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The Formation Of The 1920s Anti Flirt Club To Stop Men From Harassing Women On The Street

A group of Washington D.C. women decided they had enough unwanted catcalling and soliciation by strange men, so they did something about it

Andrew Martin
3 min readNov 6, 2023

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Unfortunately, women have long been subjected to the indignity of being routinely harassed by men whistling or saying crude things as they walk or drive by. This unsolicited and unwanted attention has been an embarrassing blight in society for many years. In the 1920s, a Washington, D.C. organization that called themselves the Anti-Flirt Club openly declared war on these uncouth solicitations.

An article appearing in the March 23, 1923 issue of the Huntsville News queried, “What are you going to do about it girl?” It went on to address what this scintillating question was at hand:

“This query is being put here following the announcement from Washington that someone has organized the ‘Anti-Flirt Club.’ The suggestion is made that the pretty young things may not be able to take care of themselves in face of the advances of scheming ‘he vamps’ who seek to entice them to the corner drug store, without an introduction.

“And this someone proposes that an organization be formed to combat the…

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Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin

Written by Andrew Martin

Dabbler in soccer, history, investing & writing. Master’s degree in baseball history. Passionate about history, diversity, culture, sports, film and investing .

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