Archives for July 2009

Street Harassment Round Up – July 12

July 12, 2009 By HKearl

Stories:

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

On this blog, a woman in London shared how a man in her neighborhood always harasses her when he sees her alone. Read through the comments to learn how she took the advice of a blog commenter and contacted the police and what happened from there.
On HollaBack Australia, a guy brags to his friends about touching the contributor’s butt in public.
On HollaBack Toronto, a contributor tells how she called the cops when she saw the same man who had masturbated by her in his car while she waited for the bus last week.
Holla Back DC! had three blog posts discussing street harassment while biking.
Blank Noise Project is asking people to send in photos of the clothes they have been harassed in to help disprove the perception that it only happens when women wear certain clothes. They say, “write to us at blurtblanknoise @gmail dot com subject titled “i never ask for it””

In the News:

Time.com published a good article about how the Egyptian government is tackling sexual harassment (including street harassment) through religion by distributing new books on sexual harassment to 50,000 imams at mosques across Egypt.
A taxi driver in Perth, Western Australia, who allegedly sexually assaulted a female passenger in February is now being charged with that crime.
Carmella Etienne, a transgender female, alleges she was hit by rocks and a beer bottle and threatened in Queens.
Since June 19, there have been nearly a dozen reports of a man slapping women on their backsides on the subway around Crown Heights in Brooklyn, NY.
Jessica Reed asks in a blog post on UK’s Guardian website: “What is it about a woman on a bike that attracts such unwelcome attention?

Announcements:

RightRides in NYC has just expanded their services of a free ride home from Saturday nights to include Friday nights too! They offer this service from 11:59 p.m. – 3 a.m. in 45 neighborhoods across four boroughs. To call for a ride, the dispatch number is (718) 964-7781 OR (888)215-SAFE (7233).

Street Harassment Resource of the Week:

Street Harassment: A Feminist Guide to Analysis and Direct Action, by Cathy Ramos

Suspects Arraigned for Hate Crime in Queens

July 11, 2009 By HKearl

Carmella Etienne, a transgender female, alleges she was hit by rocks and a beer bottle in Queens earlier this week. She had to be treated at the hospital for a large cut on her leg. The men also allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs and threatened to kill her by cutting her throat. Both harassing men were arrested at the scene and are being held on $5,000 bail and will go to court on July 23. They could face up to 15 years in jail if they are convicted. Via NY Daily News:

“Etienne is now afraid to leave her home.

‘The law will hopefully put them to justice. I love being myself,’ she said.

The attack comes on the heels of another one on a transgender woman. Leslie Mora was assaulted with a belt buckle in Jackson Heights last month by two men. Prosecutors haven’t determined if they will pursue hate crime charges.

‘There’s mounting concern in the community and anger at the violence and prejudice,’ said Brendan Fay, a leader in the LGBT community in Queens. ‘Clearly these aren’t isolated incidents.'”

How horrible 🙁

Approaching Sexual Harassment from Religious Point of View

July 10, 2009 By HKearl

As a follow up to my July 4 post, Time.com just published a good article about how the Egyptian government is tackling sexual harassment (including street harassment) through religion by distributing new books on sexual harassment to 50,000 imams at mosques across Egypt.

“The solutions proposed in the booklet — which include a greater adherence to religious and family values to better law enforcement — don’t necessarily match the advice preached by women’s groups, who focus primarily on drafting formal legislation on the matter and promoting female empowerment. Nevertheless, the ministry’s decision to address the issue at all, and on such a scale, may indicate a marked shift from the government’s stance just last year: that sexual harassment is the problem of just a few individuals. ‘It’s a big change,’ says Rasha Hassan, the main researcher at the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR). ‘Of course the government still needs to do a lot. But nowadays we can see some change in the ministries.'” …

“There are calls for the government to draft a law specifically aimed at curbing sexual harassment, but even that may not be enough. ‘I think that any law against sexual harassment in the streets or in the workplace is a good step forward,’ says Nadya Khalife, a Middle East expert in the women’s rights division of Human Rights Watch. ‘However [it] still requires the government to effectively enforce the law by creating mechanisms to ensure that women do report sexual harassment incidents, and that these incidents are dealt with appropriately.’

Indeed, change may be slow to come, but in Egypt some activists are encouraged by the small signs of progress. ‘We can’t change the culture or the people in one day,’ says ECWR’s Hassan. ‘But we are trying to do a lot of things … We try to make changes with the government first, and then the people.’

It was just a year ago this month that the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights published it’s groundbreaking report about the extent that men harass women in Egypt and so to have the government trying to take the issue seriously now seems like great progress in that amount of time!

Perth Taxi Driver Charged with Sexual Assault

July 10, 2009 By HKearl

A few months ago I wrote about an alleged sexual aggression toward a female passenger by a taxi driver in Brisbane, Australia, which prompted authorities in the area to warn females not to take taxis alone late at night (how helpful – not).

Well, now I just read about a taxi driver in Perth, Western Australia, who allegedly sexually assaulted a passenger in February and is now being charged with that crime.

“”It will be alleged the 22-year-old female victim was being driven home in a taxi from Fremantle and the driver took her to an industrial area in Malaga and sexually assaulted her,” police spokesman Samuel Dinnison said.

Mr Dinnison said it was alleged the taxi driver then drove the woman to his house and left her there.

Sex assault squad officers located the taxi driver last night and charged him with two counts of sexual penetration without consent.

He will appear in the Midland Magistrates Court on Tuesday, July 14.”

How horrible for the young woman. I hope he is charged and that his sentence deterrs any other taxi drivers from engaging in assault… Horrible horrible.

Butt-Slapper in Brooklyn

July 10, 2009 By HKearl

Since June 19, there have been nearly a dozen reports of a man slapping women on their backsides on the subway around Crown Heights in Brooklyn, NY. The cops say the women range in age from 19 to 44 years. Via wpix.com:

“The suspect is described as being in his mid-20s, between 5-feet-10-inches and 6-feet tall. He is said to weigh between 175 and 200 pounds. He has short black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.”

Disgusting! How many women will he have to assault before he gets caught? Not any more, I hope…

The article also mentioned HollaBack NYC for documenting this kind of harassment every week. Go HBNYC!

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