Montevideo - Every day Sara Velez, a Colombian law student, walks to class through a hail of catcalls that often veer into obscenity, a daily reality that Latin American women are increasingly fighting.
The "piropos," or "compliments," that men shout at passing women are an old tradition in Latin America, defended by some as a sort of working man's street poetry.
But to Velez, they are far from flattering.
"It disgusts me," said the 26-year-old Bogota resident.
"I can't walk in peace without someone staring at me and shouting all kinds of things."
On the bus, in the subway, on the street -- sexual harassment, both verbal and physical, is an inescapable fact of life for many Latin American women.
In Mexico City, Laura Reyes rides a designated subway car for women and children.
But even so, "I don't feel very safe," said the 26-year-old waitress.
Even with women-only cars, "a lot of perverts slip in. And if I ride in the other cars, I get groped all over," she said.
In Brazil, journalist Caroline Apple recently sparked a national debate when she published a frank first-person account of being ejaculated on during her evening commute, complete with a picture of the stain on her backside.
"Today I was a victim," she wrote. "A subway rider ejaculated on my pants."
Scenes of daily harassment play out in public spaces across the region.
One man sees a plain woman on the street and calls out, "I'll give it to you anyway."
Another sees a pregnant woman and yells, "I'll give you two more."
"So much meat, and me with no teeth," shouts another to a voluptuous woman.
AFP
