Verbal and non-verbal street sexual harassment: a naturalized social phenomenon

Abstract

The article presents relevant findings on the naturalization of street sexual harassment, based on an undergraduate thesis entitled “Mechanisms of awareness on the naturalization and invisibility of verbal and non-verbal street sexual harassment in university students from Otavalo.” A qualitative methodology was used to understand the experiences, actions and opinions regarding the subject of the study. Street sexual harassment is a social problem that affects the integrity of the human being. It encompasses any non-consensual physical, verbal and non-verbal manifestation with a sexual connotation expressed in the public space towards a non-consenting person. These expressions can be understood as everyday microaggresions that, nevertheless, have been normalized by society. The naturalization of this phenomenon and its street expression has made it “invisible” and the permissiveness of these practices amongst the general public has led to a lack of recognition of the magnitude of the issue.