Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for October 2010

“The solidarity of women…left me feeling empowered”

By

Dressed in my finest power suit, I walked along a tree-lined street in cobble hill, the sun was shining and I felt great as I mentally prepared for my interview. As I passed a brownstone where people were unloading party supplies from a Party Rental LTD truck, you know the one with the pink hippo painted on the trucks, one of the delivery men came close to me and whispered in his best husky voice, “Hey sexy, i would want to get to know you”, I was shocked, for some silly reason I thought no street predator could possibly bother a woman in a power suit…

Normally, I would walk away fuming or give the jerk a dirty look, but I was my power suit damn it, so I walked up to this man and asked him his name and why he felt it was acceptable to degrade women. Robert (no last name) covered his work badge, and cowered away yelling out apologies as I threaten to call his company and report him. Funny enough I drew a mob of woman backing me up – the solidarity of women (and hopefully the firing of Robert) left me feeling empowered, but sadly, this is only one jerk that may second guess harassing women.

– Anonymous

Location: Congress btw Henry and Clinton, Brooklyn, New York

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.

Share

Weekly Round Up: October 17, 2010

By

Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

In the News, On the Blogs:

Announcements:

Upcoming Events:

10 Tweets from the Week:

  • jonubian: I don’t think most people understand how terrorizing street harassment can be.
  • mjbyars @DesiSanchez we need more of that from women. Embarrassing harassers is one way for women to send a loud message about #streetharassment.
  • jennpozner Walking to meet w/ Emily of @ihollaback. Think her aura’s working:1st time in ages no #streetharassment in 10blocks so far.
  • thekateblack To the guy who tried to grab my tits on the Bedford L platform: Eat the third rail, you miserable piece of shit. #streetharassment #NYC
  • HollabackPGH we <3 @bikepgh, who are working to make the streets safer for people who ride bikes. we want that too!
  • ElizabethOwens This is a belated entry from last weekend, but the girls in my program and I did some awesome hollabacks at street harassment. #effoff
  • euonymy Street harassment: really fucking unpleasant.
  • happiestrotteen on a more sombre note, i was a victim of (sexual) street harassment in kilburn today (just 1 incident of hundreds, thousands in my life)
  • nazzynasir At what century of your twisted pathetic brain would a married woman like me ever respond to a catcall whistle? Want to die isit?
  • hymnforrachel another friendly reminder: guys, girls don’t like with when you catcall at them..well, any self-respecting girl.
Share

This is how change happens – NYC hearing on street harassment

By

Elizabeth Mendez Berry recently wrote an op-ed about street harassment (and mentions my book, Stop Street Harassment). It was published in El Diario, the largest Spanish language newspaper in the country. People in power read op-eds and people in power read hers.

Because of her op-ed, the NYC Council’s Committee on Women’s Issues is holding a hearing on “Street Harassment of Women and Girls.”

The hearing will take place on Thursday, October 28 at 1 p.m. in the 14th floor committee room at 250 Broadway. I will be one of the people testifying about the problem of street harassment, along with RightRides, HollaBack, and Girls for Gender Equity. This is my first time testifying at a hearing and I’m very excited!

The hearing is open to the public, so I encourage anyone who can come to do so. This is an amazing opportunity for us to tell people in power what it’s really like out there for women. So if you can, please show your support and solidarity for this issue and attend. Let’s pressure the government into taking action and creating change. We deserve the right to be safe and to have equal access to public spaces!

Share

Sexual harassment is not a compliment, no matter the harasser

By

[Editor’s note: Normally only stories from men who are sharing stories as bystanders or allies in ending gender-based street harassment are those posted on here, but I thought it was worth offering this perspective because it similarly shows that sexual harassment of men, just like sexual harassment of women, is construed as a compliment and is not taken seriously, as it should be.

That said, I do want to note that women are more likely to have an underlying fear of assault when a man harasses them than when a woman harasses a man; we live in a gender inequitable society so there is a different underlying meaning between the two scenarios; and also, usually women experience far more sexual harassment than do men. These are some of the reasons why I focus on women’s experiences rather than men’s. Also, just like this man, men who are harassed are targeted for something other than their gender: their sexual orientation, their race, their size, their class, their disability etc. Women across the board are harassed simply for being female.]

Hi ladies, i am a man and i would like to share my thoughts and views and also my own experiences with street harassment. I do not believe that women deserve to be harassed. I have never harassed a woman, never will. I always try to have respect for women but i will honestly say that it’s very hard sometimes. The reason i say this is because i have been harassed many times by women! I am not your average male height or shape. I am short and small built. I also wear glasses, not the typical ‘hunky’ man that you women always seem to go for. Because of my size, i’ve been teased and belittled. I’ve had girls laugh at me, make snide remarks and even grope me. It makes me feel embarrassed and powerless. As a man, that’s not the worst of it. I am supposed to ‘take’ it and even enjoy it. That’s what i’ve heard and been told. So there’s nothing i can do about it because i’m a man. The police wouldn’t take it seriously, my mates just get jealous and say how lucky i am and i’ve even had a tutor say to me why complain?! Sigh.

– Dominic

Location: 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.

Share

“Hey, lady, why don’t you smile?”

By

I’m walking home from work. There’s a lot on my mind: my job, midterms, term papers. I just want to get home.

“Hey, lady!”

I barely even notice it at first. I’m in the middle of a college campus at night; you hear jeers like that so much it becomes normal. I wonder whether I have anything left at home to make for dinner.

“Hey, lady, why don’t you smile?”

This time I glance around. The voice is from a tall guy sitting on the student union steps, surrounded by his buddies. Of course to me almost all guys are tall: I’m barely over five feet.

“You, yeah, lady in the blue! Smile!”

My lips twitch, but nervously. I’m wearing blue. I avoid eye contact and walk faster.

“LA-DY. Walking in front of the LSU Student Union! Come on, can’t you smile?”

By then they’re already behind me, so they couldn’t see even if I did smile. My eyes are locked to the ground in front of me, my heart racing. Between here and my apartment there are two badly-lit stretches and one parking lot that’s always empty. What if these guys decide to follow me?

“Fine, I bet you just want to be sad!”

The voice keeps shouting at me until I reach the street. For all I know he’s still going on and I just can’t hear it. Or maybe they decided to get up and follow. I can’t bring myself to look back. If I look back they’ll know they got my attention. That’s the last thing I want.

The empty stretches back to my apartment seem twice as long as usual. Even after I check to make sure there’s no one following me, it feels like I’m being watched. It takes all the control I have not to slam the apartment door behind me and wake up my roommates.

Yeah, I really feel like smiling. Asshole.

– Anonymous

Location: LSU, Baton Rouge, LA

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.

Share