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There's nothing that makes a woman's skin crawl quite like getting catcalled on the street. 20-year-old Amsterdam-based student Noa Jansma, much like the rest of us, was pretty fed up with it, and decided to do something about it. Throughout the month of September, she took a selfie with every single creep who harassed her and uploaded them on Instagram, captioning each one with the words of her abusers.

What do the photos say? By juxtaposing the catcallers' callous, unashamed grins with her own exhausted, painfully familiar expression, Jansma shows the world just how frequent, real, and disturbing these experiences are for women everywhere. She also gains power over them, though, by documenting their actions and putting them on display for the whole world to see. Though her own experiment has ended, she has opened the @dearcatcallers Instagram page for submissions in hopes of creating a global dialogue on the collective struggle women face.

From January 1st, 2018, catcalling will be punishable by law in Jansma's native Netherlands, and violators will be subject to fines of up to 190 euros ($220). If her daring project continues to go viral, perhaps more nations will follow suit.

More info: Instagram

#1

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Amanda Panda
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This made me throw up a little bit in my mouth. I definitely would NOT have let him put his disgusting paws on me.

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Amanda Panda
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Attracted to how long she looks no doubt. Too bad there wasn't a photo of the license plate.

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#6

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Amanda Panda
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Something tells me he's probably a virgin. He wouldn't now what to do with any girl. Perv.

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Amanda Panda
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like he wanted to eat her, judging by the size of that belly, he probably did! Creep!

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Rebekah
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A bunch of men, at a table together. This just amplifies the scariness to me. Bastards.

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Agnes Jekyll
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That whistling is for each other. They know it won't get her attention, but it proves their manhood and humiliates her at the same time. If she ignores it, they get what they want. If she tells them off, it makes them even more proud of themselves. She's documenting it, and if they don't realize what tools they look like, at least everyone who sees them does.

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Cathy
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And all the time I was thinking 'well this doesn't happen in Amsterdam... Amsterdam people are polite'. Wrong. 😖

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LostSoul
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Hey girl, where are you going?" ~ "Home" ~ "Can we join? Where do you live? Think we can do fun things together"

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Katie Dragneel
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dear Maureen Hogan Shanahan, Please stop giving your opinion, no woman appreciates cat calling. It makes us feel wrong and uncomfortable, for many people this leads to rape, do you think that she would want that to happen??? No body asks for this to happen and it is very rude. She is trying to expose cat callers for what they really are...pigs. Oh and I'm sorry if this offends you on any personal leave because the comments you have left on this page are absolutely disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself. Thank you for your time From a thirteen year old girl

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Rosa Darkwood
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah it's actually scary to be catcalled, I don't think many men (especially the big tall ones) realise how terrifying catcalling is to a little 14-year-old like me

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Paul Leedham
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've never felt the need to catcall anyone in my life, some people are just born stupid I suppose.

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Lavinator
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a man, I would like to apologize for the behavior of these members of my gender. It's so pathetic and so terribly intrusive to your freedom to live a peaceful life while in public. I appreciate your courage to let us see and experience such human yuckiness. It's awful.

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Charles Brennan
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

F*****g pondscum. Imagine other guys started do this to them. They'd go mad and run home shrieking.

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Jim Bowen
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I find it quite sad that after millions of years of human evolution "men" act this way.

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Cookie
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I had a trout with me, I would plant it on his lips.

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Jace
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least Bill Gates has his hand on his dudebro and not the photographer...

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Suzanne Clark
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The sad thing is, they think they're hot stuff. They don't realize we think of them as Losers!

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Mike Petras
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6 years ago

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She is an incredibly beautiful young lady that when she gets old and less attractive she will remember these catcalls with fondness. Crude but a compliment.

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Sarah Pearson
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have yet to meet any older women who remember cat calls with fondness. Most simply forget, or only remember the disgusting behavior.

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Maureen Hogan Shanahan
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6 years ago

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I am trying to figure out what kind of woman equates cat calling with violence? What kind of idiotic thinking is it that wants to turn flattery - a time-honored tradition between men and women - with the violence. Get over yourself. You aren't that pretty and should be flattered when somebody whistles at you. Women today are so stupid. SOOOOO stupid. And you take away from what real oppression and violence looks like. Get over yourself. Grow up. And go volunteer in a women's abuse shelter so you know the difference. Stupid girl.

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Rosa Darkwood
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6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't equate cat-calling with violence. But, at least for me, it sets off warning bells in my head, and I try to keep my head down, clench my fists, tell people where I am, call my friends so someone will know where I am, because we've all heard the stories

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