'Catcalls of NYC' highlights the humiliating, scary reality of street harassment

For those who’ve never experienced street harassment first-hand, it can be difficult to imagine the feelings of humiliation, unease and fear it can cause.

Armed with a stick of chalk, one New York woman is drawing attention to the threatening, sexualised language people are publicly subjected to as they go about their business.

As part of her ‘Catcalls of NYC’ project, Sophie Sandberg asks her Instagram followers to share with her the comments they’ve had hurled at them in public, and where it happened.

The ‘catcalls’ may differ in their phrasing, but the results are equally confronting. 

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Plenty are sexually explicit and outright threatening, often taking a racist bent.

“Turn around and let me see your face, b*tch,” one reads.

“Good thing there are so many holes in your pants for me to enter you,” reads another.

“Seem like a compliment? It doesn't feel like one on a quiet street at 2am,” one writes beneath a photo of “Hello, beautiful!” scrawled on the footpath.

In other cases, these supposed ‘compliments’ soon take a derogatory or threatening turn.

“Smile, honey. Smile over here. Just smile for me! Too good? B---h,” one reads.

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“He was aware that I was a child, a teenager, had no regard for my peace of mind and decided that everyone around us needed to know that I was an object of his desire. 

“I remember feeling afraid, and ashamed of myself from my first cat call."

Speaking with Cosmopolitan, Sandberg explains that some of the submissions she receives detail how women were not only catcalled, but followed home or physically harassed as well.

“Many instances pose a serious threat to the safety of those being harassed,” she says.

Ultimately, the New York University student wants to open eyes to the reality of street harassment - and prompt others to do their part in addressing it.

"I hope that it forces people who don't normally deal with harassment to put themselves in our shoes and become better bystanders,” she tells Cosmopolitan.