University of the East | Manila Campus

University of the East

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Manila, Philippines

FREQUENCY OF EXPERIENCED CATCALLING AND

LEVEL OF APPREHENSIVENESS OF
FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN
UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST - MANILA A.Y 2019-2020

A project proposal

Submitted to:
Sir Arvin Alimboyao
ZGE1104 Mathematics in the Modern World

Proponents:
ZGE1104 – NME2
LANASA, Nicole Shantal
AGUINALDO, Joemarc
LAGOC, Laurenz
PUNZALAN, Aerone
FLORES, Luis
MANALANG, Donnalene
VALIENTE, Ivan

Date:
September 3, 2019

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Grading sheet
FREQUENCY OF EXPERIENCED CATCALLING AND
LEVEL OF APPREHENSIVENESS OF
FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN
UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST – MANILA
( NME2)
Proponents Contribution Group Grade Merits/demerits Final Grade
Lanasa, Shantal
Aguinaldo,Joemarc
Lagoc, Laurenz
Punzalan, Aerone
Flores, Luis
Manalang,Donnalene
Valiente, Ivan

Presentation of the Problem 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

• Clearly describes the problem without presupposing the solution Meets all Meets some Meets few
criteria at criteria; uneven; criteria; often
• Gives problem “presence” (chooses appropriate methods for motivating
reader to care about problem) high level; occasionally unclear or
clear and thin; some undeveloped
• Adequately develops the problem.
developed lapses in clarity

Literature Review 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

• Comprehensive review of the current, relevant literature to both the Meets all Meets some Meets few
problem statement and the proposed innovation is presented. criteria at criteria; uneven criteria; often
• Five or more references are primarily peerreviewed professional journals high level; or has some unclear or
or other approved sources (e.g. gov’t. documents). clear, easy lapses in clarity undeveloped
to follow or development

Materials and methods 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

• Multiple data sources are identified. Meets all Meets some Meets few
• Data sources match the problem statement and project innovation. criteria at criteria; uneven criteria; often
• Data collection plan is complete and doable. high level; or has some unclear or
• A well thought out, sequential (step-by-step) procedure is stated that clear, easy lapses in clarity undeveloped
anyone could look at and follow. to follow or development
• Measurements to be made are systematic and logically controlled.
• Choose the appropriate statistical treatment.
Conclusion 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

• Describes proposed solution clearly Meets all Meets some Meets few
• Solution is made to seem “do-able” criteria at criteria; uneven criteria
• Is clear, concise, adequately developed, and graceful high level
•
Overall Effectiveness of Document 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

• Effectively accomplishes writer’s purpose of calling attention to a problem, Ready to Good potential Back to the
proposing a solution, and giving strong reasons for acting on the proposal. submit with but some/ drawing
only minor significant board
revisions revision still
needed

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Over-all rating: ___________

I. Project title: FREQUENCY OF EXPERIENCED CATCALLING AND
LEVEL OF APPREHENSIVENESS OF FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN
UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST - MANILA

II. Background and Statement of the Problem

Catcalling nowadays are very common on most streets here in the Philippines. Catcalling mostly
happens to women. “You aren’t giving me a compliment; you are giving me the creeps.” Nielsen (2014) said
that catcalling is done to induce or put fear and dominate the victim. Most women who experienced catcalling
in our country are always about everything sexual. Catcalling is a form of harassment done in streets or maybe
on social media and violence. Although it’s not by physically hitting or shooting someone, people take it as
a joke. It tends to hurt the person’s feelings emotionally. Catcalling includes whistling, unwanted comments
and homophobic slurs. Some certain men have no respect for women, especially being catcalled is
embarrassing.

Based on the survey of United Nations conducted a survey in the Philippines and they found out that
60% of the respondent have experienced being catcalled. Women feel more conscious and ashamed about
their body which may lead to self-objectification. As they experienced this, they feel anxious about how their
body is evaluated by strangers. On the other hand, this kind of public or street harassment is associated with
body image, avoidance, and behaviour which might increase the level of apprehensiveness of women who
experienced catcalling. Based on the study of Manalo (2014) et al., they headed to this study because they
have gathered and read different studies about street harassment that motivated them to conduct their own
research about catcalling. The study Livingston (2014) et al., at the Cornell University found that 50% of
women over 22 countries have reported being grouped or fondled because of street harassment and 84% of
them are teenagers.

The researchers wanted to pursue this study because the researchers observed that the campaign to
stop this kind of street harassment in the Philippines were not widely spread in the public and in result, this
affects the confidence of women being catcalled. The researchers also wanted to inform the people that
catcalling is not just uttered words of compliment but can be considered as degrading, objectifying and
terrifying comments that have a negative impact on women’s psychological well-being like self-
objectification in which a women’s internalization of repeated objectification by others. The women viewed
themselves as represented of their body, body parts and sexual function. The researchers wanted to inform

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netizen that catcalls gives creeps to women and it causes depression and trauma. According to Blackstone,
victims of sexual harassment can experience long-term depression. In a recent study of 1,000 youths,
Blackstone found that people sexually harassed in their teens and early 20s can experience depressive
symptoms into their 30s.

III. Literature Review

Review of foreign Literature

Stranger harassment is not only perpetrated by individual harassers. Wesselmenn and Kelly (2010)
conducted the first empirical study in order to examine and test the different personality and social factors
that motivate college males to engage in such harassment. The findings tell that men are most likely to
engage in stranger harassment when in group rather than being alone. (p. 454) In addition t this, in a research
titled 'Where catcalling Criminalized", it said that verbal sexual harassment was now a punishable offense
in Buenos Aires. The Argentine City legislated against various forms of sexual harassment on Dec. 7
becoming just the latest local to call out calling out. (John, 2016).

Fernandez (2018) stated that no one should ever have to feel uncomfortable, pressured, or
harassed, but that's exactly what's happening to teens -- even at school. Sexual harassment is any unwanted
attention that creates a hostile or offensive atmosphere because of a person's sex. There's a federal law,
known as Title IX, which is supposed to protect students from sexual harassment: It says that a student can't
be denied the opportunity to learn simply because of his or her sex.

The research "Context Effects on Women's Perception of Stranger Harassment" suggested that the
perception of stranger’s harassment (i.e, experiencing unwanted sexual attention in public) are altered in
the context of the situation. this study investigated elements in the situation. this element might be
influential in increasing fear and enjoyment of catcalling experience. attractiveness and age of the victim,
time of the day, and most important, of the victim is alone or with friends are some of the categories that
were selected by as influencing both fear and enjoyment. Results mirror the sexual harassment literature
and suggest that harassment by younger and attractive men is viewed as less harassing. context play a vital
role in interpretation of stranger harassment. (Fairchild, 2010)

Rather than, street harassment might affect a women by the situation personally as
individuals, still women experienced emotions and motivations in order with how the situation may help or

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harm them as a whole. Women experiences direct negative consequences as targets and prejudice and, as
the current work demonstrates, unintended consequences as bystanders. Male perpetrators impact how
women view and react to men more generally; a single man’s prejudiced actions are attributed to his gender
identity. (Chaudior and Quinn, 2010)

Review of Local Literature

According to Caballar (2016), the streets of Manila are dangerous spaces for women. The scenes
are, unfortunately, recognizable from otherurba environments: Women get catcalled on sidewalks, elicit
wolf- whistles on "eskinitas" or alleys. Last year, two Facebook posts from women sharing their experiences
of being catcalled in manila went viral. In response, she posted a picture of herself in a cream dress with
the words, "Is my dress provoking you?" written on it. In the accompanying post, she called for a change
in culture, telling men: "It's not about the way you look at us. Our bodies are not yours to look at and
objectify." The street harassment is often done with the intent to frighten or dominate the targeted individual
even if few people actually admit committing the act, said Laura Nielsen. As a result of street harassment,
women modify their behavior by wearing headphones, changing how they dress, walking a different path
or even altering their modes of transportation according to the research of Nielsen. (Santhanam, 2014)

Catcalling here in the Philippines mostly happens on the street or in "eskenitas" even in public
transport schools and workplaces. 58% of such catcalling incidents happen on the streets, major roads and
eskinitas. In fact, 1 out of 7 surveyed women experienced harassment at least once every week in the past
years. (Rodriguez, 2016) In addition to previous study, nearly every Filipino woman has experienced street
harassment. from being stared at, to whistling, to catcalling and to touching. And now the Government has
finally taken action as the City Council of Manila passed an ordinance penalizing Catcalling in the City.
This will penalize all form of street harassment including catcalling. In 2016, Quezon City passed the first
ordinance to penalize the street level harassment of women. (Rodrguez, 2016)

In addition to the study of Rodriguez (2018), the initiative covers 25 cities globally. In the Philippines,
the program is piloted in Quezon City. With a population of over 3 million, Quezon City is Metro Manila’s
most populous city. It also has one of the biggest urban poor populations and informal settler families,
according to UN Women. As a start, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista is pushing for additional streetlights
and more well-lighted streets across the city. He is also calling for more “women cubicles” in public schools.

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IV. Materials and Methods

A. Data to be collected (includes description of the samples and variables)

Female college students who came from University of the East - Manila will the respondents in this
study. They will be a total of fifty (50) students regardless of their age and course. The subjects who are
willing to cooperate are included in this study through answering survey questionnaires that will be given to
them.

Moreover, purposive sampling technique will be used in this study since the subjects reflect a
particular purpose. Purposive sampling is a non-probability sampling technique. Non-probability sampling
focuses on sampling techniques based on the judgment of the researcher. In this study, the subjects are chosen
according to the criteria imposed by the researchers such as their gender and if they have experienced
catcalling. Hence, it is clear that purposive sampling is employed.

Methods of data collection and instruments to be used

For the proposed study, only one questionnaire will be utilized. The test is from the ideas of the
researchers related to this study. This questionnaire aims to know their level of apprehensiveness towards
men.

1. Level of Apprehensiveness Towards Men Test Questionnaire

The LATM consists of 15 statements and has 4 scales as indicated by the following: Always, Often,
Seldom, and Never. The respondents needed are female college students in University of the east - Manila.

2. In addition to this, the researchers will ask a single question on how frequent the female college students
of University of the East - Manila are being catcalled.

B. Procedure
The research will be conducted inside the premises of the University of the East – Manila with
the guidance of the research adviser. A total of 50 students will serve as the subjects who will answer the
tests which are related to the central aim of the study. The previous indicated age of the subjects, and how
frequent being catcalled will be observed as the criteria in choosing the respondents. Since the respondents
will base on the criteria, they will be included in the research.

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After the validation of the instruments to be used and securing a letter of approval to the
proposed venue, the next step that the researchers will do is to inform the research adviser about the
anticipated date and time of study is set to be conducted. Once it was approved, the researchers then will
prepare the tests which the students will be asked to answer. There are two tests: first, the level of
apprehensiveness test, and the other one is the frequency of Experience catcall test with 1 item. There is no
time limit to answer the tests and the researchers will be there to guide the respondents and handle their
queries and concerns. After which, their responses will be scored and interpreted properly. Deep analysis of
raw data results will be done by the researchers that includes determining if there is a relationship between
the level of apprehensiveness and frequency of Experience catcall of the subjects. This will be done through
the various statistical treatments that are also applied in this study. From these, implications and
recommendations will be formulated by the researchers that correspond to the problems presented in this
research.

Method of Analysis/Statistical treatment

• Percentage Formula
𝑓
Percentage (P) = 𝑛
x 100%

Where:
f = frequency
n = sample size

A percentage is defined as a number represented as a fraction of 100. Percentages are used to express
numbers between zero and one (Sudjana, 2010). This will determine the distribution of the respondents
according to their age and course.

• Mean Formula
𝑋
Mean =
𝑛

Where:
X = the value of any particular observations
X = sum of all X’s
n = total number of values in the sample

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The arithmetic mean of a set of data is defined as being equal to the sum of numerical values
of each and every observation divided by the total number of observations. This will show how frequent the
respondents experience catcalling and level of apprehensiveness of the respondents based on their test results.

• Pearson’s R Formula
N XY−( X)( Y)
r=
√[N( X2 )−( X)2 ][N( Y2)−( Y)2

Where:
r = Pearson’s
X and Y = paired raw scores
N = number of pairs of X and Y scores

r √N − 2
t=
√1 − r 2

Where:
t = test for correlation coefficient
r = correlation coefficient
n = number of paired samples

Pearson’s R test is a statistical formula that measures the strength between variable and relationship.
This formula will show the relationship between frequency of experienced catcalling and demographic
profile. Also, this will determine the relationship between level of apprehensiveness and demographic profile.
Lastly, this will show the relationship between frequency of experienced catcalling and level of
apprehensiveness.

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V. Conclusion

The aim of this research is to determine how many female UE college students have
experienced catcalling. The researchers will peruse and will come up to a conclusion if the frequency of
catcalling experience and level of apprehensiveness of the female respondents have a significant
relationship. This means that in spite of women experiencing catcalling, either rarely or frequently, this
research will determine the level of fear and discomfort that they have towards men and in interacting with
them. The research will come up to the profiles of respondents such as their age and course if there is or
none relevance with their level of apprehensiveness.

This research aims to give guidance and to orient the UE Manila students especially the
females to have some further background knowledge about catcalling and the possible effects of it within
them, to know the precautionary measures that can be done when one individual might encounter the said
situation. This research wants to inform the school administrators to properly educate their students to know
what they should do to avoid these situations and also what they should do when they are in the situation.
They may achieve this through seminars, meetings, and forums. School administrators should also properly
reprimand and punish street harassers that may be reported to them. They should also make clear their
support and care in order for the victims to be able to recover faster.

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VI. References

Fairchild, Kimberly. (2010). Context Effects on Women’s Perceptions of Stranger Harassment.

Sexuality & Culture. 14. 191-216. 10.1007/s12119-010-9070-1.

Manalo, Mercado, Perez, et. Al (2016). Street harassment as a determinant of self-esteem and self
objectification among selected female students

26 Hastings Women's L.J. 185 (2015). Combatting Gender Privilege and Recognizing a Woman's
Right to Privacy in Public Spaces: Arguments to Criminalize Catcalling and Creepshots

Cornell International Survey on Street Harassment (2015)

https://www.ihollaback.org/cornell-international-survey-on-street-harassment/

Farmer, Olivia & Smock Jordan, Sara. (2017). Experiences of Women Coping With Catcalling
Experiences in New York City: A Pilot Study. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy. 29. 1-21.
10.1080/08952833.2017.1373577.

V. Dale, Charles. (2019). Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women.

Fairchild, Kimberly. (2010). Context Effects on Women’s Perceptions of Stranger Harassment.
Sexuality & Culture. 14. 191-216. 10.1007/s12119-010-9070-1.

Eric, W. Janice, K. (2010) Cat-Calls and Culpability: Investigating the Frequency and Functions of
Stranger Harassment. 63(7):451-462 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225456779_Cat
Calls_and_Culpability_Investigating_the_Frequency_and_Functions_of_Stranger_ /amp

Rina, C. (2016) How Manila Is Making Streets safer for Women

https://www.citylab.com/life/2016/07/how-manila-is-making-streets-safer-for-wome/492068/

Fritzie, R. (2016) The streets that haunt Filipino women https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/124993-

sexual-harassment-women-streets

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