Aneesa Dawn was waiting to cross a busy road in Cardiff when a van driver repeatedly beeped his horn at her and her sister – so she took action that could land the man in hot water
A woman got her own back on catcallers by reporting their untaxed van to the DVLA – landing them with a potential £1,000 fine.
Supply teacher Aneesa Dawn, 25, was waiting to cross a busy road when she heard a van driver repeatedly sounding his horn. At first thinking it was down to a traffic problem, she was shocked when she realised the driver was targeting her and her younger sister.
The driver of a white van kept beeping at her relentlessly, before winding down his window, leaning out and shouting at her. He shouted: ”Hi love I’ve been beeping at you you sausage”.
Despite the upset and embarrassment of being harassed on a busy Cardiff street, Aneesa pulled out her phone and started filming the incident as proof, reports Wales Online.
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The supply teacher then chose to run the van’s number plate through an online checker to determine whether the vehicle was correctly taxed. After finding it was untaxed, she immediately reported it to the DVLA.
Aneesa, who moved to Wales three years ago from London, Ontario, Canada, said the beeping “lasted minutes”. She went on to say: “We were confused and we looked at each other and saw that they were beeping at us like nine times. When he noticed that I was filming he opened his side door and started yelling — that freaked me out.
“He had no shame. It was daylight and there was people around — it was just embarrassing. They just did not care of what anyone thought, they just wanted to intimidate and humiliate us.
“They kept staying there in the green light and drivers were beeping at them to go but they just stayed there. It just shows it does not need to be night-time, it can be a busy day with people around and pedestrians to catcall women.”
Aneesa posted a video, containing the footage of the man yelling at her alongside screenshots recording her act of payback, to her TikTok and Instagram profiles. The clip, captioned “Got harassed in Cardiff but karma had my back”, has racked up more than ten million views on Instagram and nearly one million on TikTok.
She was hoping that by posting the video, people would help in tracking down those responsible. “An overwhelming amount of women have shared their same experiences,” Aneesa added.
“It’s been really great to create a platform to speak about catcalling – it’s such a normalised situation and I’m shining a light on why it’s not ok.” Yet the video also drew abusive remarks which made Aneesa frightened of venturing through Cardiff’s streets.
She said: “I was scared of walking around Cardiff in case he spotted me again. Even though I had video proof I started questioning myself — it’s the exact reason why woman don’t seek out help in these situations.”
Street harassment based on a person’s sex is a criminal offence across the UK. Aneesa filed a police report with South Wales Police after the incident, which took place as she was navigating the busy three-lane Newport Road on April 15. She was joined by her 23 year old sister, who had been staying with her in the Welsh capital. She said: “I was on ‘big sister mode’ having someone you love with you just changes it. I was so frustrated – this was one of my sister’s first times in Cardiff.”
While she wasn’t able to catch one of the men raising his middle finger at her sister on camera, she did succeed in recording the driver opening the door and yelling at them. She said: “We just wanted to walk to the train station and to have everyone on the street looking at us it was humiliating.
“We just felt the sense of anger at the thought of why do people think they have the right to do that. We were quite shaken up we just keep talking about it on the way to the train and on the train.”
She added: “I submitted the report to the police and I just felt like we were able to take the power back.” Aneesa pointed out that discovering the men had been operating an untaxed vehicle was “the cherry on the top” of what had already been a profoundly upsetting experience.
According to the DVLA, operating an untaxed vehicle on a public road can lead to a £30 fine, plus one and a half times the outstanding vehicle tax. Should this go unpaid, criminal proceedings may be initiated, potentially leading to a fine of £1,000. As a result, Aneesa’s sister called off her solo journey to Edinburgh, expressing concerns about her own safety.
Aneesa disclosed this isn’t the first time that unwelcome attention has intensified, revealing she has been targeted with verbal harassment before, often by men egged on by their mates.
She said: “I’ve had men calling me worse names and two other men yelling at me and my friend. I’ve had men in vans beeping and waving. This was different, not as horrible as I’ve had, as in that it was more prolonged.
“We just ended up being lucky that we turned on the camera when we did. I never expected to get the reach it has, but now that it has I’m not surprised because a lot of women resonate with this experience.”
South Wales Police stated: “Everyone deserves to be and feel safe and enjoy our public spaces, fear free. Catcalling is now a specific criminal offence and it is up to individuals to reflect on and address their own behaviours or they do face being prosecuted.
“We urge anyone who experiences harassment or intimidation to report any concerns to the police so we can put an end to this behaviour.”
The DVLA confirmed it was unable to comment on individual cases, though its online checker showed that the van in question is presently untaxed.
