Public sexual harassment is an everyday reality for girls – it restricts their freedom and impacts their mental health. We've heard time and time again that girls want it to stop but they are left unprotected and not knowing how to report their experiences. 

That’s why in November 2020, Plan International UK launched the #CrimeNotCompliment campaign in partnership with Our Streets Now. Together, with thousands of girls across the UK, we set out to change the law in order to protect girls from all forms of public sexual harassment. 

Although we know that this new law is not perfect, together with our supporters, three years later we have secured a piece of legislation which is a step forward along our journey to making the streets safer for women and girls. The passing of this Bill has a huge symbolic effect and is essential for bringing about long-term cultural change, in which society no longer sees these behaviours as acceptable.

We will be watching how effective this new law is in preventing public sexual harassment and in providing justice for those affected – including by continuing to speak to survivors about their experiences. We will be here to hold the Government to account if it fails to do what they have promised. 

We will also be pushing for other sectors (importantly, education) to play their role in preventing this behaviour from happening in the first place, by making sure that everyone grows up knowing that sexual harassment is unacceptable.  

Throughout this process, those in positions of power must recognise girls' voices and value girls as key drivers of change. It’s critical that girls’ voices are heard. Critical as a right, critical to shaping the policies and decisions that will affect them, and critical to achieving gender equality and a better world for everyone.