CHALK BACK
Our goal is to give people a place to share their stories of harassment, use it to raise public awareness
and ultimately denormalize catcalling.
ABOUT US
Chalk Back is an international youth-led movement committed to ending gender-based street harassment with public chalk art, digital media and education. We write stories of harassment word-for-word in the spots where they happened alongside the hashtag #stopstreetharassment using sidewalk chalk and then post on social media to spur dialogue and story sharing. Through our local Instagram sites, community events, and anti-harassment workshops, Chalk Back members seek to influence bold cultural change within our communities.
Chalk Back is a rapidly growing collective of more than 150 activists fighting for equal access to public space. Based on the Instagram account “@catcallsofnyc,” each Chalk Back account is called “@catcallsof” and the location. Chalk Back is completely youth-led. 88% of participants are under the age of 25 and 54% are under the age of 18. We believe young people have the power to use hands-on activism to address issues they are facing.
Chalk Back activities span 6 continents, 49 countries, and 150 cities. There are Chalk Back Instagram sites based in cities, i.e. “Catcalls of NYC,” “Catcalls of London,” “Catcalls of Cairo,” and “Catcalls of Delhi,” and sites based in university and high school campuses, i.e. “Catcalls of Calabasas High School” and “Catcalls of University of the West Indies.” Young activists tailor the idea to what is best for their community, as harassment is different based on context.
action
We want to work with you to create change in all of our communities.
See below different ways you can get involved and examples of work we have been doing.
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM 2020
16 Days of Activism is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls.
It runs from November 25th through December 10th. Check out our social media campaign to address street harassment and gender-based violence through chalk art.
We want to work with you to create change in all of our communities.
See below different ways you can get involved and examples of work we have been doing.
GET INVOLVED
So you want to set up your own account? We look forward to working with you! We love seeing more and more representation worldwide, this is a truly global issue and movement.
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Search and see if there is an account in your city. If there isn’t, then great, go ahead and make one using the format @catcallsofyourcityname. If there is and you still want to get involved that’s great too! DM the account holder. Most of us are running accounts alone in big cities so the extra help would be appreciated.
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To join the movement please fill in the below linked form. Note, if there is already an account in the area you want to set up in we will connect you with that account holder and they will take it from there.
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We take your privacy seriously, and all information requested is for authenticity verification purposes only.
Media Information Literacy Toolkit
Welcome to our Interactive MIL Toolkit!
This is an interactive space for young activists in the Chalk Back network and those who want to join to think critically about how to use MIL to improve and expand their work.
Our MIL Toolkit includes instructions on how to “Chalk Back” effectively, different ways to create awareness campaigns on social media, tips on confronting online harassment, and guides to practicing self care when using media.
We believe that activism and education should be fun. We love using creative methods to share stories, build community, and change the culture of gender-based violence. This Toolkit provides mentorship and guidance on how to use social media responsibly and participate in activism in a sustainable way. See below for tips and tricks on how to create content and fight discrimination responsibly.
PRESS
We have received campaign coverage all over the world.
You can find some of these below, and if you click on the image it will take you through to the original article.
If you would like to contact us with a press enquiry, please feel free to click here.
