With 'catcalling' the sender never wants to do something good for the recipient, but rather to demonstrate power and dominance."
Most of the time, the argument of trying to flirt is only an exaggeration anyway: "If I get on the tram and someone shouts 'great ass' after me, nobody can tell me that the aim is to start a conversation with me."
Icon: enlarge
Antonia Quell: The student wants to make catcalling a criminal offense
Photo: Antonia Quell
While some cases are unambiguous, there are also those that are still perfectly within the framework for one or the other, but are clearly overstepping the boundaries for others.
For Quell this is not an argument either: "If it were easy, we wouldn't need any laws," she said.
"Just because it is not always clear, that is no reason for me not to address the issue," she says.
Lawyer Schmidt sees difficulties in delimiting "what reaches the threshold of the criminal offense and what does not".
In addition, the fact can hardly be proven if only testimony stands against testimony.
However, these are legal problems that also exist with insults or other criminal offenses.
A study by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs shows that sexism plays a role in everyday life and does not start with unwanted contact.
According to the study, 44 percent of women and 32 percent of men said they had already experienced sexist signs or attacks - in almost half of all verbal cases. Women are most often harassed by strangers in public places (46 percent of Affected), men at the workplace by colleagues or superiors (45% of those affected).
In several European countries there is already a law against "catcalling".
For example, anyone in France who shouts lewd remarks after a woman, whistles after them or makes obscene gestures, can be prosecuted with up to 750 euros since 2018, or even 1500 euros in aggravating circumstances.
In the first year since the law was introduced, corresponding payments were due more than 700 times - a number that does not do justice to the actual frequency of the attacks, said French feminist Anaïs Bourdet, according to Reuters news agency in August 2019. Quell is also aware that penalties alone will not solve the problem: "A 'catcalling' law will not contribute significantly to the safety of women on the street," she says - but also that she is concerned with creating awareness in society: "Our law must be a guide to right and wrong."
Lawyer Schmidt refers to the symbolic power of a law against verbal sexual harassment: "It would be a clear statement that this behavior is undesirable by the state and would change something."
Icon: The mirror
