Meanwhile, Rye, the head of Nottingham Citizens which is the city’s branch of Citizens UK, has also been attacked with comments that target her appearanceand been a catalyst to misogynistic threats posted on the Citizen UK Facebook page.

She told Huffington Post UK “I was stunned people went to the effort of finding me on Twitter and even going via the Citizens UK website comment box to point out that I really wasn’t attractive enough to speak on this issue so I should just shut up.”

An American Facebook user even allegedly wrote a post on the Citizens UK page saying that if he ever visited the UK he would “make sure every woman I see there is treated like shit”.

Both women have said that the comments only serve to highlight how important their work has been in the advancement of attitudes towards street harassment.

“It made me feel deeply vindicated that this work was done - those commenting were proving the very need for this categorisation,” Rye said.

“I think it brings it out into the light,” added Jeffs.

And despite the slew of offensive comments the pair say they've received overwhelming support from both genders.

"We had some incredibly supportive messages, including from men – and that shows that perhaps things are changing and this is a step in the right direction at exactly the right time. One man actually said that this whole project made him feel proud to live in Nottinghamshire – that really was good to hea,” said Rye.

Further highlighting the importance of their work and of Nottinghamshire Police's decision to implement the changes, is the news that they have since received 22 reports and made two arrests as a result of misogynistic hate crimes.

Women who helped make catcalling a hate crime targeted with sexist abuse online