Two so-called street preachers have been charged with violating the public nuisance bylaw, just over a month after the city of London urged victims of street harassment to come forward.
On Friday, the city reported that Steven Ravbar and Matthew Carapella have been charged with violations on “multiple occurrences” of the personal invective provision of the city’s public nuisance bylaw.
The city also says that so far in 2019, over 75 complaints have been filed specific to the actions of the two individuals.
Early last month, the city’s chief bylaw officer, Orest Katolyk, urged impacted members of the public to lodge a formal complaint, noting that they “can’t just go out and have officers observe something if the complainant doesn’t feel that they’ve been negatively impacted with their enjoyment of public space.”
Councillors first moved to tweak the public nuisance bylaw following a slew of complaints against the two street preachers, who’ve been known to use abusive language to passersby, mostly women.
The amendments were passed in the summer of 2018, making it illegal to use abusive or insulting language when it prevents people from enjoying public spaces.