Chalk Back Inc.

Chalk Back is a global youth-led movement committed to ending gender-based street harassment through public chalk art, advocacy and digital media. Since our founding in 2016, Chalk Back has become a leading force on advocacy and creative resistance to gender-based harassment and gender-based violence. Chalk Back is a rapidly growing collective of more than 1000 young activists fighting for gender justice and equal access to public space.

Chalk Back gathers stories of harassment and writes them 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 local Instagram sites, social media campaigns, community events, and anti-harassment workshops, Chalk Back members seek to influence bold cultural change within our communities. 

Chalk Back recognizes that gender-based street harassment, also known as “catcalling,” harms girls, women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals all around the world. Gender-based street harassment is one part of a structure of gender-based violence. By speaking up about an often overlooked symptom of gender-based violence, we challenge the structure and root causes. Chalk Back mobilizes activists around the world to speak up against street harassment and dismantle patriarchy.