Construction Company Slaps Colored Stickers On Helmets In Bid To End Catcalling

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Women who hear sexist sounds from construction workers are taking action by seeing something and saying something.

Women who are sick and tired of the inappropriate behavior now have another reason to report it. Workers are being held accountable with a unique identifier on their hard hats.

As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported, catcalling isn't new, but the development group Greenland Forrest City wants to make sure their workers have no part in it. The crews are now donning color coded stickers on helmets to mark which specific project they're on.

They aren't large, about a three inch oval, and can get lost among other helmet stickers.

"Hopefully it creates a sense of accountability for our workers. They understand they're being identified as being part of our project," Ashley Cotton, Greenland Forrest City, Project Developer explained.

Cotton said neighbors had been complaining about street harassment around their sites, and hopes it will make it easier for women to report.

"Harassing, that don't go on anymore. This ain't the fifties," construction worker Brian Lowery said.

Women on the receiving end said the harassment is so bad they've stopped walking down certain streets to avoid it. They feel the stickers won't change the mentality.

"It's part of the construction, hard hat atmosphere," Leah Voss said.

"It's not an individual thing, it's a group thing," Lily Wen added.

Some say the solution isn't big enough -- that cat calling isn't just a comment left on the sidewalk. It can have a lasting impact.

"Psychosocial impacts like anxiety, depression, PTSD if it's happening on a regular basis," Debjani Roy, Deputy Director, Hollaback said.

Hollaback is an activist group in Brooklyn trying to end street harassment. They said the solution is teaching respect.

"It's a question of changing the culture around sexual harassment, and sitting down with these guys in particular and talking about why this is not acceptable and how it actually makes people feel," Roy said.

Those stickers have been on their helmets for about a month and developers said that in that time they have not received any harassment complaints.

The developer said they have been working with police and are open to suggestions from the neighborhood.