Stories:
I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!
- On this blog, a woman in Kentucky told how a man tried to walk with her and her friends, a man in Bavaria, Germany, calls a woman a “fat cow,” a woman in London shares three street harassment recollections, and a woman in Virginia tells how a man harassed her while she was running.
- On HollaBack NYC a woman shares how a man masturbated at her on the R subway train and she reported him to the police and a male ally spotted a man harassing women walking by while wearing his work uniform so the male ally is going to report him to his company.
- On HollaBack DC! a man harasses a woman while she waits for the light to change, another man progresses from catcalling a woman on the street to stalking her in a store, and another woman got an apology from a harasser when she told him she didn’t like what he was saying.
- On HollaBack Toronto, a woman tells how a man followed her after work.
In the News:
- Rape reports on the Washington, DC, metro system got “lost in the shuffle”
- “The nightmare of sexual harassment in Egypt“
- “In Mideast countries, women feel safer in ‘pink taxis’“
- AAUW’s blog Dialog has a guest post from HollaBack DC! about the history of street harassment activism in Washington, DC
Announcements:
- April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Here are 10 activism ideas for how you can raise awareness about this widespread problem and/or help raise funds for preventative programs and resources for survivors.
- Take two street harassment surveys and help researchers studying this problem.
- The submission deadline for an anthology on Queering Sexual Violence is extended until May 1, 2010.
- The Safe Delhi Campaign is looking for volunteers and interns.
- Blank Noise in India is looking for new logo submissions
- If you’re interested in becoming a RightRides driving team volunteer, email volunteer@rightrides.org – orientations will be occuring throughout April.
- HollaBack NYC is looking for volunteers with various skill sets to help them take their work to the next level.
- Share why you “Holla Back” for the HollaBack NYC website.
Events:
- If you’re in the Washington, DC, area, HollaBack DC! is hosting or participating in several events across the next few weeks, check out the info on their site.
- Sign up for Washington, DC, based Defend Yourself’s annual class on dealing with street harassers, being held on May 22.
Resource of the Week:
- SAFER (Students Active for Ending Rape) for the amazing work they are doing to make campuses safe for everyone. They have resources for: college students, alumni, parents of college students, and faculty/staff. Check out their very informative blog, Change Happens.
Ilona Granet says
I want to know what form Sexual Harrassment on the street takes. And what is the reaction to it?
I am going to present my case for installing signs I designed in 1986 addressing this subject. At that time I think it was a daily barage. It seems impossible to believe now, but it was also extremely vulgar, sometimes obscene and rarely funny, if ever. At times it was a double entender…wishing they could be my bicycle and I could sit…, wishing they were my dog, wishing they could live between my breasts, between my legs, how happy they could make me, shuffling up close, whispering their desires, shouting in groups, across avenues with supernaturally loud sucking sounds coming from trucks passing by, so that others on the avenue would be looking around as to who was the lucky female recipient, etc, etc.
That was then, what happens now, and how do you feel it impacts you.
Then I was furious. It felt like I was a sex worker which was not true. I was however the victim of rapes by strangers with weapons. It reminded me of those situations, in that they sounded so horrid and invasive, outrageous, ugly. To be polite, it had Nothing to do with flirting or fun or appreciation.
I was told men do not behave like this anymore. If this is going out to an international audience, I imagine the behavior will differ drastically. Please tell me where you are writing about, where you live. If this behavior has stopped, there is no need for the sign, if the behavior and monologue has changed I need to know if I can design a different sign(s), or different response, or just put the sign on moth-balls. I think of the sign “Curb Your Animal Instinct” as a point of conversation, a push to discuss, to educate.
Now, being a million years older, noone behaves badly to me. I doubt I have cured the wild side of mankind, but am happily passed that point of time.
As I said, I need to know the stark reality, even if it great! and in as much detail as you can convey. Thank you for your help.