Two thirds of young women face sexual harassment on the street

Two in three young women were sexually harassed on the street in the past year. Men whistled at them, called after them, and sometimes chased them, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Wednesday. 

The surveyed teenagers and young women, 12 to 25 years old, often ignore the harassment.

Whistling is the most common form of street harassment, the researchers found. Half of the young women received unwanted whistles at least once or more. Calling and shouting are slightly less common at about 40 percent.

According to the young women, being chased is the most threatening form of street harassment. About a quarter of them experienced this in the past year.

Young women aged 18 to 21 are most likely to be harassed on the street, with three-quarters experiencing harassment in the past year. Among teenage girls between 14 and 18, that's 70 percent.

One in three men has experienced street harassment. This more often concerns teenage boys than young adult men. 

The figures on street harassment refer to the twelve months prior to completing the survey. CBS held the survey between February and mid-April 2021. Over 8,000 young people completed it.