Sheffield chalk campaign aims to highlight sexual harassment

Two Sheffield students have started a pavement chalking campaign to raise awareness around sexual harassment.

Flo Rushton and Babhravi Krishnan, 19, said they had both experienced harassment, which was "rife" and "definitely an issue everywhere".

Catcalls of Sheffield was inspired by New York initiative Catcalls of NYC, which uses chalk to document harassment incidents where they take place.

The campaign urges victims to share their stories via email or Instagram.

Ms Rushton, a first-year politics and international relations student, said: "We saw almost immediately when we set up the email form just how many people were submitting things.

"It's anywhere and at any time."

The campaign, which launched last month, encourages people to submit their experiences anonymously via email or on Instagram.

Their story is then chalked in the place where it happened, with a photo shared online.

"It's about giving people a platform where they can feel like they can have their experiences heard, and they feel like they don't have to feel ashamed of their experiences," said Ms Krishnan, who studies politics, philosophy and economics.

Ms Rushton added: "People don't think their experiences are bad enough or big enough to be taken seriously.

"We want to ensure everybody has a platform."

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The pair said the reaction to their campaign had been "largely positive", although one member of the public told them sexual harassment was "part of human nature".

They want to branch out beyond just chalking and "create a place of information where people can go for support or to learn more about sexual harassment," said Ms Rushton.

She added: "The sexual harassment isn't going to stop, so we aren't going to stop either."

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