Chalking
What it is & why we do it
Chalking is a core focus of the wider Chalk Back campaign. We began chalking in Sheffield in April 2024 with the purpose of empowering those who have experienced harassment by spreading awareness of their experiences. We hope that this will help encourage conversations about how normalised harassment is. Read what our founders have said about chalking as a form of activism below:
“Chalking back is visually arresting, but in the best way. Seeing these experiences on the street acts as a reminder of how widespread and invasive street harassment is. It’s a way to hold perpetrators accountable and make experiences known.”
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“Chalking back is a way for receptors of harassment to make their experiences public, but in an anonymous way. Catcalls aren’t just isolated incidents and don’t just occur in specific locations or at specific times of day - it really is everywhere and at any time. By displaying them everywhere across the city, we draw attention to this, showing that every experience, no matter how seemingly “small”, is valid and deserves to be tackled, because they all link together to uphold broader systems of bigotry.”
