Wanna Stop Getting Catcalled On The Street? There’s An App For That!

Somedays, walking down the street (whether it be in a summer dress or a sweat suit) means getting unwelcome catcalls that follow you from your house to the coffee shop. With that in mind, one Boerum Hill group started a smartphone app called Hollaback! to counteract catcalling and other aggressive unwelcome advances. The app (and its accompanying website) turns the tables on verbal and physical attackers, stalkers, and those pesky subway photogs (we see you!) in an effort to end harassment once and for all. Similar to the way stores display photos of shoplifters in hopes of embarrassing them out of stealing, the app acts as a meeting place for victims and catcall-a-phobics to, well, callout the offenders.

Already present in 52 other cities, Hollaback! New York has just been given a seal of approval from two city councilwomen in the form of $20,000 in funding. What do you think? Is the government getting involved with this app an "invasion of privacy," as one male interviewee put it, or do you think these intimidators are getting the attention they deserve? (Daily News)