No, thanks: Culturally-appropriate response to catcalling
As a young female-presenting traveler, I was able to witness catcalling and other street harassment in dozens of countries around the world. I quickly learned that my default response to catcalling — ignoring someone — was effective in Belarus but dangerous in other places. Gunpoint dangerous.
When I searched for academic studies on the topic, I found none. Psychologists in the field study how to best respond to street harassment, but they do not study the phenomenon across cultures.
Therefore, here’s my incomplete subjective guide to responding to street harassment in different countries. Add to it if you wish.
Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Do not look at the person approaching you or yelling at you, do not respond to their questions, and try not to touch them even if they touch you. Completely ignoring a catcaller works in 99% of all cases.
Bulgaria. I have only been harassed at night, and what helped was yelling swear words in Bulgarian, keeping my hands in my pockets, and sprinting home. Good luck.
Poland. Despite also being an Eastern European country, the catcalling culture in Poland is different. Ignoring someone who harasses you can just make them angrier, but saying “No, thanks” always works for me.
United States. My revelation of culturally appropriate responses to catcalling started in the US, and that experience was rough. Apparently, if you are a white woman ignoring a black man in the mostly black district of New York, it is considered impolite. What happened next was a gun taken out of a pocket, him yelling “So you think that because you are white, you are better than me, huh?” and my very accented response, “Sorry, I'm just a tourist here.” I was let go then with the new knowledge: Americans do value their small talk. Here, saying “No, thanks” will also work.
China. Most street activity in big Chinese cities is monitored, so you are highly unlikely to be approached with an evil will. However, the Chinese will want to take pictures and videos with you if you are non-Asian. No permission asked. I just went along with it, and I think you should, too.
Tanzania. When the Tanzanians approach you, they mostly want to talk. It might be harassment for you, but it’s small talk to them. Even saying “No, thanks” is impolite if you have not spent at least 30 minutes talking.
France, England, and Italy. In my opinion, these countries had the most violent catcalling of all, and the best response was to ignore the catcallers.
What’s interesting is that in most of these countries, calling for police will not help.
It’s important to note that while the US case I described involved a black person, I had similar situations with white Americans. The problem is not black people — it’s gun control and the overall level of violence, including police violence.