One guy has been left in shock after realizing that catcalling is very much a real thing.
Taking to TikTok to share his reaction to the encounter, Louie Tomassi (@louietomassi) captioned his recent post: "At a loss for words…"
In the clip, Tomassi can be seen sitting in his vehicle while explaining: "So I'm walking out of work past a construction site, There's this girl walking in front of me."
"I'm just minding my own business," he continues. "All of a sudden, one of the construction workers whistles and catcalls her."
Tomassi says he opted to confront the construction worker, saying: "I looked at him, and I said, 'Are you deada**?'"
The TikToker then admits that he "didn’t realize that was a real thing that happened in real life", before questioning the man's methods.
"I have so many questions," he said. "First of all, what did you think was going to happen? You thought whistling at a girl, who is minding her own business was going to be like, 'OMG, that's the one. That's the one for me.'
"When you're sitting on a cooler, hunched over, looking greasy as hell."
Tomassi then said: "Second question. I wanna know your success rate. When does that work? When does that ever work?"
"On behalf of the male species, I want to apologize," Tomassi concluded.
After amassing over 100,000 views, many women were quick to take to the comments section that, not only is catcalling a VERY real thing, but it's something that happens frequently.
"All the time all the time. Literally will just be walking into the store and it happens," one comment read.
A second added: "Welcome to the life of a female round the clock."
Other TikTokers were in disbelief that Tomassi said he "didn't realize that [catcalling] was a real thing that happened in real life."
"How do men not know we deal with this every day," a third wrote.
A fourth wrote: "'I didn’t think that actually happened' instead of believing women when they say they are afraid to walk alone… ever."
Other TikTokers were quick to highlight the disturbing issue that a lot of young girls are also subjected to catcalling.
"The worst part is the younger the girl/woman is, the more they will get catcalled," one person commented.
"All the time. Especially when you look young. My first cat call was at 12. Stopped in my late 20s," another added.
One person shared: "The first time I got catcalled I was 13 and the guy honked at me then followed me in his car. He was like 40 years old I was terrified."
Per Forbes, France is one of the few countries to actually make catcalling illegal, with the country passing a law against verbal sexual harassment in 2018.
Back in 2022, former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss said that she wanted to make acts like catcalling illegal in Britain.
"Women should be able to walk the streets without fear of harm, and perpetrators must expect to be punished," Truss said, per LBC. "Through increased police training, new offenses, faster processes for rape victims, and our domestic abuse register we will ensure victims are protected, and crimes are prevented in the first place."
Former home secretary Suella Braverman also stated, per BBC News: "Every woman should feel safe to walk our streets [...] We are putting the needs of victims at the heart of our decision, which will mean the criminals who commit these acts face the consequences they deserve."
BBC News adds that the UK government hopes that by creating a new offense for street harassment, more and more people will be encouraged to come forward and report it. In 2023, MPs approved plans to make street sexual harassment an official crime.