--- title: Sexual Harassment, Cat-calling in Buenos Aires Can Be Fined description: Cat-calling and other forms of sexual harassment in Buenos Aires could now be punishable by a fine, the city council voted on Wednesday. canonical: https://time.com/4595878/catcalling-buenos-aires/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-08T22:00:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:04.617Z og:title: Catcalling Is Now Punishable by a Fine in Buenos Aires og:description: Argentina's capital city council passed the new bill og:url: https://time.com/4595878/catcalling-buenos-aires/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95ad537d84fdf968/6988b263bc6cfc27df3df8b1/buenos-aires-city-council-cat-calling-street-harassment-bill1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: buenos aires city council cat-calling street harassment bill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Catcalling Is Now Punishable by a Fine in Buenos Aires twitter:description: Argentina's capital city council passed the new bill twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95ad537d84fdf968/6988b263bc6cfc27df3df8b1/buenos-aires-city-council-cat-calling-street-harassment-bill1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Catcalling Is Now Punishable by a Fine in Buenos Aires  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 8, 2016 10:00 PM UTC  People take part in the "Ni una menos" (Not One Less) march against femicides in Buenos Aires, on June 3, 2016. People take part in the "Ni una menos" (Not One Less) march against femicides in Buenos Aires, on June 3, 2016.EITAN ABRAMOVICH—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 8, 2016 10:00 PM UTC Catcalling and other forms of sexual harassment in Buenos Aires can now be [punishable by a fine](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38252462), the city council voted on Wednesday. Transgressions including “direct or indirect comments referring to a person’s body” could warrant a fine of up to 1,000 pesos (over $60), BBC reports. The council voted unanimously to pass the bill, which will also create educational campaigns to make clear what constitutes harassment and how bystanders can intervene, [_Broadly_ reports](https://broadly.vice.com/en%5Fus/article/you-can-now-get-fined-for-street-harassment-in-argentina?). “Some forms of sexual harassment in public are accepted as a traditional part of our culture,” Pablo Ferreyra, the lawmaker who supported the bill, said in remarks reported by the BBC. “That should not be a reason to tolerate this abuse.” Other punishable crimes under the bill include non-consensual physical contact, indecent exposure, public masturbation and pursuing and cornering, [_AFP_](http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/buenos-aires-fines-public-sex-harassment/) _reports._ > [](https://twitter.com/PabloRFerreyra/status/806558784478920704) The measure is a victory for Argentina’s feminist activists, largely coinciding with the Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) movement. Calls for reform and addressing street harassment have increased since October, when [16-year-old Lucia Perez](http://time.com/4538241/argentina-protest-lucia-perez-teenager/) was raped and killed, prompting massive demonstration. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38252462)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4595878/catcalling-buenos-aires/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4595878/catcalling-buenos-aires/"},"headline":"Catcalling Is Now Punishable by a Fine in Buenos Aires","datePublished":"2016-12-08T22:00:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:04.617Z","description":"Argentina's capital city council passed the new bill","url":"https://time.com/4595878/catcalling-buenos-aires/","keywords":["motto","Crime","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95ad537d84fdf968/6988b263bc6cfc27df3df8b1/buenos-aires-city-council-cat-calling-street-harassment-bill1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95ad537d84fdf968/6988b263bc6cfc27df3df8b1/buenos-aires-city-council-cat-calling-street-harassment-bill1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"buenos aires city council cat-calling street harassment bill","caption":"buenos aires city council cat-calling street harassment bill","creditText":"EITAN ABRAMOVICH—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4595878/catcalling-buenos-aires/","name":"Catcalling Is Now Punishable by a Fine in Buenos Aires"}}]}] ```