Noa Jansma is a hero to all women. The young 20-year-old made an Instagram account that features pictures of her with men that have catcalled her on the street. Noa is studying design in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and was inspired to make this account during a class discussion. In an interview with BuzzFeed, she said “I realized that half of the class, the women, knew what I was talking about and lived it on a daily basis. And the other half, the men, didn’t even think that this is still happening. They were really surprised and curious. Some of them even did not believe me.”
So far, it has had a very good outcome. In her Instagram series, she features 24 photos taken over a month, captioned with what the men said to her. She was very fearful while asking these men to get pictures with her, as it was possible that they would come after her, but they all agreed and had big smiles on their faces. Unfortunately, she was unable to get a picture with all of her catcallers. She said “Of course, my safety is more important than this project. I didn’t take photos when I was catcalled in the dark, in little streets.” She has ended the project, but now encourages everyone to also start taking picture with catcallers. It is an issue that has been brought into the light in a way that almost empowers the women this happens to, rather than making them fearful.
You can follow Noa on Instagram to see the whole project @dearcatcallers