STREET harassment of women could be illegal in MONTHS under huge Home Office plans to crack down on public pests.
Mandarins are currently weighing up ways to ban acts such as following or touching strangers and yelling out abusive comments.
The Sun understands that the Home Office wants to bring a final option to parliament before the end of the year.
But that will depend on No10 signing it off.
Staff are currently trying to work out “the best legislative vehicle to take it forward”.
Banning wolf whistling and other forms of harassment was one of Liz Truss’ campaign pledges in the Tory leadership race.
At the time the PM said: “Violence against women and girls doesn’t have to be inevitable. Women should be able to walk the streets without fear of harm and perpetrators must expect to be punished.”
READ MORE POLITICS
Painful spending cuts loom as economy in worse state than after 2008 crash
Kwasi Kwarteng announces new date to reveal plan to reduce massive debts
In May this year the Office for National Statistics revealed that a staggering one in two women and one in six men felt unsafe walking alone after dark in a quiet street near their home.
And half of all women aged between 16 and 34 experienced harassment in the last year, with 38 per cent of them having to deal with catcalls, wolf whistles or unwanted sexual comments.
Earlier this year the government launched a public consultation on the issue, asking Brits how they want to see street pests punished.
The Home Office are now “carefully considering” the answers and using them to decide the best way to make harassment a crime.
A Home Office Spokersperson said: “Tackling violence against women and girls remains one of the Government’s top priorities.
“That's why we have carried out a targeted consultation on whether there should be a specific public sexual harassment offence, and if so what it should look like.
"We are carefully considering the responses to the consultation.”
Most read in The Sun
I'm A Celeb bosses sign up first ever Royal Family member in Mike Tindall
B&M shoppers are rushing for 'stunning' Christmas items they 'need' to buy
Martine McCutcheon's brother dies ‘suddenly’ aged 31 weeks before wedding
MAFS star Tayah gives birth to first baby with Adam and reveals cute name
Plans to clamp down on street harassment come after a national outcry over the shocking scale of violence against women in Britain.
Sarah Everard, 33, was murdered by evil police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home through south London in March last year.
Six months later, primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, was murdered in south London by predatory Dominions delivery driver, Koci Selamaj.
He had laid in wait for a victim.
Source: Read Full Article
