Gaia Cauchi Slams Catcalling And Street Harassment Moments After Van Worker Accosts Her
A young female Maltese singer has taken to social media moments after being yelled at in a sexual manner while walking alone in public.
Uploading a story from her Instagram account moments after the humiliating experience today, Gaia Cauchi shared footage of the back of a van alongside the caption: “stop it with the catcalling this happens every day and I’m sick of it”.
Speaking to Lovin Malta, Gaia said that after the initial surprise – she had been looking at her phone when the man started shouting at her – she tried to act like she didn’t hear anything as she didn’t want to show any reactions in case they continued.
The comments, which were mostly in English, were along the lines of: “Ejja love of my life, madonna how pretty, what is your name, ajma love of my life…”
A Lovin Malta survey into catcalling revealed startling insights about the reality on the ground in Malta. Victims came forward to detail how catcalling quickly descended in aggressive harassment, whether that’s being stalked, flashed, groped or threatened.
Oftentimes, the target of these public comments are underage, or very young women – many times, walking alone in the street.
For Gaia, this was far from the first time she’s been on the receiving end of this harassment – she even recounted a humiliating incident where her mother was sexually catcalled in front of her.
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She wanted to send a message to those who think its okay to shout unwanted sexual comments at strangers.
“Honestly, I just want to ask them what they get from it,” Gaia said. “And if they genuinely think anyone is going to react or reply to what they said.”
“It’s not attractive at all, it only makes us feel unsafe and uncomfortable. If we don’t entertain the conversation, don’t keep trying, please just don’t say anything at all in the first place.”
“There is a difference between a nice gentleman giving you a nice genuine compliment and someone shouting “x’ngħamillek” from their cars.
Gaia, who is the first singer from Malta to ever win the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and a recipient of the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika, said she is beginning to feel afraid to walk alone at night or even in broad daylight.
“I do not walk around without having something that I can use to defend myself if, God forbid, anything ever happens…. because it’s become so common, you honestly never know – as sad as it sounds it’s unfortunately very true.”
Have you ever experienced unwanted street harassment in Malta?
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