_edited.png)
“It’s so normalized within our culture that people don’t think anything harmful of it and they just see it as a joke but through my work and studies, I’ve learned to identify the underlying messages in these comments and the issues rooted in these ‘compliments’,"
- Kelsie Joseph (co-founder of CatcallsofUWI) on Catcalling
If you’ve been to the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus within the past few months you may have noticed some chalk drawings littering the pathways depicting some pretty powerful statements.
That’s the work of CatcallsofUWI, an initiative and social media campaign that aims to end on-campus street harassment through chalk art and informative social media posts.
Kelsie Joseph and TiaMarie, co-founders of CatcallsofUWI started the campaign in 2019 and since then it has grown into a movement that continues to spark conversation and challenge the ‘culture’ of street harassment that is present here in Trinidad and Tobago.
For this week’s interview, I had the honor of sitting down with Kelsie Joseph, co-founder of CatcallsofUWI to discuss the origins of the movement, the dangers of street harassment, and how she discovered her passion for social justice.
Catcalling, known more commonly in the Caribbean as 'sooting', refers to the act of shouting harassing and often sexually suggestive, threatening, or derisive comments at someone publicly.
Catcalling is a form of street harassment which, in turn, is a form of Gender-Based Violence.
Here in the Caribbean, catcalling tends to be heavily normalized. From a young age, women and girls learn that the streets are not a safe space for them.
Through CatcallsofUWI, Kelsie and the entire catcalls team are determined to end street harassment and to ensure that our streets are safe for all women, girls, and LGBTI persons who are most often victims of street harassment.
Kelsie’s path to gender justice advocacy wasn’t as clear cut as you might think. In fact, as she explained in our interview, back in Lower 6 she knew little to nothing about catcalls, gender justice, or even consent.
In fact, as she expressed during our Interview, she initially had no intention of pursuing gender studies at UWI but instead wanted to pursue law.
“ Starting UWI I actually wanted to do a law degree so I did form 6 but I didn’t get in to do Law. So I planned to get my GPA up so that I could get into the Law program,”
While looking for ways to boost her GPA Kelsie discovered a gender studies course that piqued her interest. Though she had her reservations about feminism and the concept of gender justice was quite new to her, she was interested to learn more about this field of study.
Not even a year later, Kelsie would go on to volunteer with the Institute of Gender Studies (IGDS) at events where she would teach others about important issues like consent.
“A lot of people, who came up to me, didn’t know what consent was. That sparked something in me,” she said.
She was astounded by the fact that many people on campus failed to understand that consent was more than just a yes or no.
As her work with IGDS continued, her passion for advocacy and gender studies grew. She was able to learn, create connections, and find mentors within the space.
One person that she referenced as an inspiration was Sophie Sandberg, founder of CatcallsofNYC. Kelsie shared that when she learned about Sophie she was inspired by her story and the way she used chalk art to bring awareness to the issue of street harassment. Sophie’s work would later inspire Kelsie and her friend TiaMarie to start CatcallsofUWI, a local chapter of the international chalkback community.
“ CatcallsofUWI is a part of chalkback, a global campaign to combat street harassment and catcalling. We use sidewalk chalk, as you see on campus, to bring awareness to street harassment. We put it there because street harassment happens in public spaces.” Kelsie shares.
“If you DM me a story, anonymously, I take a few lines that may catch the eye of someone who’s passing and we chalk it all over UWI. In addition to catcalls, I’m on chalkback's social media team and I’ve recently become a part of the leadership structure team.”
I asked Kelsie if there had been any stories shared via DM that had resonated with her and she shared the following:
“There are some stories that deal with sexual assault and rape that really sit with me. I think those stories of sexual assault always sit with me because I know how it feels to experience something like that, unfortunately, and how it affects you mentally. It still affects me and it reminds me that unfortunately, I’m not alone and that what I’m doing can help somebody else.”
Even before Kelsie began working on CatcallsofUWI, she had been exposed to the harsh realities of catcalling.
“Catcalling has happened to me since I was young, since before I hit puberty and I didn’t understand what it was at the time but it never sat right with me,” she shares. “ It always made me feel uncomfortable and unsafe and it continues to happen to me.”
She referenced an encounter where she’d been traveling from school and approached by a group of men who had asked her smile. She refused and they began laughing.
“These men don’t understand the impact of their words, the fear that their words can cause. It really goes to show that we really have a lot of work to do to bring this issue [of street harassment] to light.”
Though the public’s response to CatcallsofUWI has been mostly positive Kelsie candidly expressed that not everyone has received it possibly.
“There are people I know who DM me, and say that the work that I’m doing is great but they’re still going to catcall,” she said.
She expressed that though comments like this bother her, she understands from her own experience that everyone is on their own journey and becomes educated on these topics at their own pace.
“Everyone grows at their own pace and sometimes you have to leave people to learn.” she knowingly shares.
We started speaking about how to end the culture of street harassment and Kelsie stressed the importance of education.
“I think with everything, all of our social issues, catcalling, and linking back to gender-based violence social media campaigns and other forms of education is a start.”
She emphasized the importance of personal accountability as well, recognizing that though we are brought up believing that street harassment is normal or a part of our culture, it’s up to us to understand that though we were brought up this way we don’t have to continue these behaviors.
To end our interview, I asked Kelsie if she could share how running CatcallsofUWI has impacted her life and some of the lessons that she has learned while running the initiative.
“It’s really shown me that I should believe in myself more. It's helped me gain confidence in my stance as a feminist. CatcallsofUWI has taught me how to be a team player and how to believe in myself and my work as an individual.”
To find out more about Kelsie and CatcallsofUWI, you can follow Kelsie (@kelsiejoseph)on Instagram and (@kelsiejoseph) on Twitter and CatcallsofUWI(@catcallsofuwi) on Twitter and Instagram as well.
You may have noticed graphics throughout this interview from our carifemxcatcalls twitter chat about Street Harassment in the Caribbean. We analyzed the findings of that twitter chat and consolidated the information into a summary report. We’ve linked it below in case you’d like to give it a read.
Comments