If a woman is nasty she could harm her family. But if a man is nasty, he could be a national calamity.

I say this in reference to the public urinating that is widely practised by men on the streets of Jamaica. I live in Kingston. Half-Way-Tree has been my stomping ground since high school. But thanks to the public peeing culture, Half-Way-Tree smells like a never-been-cleaned urinal. In a way, that is what it has become. I cannot walk through the square without gagging.

Do men urinate more than women? Do they have smaller bladders than women? I imagine not. So why can’t the men who frequent the streets hold their water until they find a restroom? It is not like restrooms are hard to find in Half-Way-Tree, with so many business establishments around that allow access to patrons. The park also has public restrooms for free. There is also the transport centre right in the middle of Half-Way-Tree with restrooms.

Nevertheless, in Half-Way-Tree, on any corner you turn, on many walls and utility poles you pass you will see and smell the telltale signs of public urination. And you often see the men doing it without fear of being challenged. All over Kingston you will see a man stop somewhere, fish out his penis, and spray the landscape. Even in traffic a man might stop abruptly, jump out of his vehicle, commandeer a public spot and pee.

One night I almost crashed into a van that had been travelling ahead of me. Collecting myself, I carefully swerved past the van which had suddenly stopped and blocked my way. But as I passed I could see the driver on the sidewalk leaning forward, one hand on the light post and the other handling his business.

And speaking of handling, do they wash their hands afterwards? They do not have opportunities for that right away. So they just zipper up and carry on with whatever business their urinating had interrupted. Sometimes that business is harassing women on the streets. I witnessed a man who had just finished spraying a wall behind a bus stop grab a hapless girl who had caught his fancy as she passed by.

Public urination is bad on many levels. It is not only a public health hazard, it is downright disgraceful. It is practised in the presence of all who pass by — men, women and children. It shows contempt for the people who are forced to witness it, and it shows the perpetrators’ disrespect of themselves as men. You expect dogs to urinate everywhere, but aren’t men called to higher standards of behaviour?

How are we ever going to fix their thinking?

Public urination also shows a lack of respect for the environment that sustains us all. It shows a lack of respect for other people’s property, too. “No Pissing Here” signs are everywhere, but in my view they deface properties. In addition to that they are a waste of effort, because they do not deter the men from urinating against the property, unless they are stopped by security guards.

Isn’t it a crime to urinate in public in Jamaica? Of course, it is. Our anti-litter and public indecency laws must apply here. But lack of their enforcement has given free rein to the public peeing perpetrators. I think the Government is missing out on a huge revenue stream from fines in this area. Be that as it may, I just wish some of the police officers who are so vigilant with motorists would pay even half as much attention to the public peeing perpetrators. If they did, then Half-Way-Tree might have a chance of smelling like a rose.

Dawn Marie Roper is a writer and communication consultant. Send comments to the Observer or Solprocom2016@gmail.com.