“So, you like milk, baby … why don’t you drink some of mine when I squirt it in your face.” This comment from a man in a car passing by is how a University of Costa Rica student started her week as she hurried by foot while munching on some cereal to stave off her hunger before a morning class.

The incident was described by the student, Madeline “Madi” Soto, on her Facebook page.

Madeline happened to be at the scene of an on campus rape on May 18, and came to the aid of the female victim. That experience led her to become involved in efforts to bring awareness to the issue of sexual harassment on campus.

She recounted responding to the man’s cat call by giving him the finger, which led him to call her, “a bitch .. who shouldn’t be getting angry when it is clear she looks like a prostitute” (sic).

Soto said that the man then slowed his car and was about to get out when fortunately another passerby came to her aid and confronted the harasser. In her statement on the incident she said these situations are part of “systematic violence that inhibits women from walking, exercising, eating, even smiling and wanting to live.”

A 2015 survey by the UCR School of Statistics found 69 percent of  women had been whistled at or had lewd comments made at them at some point in the past year.

In a testament to the deeply disturbing effects such sexual violence can have on women, Madeline described how the confrontation made her sick to her stomach causing her to throw out her meager breakfast, adding that the repetitive nature of such incidents and the climate on the streets has made her internalize a feeling of disgust towards herself and her body, “even though none of this is my fault,” as described on her Facebook page.

After the May 18 rape, in which a woman was raped at knifepoint in broad daylight near the UCR San José campus computer building without anyone noticing anything, Madeline led an effort with student associations to hold a demonstration in support of women’s safety and rights on the campus.

In a similar effort, three students at a downtown all female public high school gained the support of Silvia Sánchez, National Liberation Party (PLN) legislator, to present legislation that would sanction sexual harassment or violence with a monetary fine and community service or even imprisonment depending on the nature of the incident.

Verbal harassment of a sexual nature is considered a misdemeanor in Costa Rica, and is punished with small fines if the victim manages to get police to arrive at the scene for her to make a complaint.