Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for July 2009

“Butt Slap Leads to Activism” Follow Up Article

By

About a month ago, a contributor to this blog (Lauren) wrote a post about a recent street harassment experience she had where a teenager on a bike slapped her butt while she was jogging in her neighborhood. She said that as a result of that experience (and other experiences of street harassment) she was going to write an article about street harassment for one of her classes in her master’s program in journalism at the University of Western Ontario in London, ON, Canada. As part of her paper, she interviewed me and the facilitator of Holla Back Tononto. Well, she just sent me her completed paper and she’s considering trying to get it published , so check it out!  Way to go, Lauren!

Like Lauren, most of the street harassment activists I’ve spoken to became an activist because one day they said, “enough” and decided to do something about the harassment they were experiencing and/or saw other women experiencing.

If you’re fed up with street harassment, I encourage you to think about something you can do about it, be it sharing your story, writing an article, starting a HollaBack website, posting fliers in your neighborhood, making  a documentary, or starting an activist group, you can make a difference.

Share

"Butt Slap Leads to Activism" Follow Up Article

By

About a month ago, a contributor to this blog (Lauren) wrote a post about a recent street harassment experience she had where a teenager on a bike slapped her butt while she was jogging in her neighborhood. She said that as a result of that experience (and other experiences of street harassment) she was going to write an article about street harassment for one of her classes in her master’s program in journalism at the University of Western Ontario in London, ON, Canada. As part of her paper, she interviewed me and the facilitator of Holla Back Tononto. Well, she just sent me her completed paper and she’s considering trying to get it published , so check it out!  Way to go, Lauren!

Like Lauren, most of the street harassment activists I’ve spoken to became an activist because one day they said, “enough” and decided to do something about the harassment they were experiencing and/or saw other women experiencing.

If you’re fed up with street harassment, I encourage you to think about something you can do about it, be it sharing your story, writing an article, starting a HollaBack website, posting fliers in your neighborhood, making  a documentary, or starting an activist group, you can make a difference.

Share

Screening of “BACK UP! Concrete Diaries”

By

This Friday, July 10, 2009, Docs in Progress will be screening “BACK UP! Concrete Diaries,” Monique and Nijla‘s documentary about street harassment, at George Washington University, in Washington, DC. Feedback from the audience will be welcome after the screening.

“Sidewalks, street crossings, corridors, and concrete are hostile territory for women and girls who experience verbal and physical assault from men on a daily basis. This documentary explores how women deal with street harassment. It will especially look at how women are fighting back and defining their own personal and public spaces.”

Date: July 10, 2009
Time: 7 – 10 p.m.
Location: George Washington University Media and Public Affairs Building, 805 21st Street, NW, Auditorium B-07, Washington, DC
Cost: $5 suggested donation
For more information: Contact info

I hope you can attend! I’ll be there – I’m really excited to see the result of all their hard work!

Share

Screening of "BACK UP! Concrete Diaries"

By

This Friday, July 10, 2009, Docs in Progress will be screening “BACK UP! Concrete Diaries,” Monique and Nijla‘s documentary about street harassment, at George Washington University, in Washington, DC. Feedback from the audience will be welcome after the screening.

“Sidewalks, street crossings, corridors, and concrete are hostile territory for women and girls who experience verbal and physical assault from men on a daily basis. This documentary explores how women deal with street harassment. It will especially look at how women are fighting back and defining their own personal and public spaces.”

Date: July 10, 2009
Time: 7 – 10 p.m.
Location: George Washington University Media and Public Affairs Building, 805 21st Street, NW, Auditorium B-07, Washington, DC
Cost: $5 suggested donation
For more information: Contact info

I hope you can attend! I’ll be there – I’m really excited to see the result of all their hard work!

Share

Harassing women on bikes

By

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? From catcalls to lurid comments, should you shout back, or just ignore them? Any tips for those who will not give up their skirts?” You can read her entry in full to learn about the extent of harassment she’s experienced while on her bicycle.

I haven’t been on a bicycle in over a decade (wow!) and I don’t recall being the target of any gender-based harassed as an adolescent in my neighborhood when I did ride one. In response to the Guardian blog post, Holla Back DC! notes that they haven’t received submissions from anyone about being harassed while on their bicycle in DC though some contributors have said that men on bikes have harassed them.

From my research, I’ve read stories from women who are often harassed on their bicycle and stories from other women who were relieved to find they were not harassed while on their bicycle. Here’s an example of one story illustrating the former from my anonymous, informal online survey from last fall:

“Once I was riding my bike down the street and this guy over on the sidewalk who thought he was clever shouted at me, “Hey, don’t you know pedaling (peddling) pussy is illegal?” I didn’t feel unsafe just because he said that, but I did feel sort of unwelcome, and even though I was angry I didn’t feel safe in confronting him.” – a young woman from Louisville, KY

Off the top of my head, two incidents come to mind when I think about this topic. First: one of my cousins lives in Arlington, VA, a close suburb of DC, and she told me that a man yelled “whore” at her one time when she was riding her bicycle home from work! Second: when I interviewed the founder of HollaBack Chicago over two years ago, she said a harassment incident she experienced while she was bicycling inspired her to start the blog.

Have you been harassed while on a bicycle or do you feel more immune to it than when you are on foot?

Share