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“Chalking back” to street harassment 

By Cameron Alleyne

In one Instagram post, a 13-year-old spoke out about a man who, first, asked her for directions and then flashed her as she turned to answer.

In another, a woman shared that she was berated after not acknowledging a man who was catcalling her.

On sidewalks around the world, girls and women who have faced assault or harassment are advocating for themselves. They are doing so through Chalk Back, a 7-year-old worldwide organization, founded in New York and dedicated to not just raising awareness for sexual harassment and assault but to giving victims a chance to fight back by sharing their stories. 

“I wanted to find a way to make it public, and to put it on the streets,” said Chalk Back Founder Sophie Sandberg, a 2020 NYU grad who majored in gender and sexuality studies. “But also I wanted something that was accessible, inexpensive and something that wouldn’t get me into too much trouble.”

Additionally, Chalk Back enables parents to have conversations about assault and harassment. “I remember there was a time where we were talking and then there was this woman who had a young girl and her child, she was saying what catcalling was, street harassment is and then I feel like that was a really good way of like showing that it’s doing something and that people are talking about it,” said Alisa Nudar, a 16-year-old member of @chalkbacknyc.

There are more than 160 catcalls-of accounts and 49 countries represented according to chalkback.org. More than 80% of Chalk Back members are 25 years old or younger; roughly 50% are younger than 18, according to the organization’s website. 

Some argue that the work of Chalk Back is unimportant because there are “larger issues.” In response, Sandberg references the pyramid of gender violence, with the smaller issues like locker room talk and catcalling being at the bottom, and larger issues like rape, femicide, and assault being at the top.

“So that same reasoning that allows for catcalling, and objectification and sexualization then leads to stuff like sexual assault, rape, murder, you know, all of these things exist within this pyramid and rely on the same mentalities and reasoning. So I try to explain to people that starting at the bottom can actually break apart in the whole structure and prevent things that are at the top like murder,” Sophie Sandberg shared. 

Chalk Back’s work is not limited to sidewalks. Back’s programming includes conducting workshops in schools. “ It’s making them feel like they have a voice outside of the school context, like they could message an Instagram account, they could start a campaign, they could use art to talk about an issue that’s facing them,” Sophie Sandberg said.

The reception from younger people has been largely positive. Both Sandberg and Nudar have received support while chalking. Nudar also shared that a friend hugged her after she told him about her work with Chalk Back.

Chalk Back was originally run only by Sandber in March 2016. Now, there are Chalk Back chapters all over the world that enable youth to talk back to their harassers. Chalk Back accounts go by such names as @catcallsofkenya and @catcallsofbelfast to give users a sense of community.

“And then in like, December 2017, that’s when [Chalk Back] got a lot of press, it got a lot, a lot of attention. And accounts started popping up globally. And it was just so exciting to feel like, yeah, this method was resonating with people and like writing and chalk was something that a lot of people could do, and a lot of people wanted to participate in,” Sanberg said when asked about Chalk Back’s growth. 

Initially, Chalk Back covered assault and harassment broadly and then considered the different experiences of those from diverse backgrounds. Sandberg references the higher rate at which black women and Latina’s experience assault when talking about the importance of implementing intersectionality in her activism. Racism, homophobia and transphobia can impact someone’s experience with harassment. 

“So people were sending us submissions of harassment having to do with gender harassment having to do with race, ethnicity, religion, age, like all of these different kind of layers of identity, we’re impacting people in their walk, like in their lived experience,” Sandberg said.

“I do see a lot of that and like I remember I think there was a cat called I was like, oh you’re pretty for like, like a certain race and then just like, okay, like why would you say that?” Nudar said.

Regardless of location, Chalk Back contributors often experience pushback from members of their community while working. In some countries, contributors have to remain anonymous for their own safety. Other contributors have reported aggression from business owners, parents, and police while chalking.

“But because the phrases are so vulgar, people really easily get upset. And I find it really ironic. And I try to tell people this too when they get upset. Because this is already being said, someone has already experienced this. And we’re documenting it to raise awareness,” Sandberg said.

That is not the only conversation to come out of Chalk Back’s work. Those who have not victims have expressed support or criticism towards the organization. Many victims feel comforted by seeing the anti-harassment chalk work around the city. Others share that they did not know that catcalling was an ongoing issue. Sometimes, people will share that they reassessed their behavior after discovering Chalk Back.

Although constantly viewing traumatizing stories can be demoralizing, Sophie Sandberg feels hope for the future. 

“So I really do feel like the movement is, like, on the rise. And I feel like the more we raise awareness about it, and the more we talk about it, the more we share bystander intervention tools and trainings, the better it’s going to be and the less harassment will happen.”