Street harassment is a problem that occurs worldwide. Anyone can experience it. Unfortunately, women, girls, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community are regularly harassed in public. They are, for example, verbally abused, subjected to sexually explicit comments, or followed on the street.
Street harassment isn’t limited to the streets or to nightlife. It also happens in shopping centers, supermarkets, and other public spaces. You might be stared at during a walk in the park, or receive an inappropriate comment while cycling.

Forms of street harassment

Street harassment comes in different forms: non-verbal, verbal, and physical. Sometimes it starts small. Someone whistles as you walk by, hisses at you, or stares at your body for minutes as if you’re an object. Or you suddenly notice someone deliberately following you, on foot or driving slowly behind you in a car. This is non-verbal behavior that doesn’t need words to make you feel unsafe.

The second form is verbal: explicit comments about your body, sexual innuendos, or unsolicited questions like, “Can I have your number?”, “Are you going home, can I come with you?”, or if you’re queer: “Do you want a threesome?” If you don’t play along, the comments can suddenly turn into insults like: “Whore,” “Slut,” “Bitch.”

Finally, there is physical street harassment: a hand suddenly on your butt during a night out. Someone touching you without your consent or suddenly pushing you against a wall. Sometimes even someone trying to drag you into an alley. That’s not just intimidating, it comes dangerously close to assault.

What all these forms have in common is that they are not compliments. They’re meant to control, dominate, or make you feel like you don’t belong in public spaces. And that feeling that you have to be careful, that you have to think about your clothes or your route lingers and leaves its mark.

Who are the victims and perpetrators of street harassment?

Although anyone can experience it, it is primarily women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ individuals who are frequently targeted by street harassment. The reason these groups are targeted more often is not a coincidence. Street harassment is rooted in social power dynamics and gender norms. It’s a way of putting people who “deviate from the norm” in their place. For LGBTQIA+ people, it is often a punishment for breaking gender expectations or sexual norms, such as holding hands with your partner.

In theory, anyone can commit street harassment, but in practice, the perpetrators are almost always men. In fact, in 70% of cases, the harasser is a man (Plan International). This is related to deeply ingrained gender roles about how men are supposed to behave in society. In our society, power is still often exercised over women and queer people.

The media plays a role in this. Think, for example, of music, porn, or advertisements that portray women as sex objects. Peer pressure among boys also reinforces this behavior: in groups, some feel the need to prove their masculinity. If young people don’t receive proper sex education at home or school, they learn about boundaries mostly from each other or from the streets. This sustains a culture in which harassment is excused or even encouraged. Often, the impact of behavior isn’t considered.

Impact on daily life

Street harassment limits people’s freedom — literally. It affects where you walk, what time you go somewhere, what you wear, and who you walk with. Sometimes you avoid certain neighborhoods or public transport. In the worst case, you miss school, skip work, or quit sports.

According to Plan International (2023), 83% of Dutch girls between 16 and 27 years old have experienced street harassment. 63% of them say it affects their freedom of movement.

What’s often underestimated is the effect of repeated “small” incidents. Even without physical violence, street harassment leaves mental traces — such as hypervigilance, anxiety, or avoidance of public spaces.

This is known as “accumulative trauma” or chronic microtrauma. It’s a form of somatic trauma, where the body remains constantly “on” due to repeated stress stimuli. Your body remembers what happened, even if your mind tries to push it away (The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk).

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Street harassment is not an isolated incident, but a structural problem deeply rooted in our society. The numbers speak for themselves and show how widespread this issue is and how normalized this behavior has become.

A confronting image
Research by Plan International from 2023 reveals that no less than 83% of Dutch girls and young women aged 15 to 25have experienced unwanted sexual behavior in public spaces. For 63% of them, this has led to limiting their freedom of movement: they avoid public transport, sports clubs, or hobbies, and in extreme cases miss school or work. Additionally, the 2022 Prevalence Monitor on Domestic Violence and Sexual Transgressive Behavior shows that 17.8% of women and 7.5% of men have been victims of sexually transgressive behavior.

What makes this even more confronting is that sexual harassment often starts at a young age. Plan International’s (2023) research shows that girls and young women aged 12 to 27 are most likely to experience street harassment. Reports decrease after that age, not because the problem disappears, but because women develop strategies to avoid it more often, for example by spending less time in public spaces. The fact that harassment starts so early illustrates how deeply embedded and normalized sexually transgressive behavior is in our society. Girls have to start adapting in secondary school already: changing their clothes, avoiding certain routes, wearing earphones, staying alert. The public space is rarely neutral for them, let alone safe.

LGBTIQIA+ Community: hit twice as hard
LGBTIQIA+ people are often confronted with street harassment, especially when their sexual orientation or gender identity is visible. In Rotterdam, research showed that many LGBTIQIA+ individuals choose not to walk hand in hand or wear eye-catching clothing, out of fear of negative reactions such as verbal abuse, staring, or even physical violence. According to the 2023 Safety Monitor, 25% of LGBTIQIA+ individuals aged 15 and older were victims of ‘’traditional’’ crime, including violent offenses, within the past twelve months. Non-binary individuals are the most frequently targeted. The LGBTIQIA+ community is thus often doubly impacted when it comes to transgressive behavior.

The Role of Social Media in Street Harassment
Social media play a significant role in how young people perceive gender roles and sexual behavior. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are major sources of social pressure and sexist norms. Research by Plan International (2023) shows that 58% of young women aged 15 to 25 in the Netherlands experience online sexual harassment. This digital intimidation has offline consequences: young people internalize certain beliefs, which contributes to the normalization of sexually transgressive behavior in public. Influential figures like Andrew Tate reinforce this. His sexist statements contribute to a culture where women are seen as inferior and harassment is considered “normal” behavior. As a result, the boundaries between online and offline harassment are increasingly blurred.

What do these numbers tell us?
The figures show that street harassment is a widespread issue that deeply affects the daily lives of many. It limits victims’ freedom, safety, and self-expression, and contributes to a culture where intimidation is normalized. It is crucial that we take these statistics seriously and work together towards a society where everyone, including queer individuals and women, can feel free and safe in public spaces.