Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for January 2010

Bus Slap

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I had caught a bus in Manchester (UK) in the evening with a friend of mine and we sat near the back of the bus. A couple of stops later two young men got on and approached us and sat down behind us. One of them leaned forward and tried to start a conversation. I tried to be polite but indicated I didn’t really want to speak to them. He then asked if he could go with us to wherever we were going and where we lived. I told him I was obviously going to say no and my friend, who was panicking, asked if we could get off the bus suddenly so they wouldn’t have a chance to follow us or know where we lived.

As I got up to leave, the one who had been speaking to me slapped me on the backside and laughed. At the time I was just glad to be getting off the bus but found the whole thing very intimidating. My friend wanted to run home in case they got off at the next stop, which clearly showed how intimidated she was as well.

When I look back on the situation it makes me angry to think that he thought he had a right to touch me. I’d like to say I would deal with the situation differently if it happened again, but I can’t say I would know what to do.

– Hannah

Location: Manchester, UK

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.

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A bus is not a hair cuttery

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Jared Walter, via true crime report

Okay this is weird. In at least three reported incidents, a 22-year old man in Portland, OR, decided to give unwanted haircuts to women riding his bus. The woman whose hair he cut on New Year’s Eve called 911 and he was arrested. He’s being charged with interfering with public transit, disorderly conduct and harassment (and also robbery because he’s a suspect in a string of neighborhood break-ins).

Umm creepy!

thanks to MRH for the story tip.

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“Dressing Professionally Doesn’t Stop You from Getting Harassed”

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A friend and I decided to meet half-way between our respective offices in Manhattan for a weekly “professionals” lunch. The logical meeting point was 28th street and Broadway on the R/W line. When we both were vulgarly harassed (I hate it when people say “God bless” or “So sexy,” half under their breath but it’s somehow much more degrading when p**** and f*** are said loud and clear) within seconds of emerging from the subway we decided it would be better to meet at a stop that was slightly further for one of us. (This part of Manhattan is what I like to call “sketchy” Broadway as it’s about a 10-block stretch of nothing but open trash bag after open trash bag filled with “fake” DVDs, purses, etc.)

– anonymous

Location: 28th Street & Broadway, New York City

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.

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Vote for phone app & make it easier to report street harassers

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Cross-posted from HollaBack NYC:

Thanks to the 3,800 of you who voted for Hollaback 2.0, we made it to the second round of the Knight News Foundation. Now we are asking you to vote again.

If you want to stop worrying if you could run in those heels if you needed to, vote again.

If you want to slap the next man who tells you to “smile,” vote again.

If your head scarf, puffy coat, and winter boats still aren’t making you harassment-free, vote again.

Each story you submit is read by 1,000 people: now that’s leadership. Your stories, your vision, and your commitment got us here. Now it’s time to step up our game and build a platform that uses today’s technology to make even easier to Hollaback. We’ve never been able to do it without you, so we’re not going to try now. Vote again.

It’s your future. Make it harassment-free.

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Draft anti-sexual harassment law presented to Egyptian parliament

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For months I’ve read how Egyptian activists and lawmakers have been working on a new law against sexual harassment (including on the streets and other public places) and this week it was finally introduced.

“A draft of the law presented to the parliament’s legislative committee on Monday recommended that punishment should be at least one year in prison and or a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh666). The legislation is based on a 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) that found 83 per cent of Egyptian women and 98 per cent of foreign women had been sexually harassed, usually on the street or on public transport. A large number of men – 62 per cent – even admitted to being or having been perpetrators of sexual harassment….

‘We need to redefine the meaning of sexual harassment, which is lacking in Egypt’s current criminal code, and include sexual harassment in the workplace – not only in public places – and transportation, and mobile and internet sexual harassment as well,’ said Mohammed Khalil Qoueita, the deputy of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, who is behind the new law.

There is no current law that mentions or defines sexual harassment, while a colonial-era law from 1937 speaks vaguely of violation of honour and morals.

‘One of the reasons sexual harassment is widespread is that there is no deterrent law against those who do it,’ Mr Qoueita said. ‘We need to create a culture of women having the courage to go to police when they are sexually harassed.’ In that way, women can regain respect and fight against a culture in which men look down on them.”

I hope it passes, though I wonder if the year in prison punishment is harsh enough that women will be too worried to report harassers? Thoughts? What would be a fair punishment?

I wonder what would happen in the US if there was a similar study to the one the ECWR’s conducted? Or even if each state conducted one? Studies about harassment on public transportation in Chicago and New York City have led to policy changes, so I think there’s a good chance that such studies could make a difference.

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