"My eight-year-old daughter got her first pubic hair and first cat-call on the same day."

Today was a day I was not prepared for when I woke up this morning.

Two events happened which I had hoped wouldn’t happen for some time yet. One if fact, I hoped wouldn’t happen at all.

The first surprise came when I was helping my daughter change out of her swimmers. For some reason, she insists on wearing full length leggings in our blow up paddle pool and waterslide contraption, and well, we all know how difficult it is to peel off wet clothes, even if they’re just swimmers.

It was at this moment of wrestling the wet leggings from around her feet that I noticed that my little girl, my first baby, is beginning to get pubic hair.

Given that she has just turned eight, I was taken aback. Admittedly, I can’t actually remember when it started for me, so I did some frantic Googling to find reassurance that it is normal.

She’s on the young side, but still on the “normal” scale. Although surprised and very much unprepared for puberty (is anyone ever really prepared with their first child?), I soon put it out of my mind and got on with my day. It’s just a bit of hair after all; no biggie.

And now for the second event I wasn’t ready for today. My little girl, who at the tender age of eight has just shown her first sign of growing up into a young woman, was cat-called.

My eight year old was cat-called by grown-ass men at a pub as we walked by with her little brothers in the pram after day-care pickup. As we were the only ones in the street, I tried to convince myself they were only shouting at me. But the words “little beauty” stuck out. They were aimed at her.

An hour later, I’m still shaking with rage. Rage at those pigs who felt entitled to call out to a little girl walking with her mum and brothers, and rage at myself for not doubling back to give them a piece of my mind and perhaps snap a photo of their revolting heads.

I was so shocked that I didn’t react how I should have in the moment. Should have I called the police? Their behaviour was harassment at best, paedophilic at worst. I hate that I just walked fast with my head down.

I hate that these two events are now connected in my mind. I hate that on the very same day I noticed the first sign of puberty on her, she was cat-called for the first time. I hate the way it feels like those men somehow knew.

Women confess the times they felt like a bad mother. Post continues after video.

I’m thankful that my daughter didn’t seem to even notice them or their words. I don’t want her to start fearing having to walk past pubs, or walking past groups of men, or just walking outside her own home in general in case men yell out awful, threatening things.

Eight is far too young to learn that she needs to be afraid.

All the men who participate in this kind of behaviour thinking that it’s a great joke or a compliment are creating a culture where other men feel comfortable and entitled to do it to even little girls like my daughter.

It’s sickening, and it’s wrong. So men, next time you think about cat-calling a woman, consider whether you’re okay with that happening to a child. Because whether you’d do it or not, you’re encouraging it.