Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for February 2011

Let Egypt inspire you! Take action online

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In a few short weeks, the efforts of the people of Egypt, done largely through online organizing, led to unprecedented political change. Egypt is just the latest (and one of the most impressive) examples of how the Internet gives ordinary people a place to have a voice, share ideas, and create change.

Here are three opportunities for people in the U.S. to participate in small online actions that can, and surely will, lead to larger change.

If you are anyone, anywhere:

The National Museum of Crime and Punishment thinks that intimate partner violence should be described as “crimes of passion” during their Valentine’s Day events this weekend. No – such violence is motivated by issues of power/control, not passion. Support Hollaback DC and sign the petition demanding that the National Crime and Punishment Museum take intimate partner violence seriously.

Washington, DC- area residents or visitors who’ve experienced or witnessed street harassment:

Please help HollaBack DC! better understand public sexual harassment and assault in the DC Metro area by taking their 10-15 minute survey! Your answers will help them identify community needs and directly affect the workshops, programs, and materials that they offer. The data from this survey will also go into a report about the status of the issue in the DC metro area.

Queer women of color in New York City:

Kimberlynn Acevedo is writing about queer women of color* and their experiences in public spaces of New York City, including but not limited to the subway system and the streets, as well as semi-public spaces like restaurants and other businesses. Her goal is to give a voice to women who are, more often than not, underrepresented in the growing discussion around gender-based harassment, violence, and discrimination. If you are a queer woman of color in NYC, please take her survey and share your voices and views.

*queer is open ended and women is also open to self-identification

Thank you! Your five minutes of action is time well spent.

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Street Harassment in Trinidad and Tobago via Women Speak

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Simone Leid

On Women Speak, founder Simone Leid, offers a new online place for women in Trinidad and Tobago to share their stories of discrimination and read related news. Unsurprisingly, street harassment has already come up a few times.

On Feb. 5, a woman shared the following story:

“It was a morning like any other in 2005, except for the fact that on my way to work and as I approached Chacon Street, Port of Spain, absorbed in my own thoughts, a man grabbed my crotch and kept walking. I froze for several seconds, shocked and scared. There weren’t many people around and the few who were there said nothing, so I believe they saw nothing. Physically weak, I took the nearest taxi in silence…” (read more)

Also on Feb. 5, Ms. Leid wrote a post: Harassment is punishable by law!

“A person who pursues a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another and which he knows or ought reasonably to know amounts to harassment of the other is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of two thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months.”

Good to know that street harassment is illegal there!

On Feb. 8, she featured an excerpt from an article about the commonality and “harmlessness” of street harassment in Trinidad and Tobago:

“But in my 20s I remember the sense of intimidation and fear that ran through me every time I passed a group of boys or men on the street. Would they just say ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ in that I’m-a-nice-guy way or would there be something disgusting today?”

And yesterday, she posted the video “My Bad Thing” by Chucky, writing:

“Men need to join in the fight against Street Harassment and build loving and supportive relationships with their women by standing up to other men and letting them know that disrespecting women is unacceptable.”

Yes, this is definitely true!


In watching the video, though, I wasn’t sure, is the main guy upset about street harassment because “his” girlfriend was targeted and otherwise he wouldn’t care? I know sometimes it seems like the only way to get guys to pay attention to this issue is by saying, look it’s happening to your girlfriends, sisters, mothers, daughters, and wives. But it’s not a lot of progress if they only care about the issue when it happens to women they feel some ownership over because it threatens their manhood.

Take a look at the video and see what you think it’s about.

I’ve already learned quite a bit about street harassment in Trinidad and Tobago and I look forward to learning more on Women Speak!

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Consent on the streets – tips about how to not be a harasser

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“How can I talk to a woman in public without being a harasser?” is a question I often hear from men who attend my talks about street harassment.

The question always makes me laugh a little because the answer is so clear to me, but the question also makes me glad to see them thinking about the issue and trying to apply it to their life. I know it’s a question many men have and so I offer some basic tips on my blog and in my book.

I had an opportunity to explore this question in a video interview with Ben Privot, founder of The Consensual Project (read his recent Male Allies blog post). We chatted about consent on the streets.

I think having these conversations, especially with young men, is so important. Most men don’t want to be harassers, but a lot of the messaging they receive in the media, from their peers, and from family is that it’s okay and required of them to be aggressive, rude, and sexually objectifying with people they encounter. And if they listen to those messages, they become harassers.

So something we can all do is talk to each other about appropriate ways to interact with strangers in public. What contexts or circumstances make some interactions fun and some scary? What words or actions do? How can we be respectful people without being boring?

I really enjoyed meeting Ben and learning more about The Consensual Project. If you’re at a college campus, please check out the organization. Via Ben’s website,

“The Consensual Project partners with schools and universities to bring students a fresh understanding of consent. The innovative curriculum, workshops, and website empower young people to incorporate consent into their daily lives.”

Fantastic! Consent is so important, on the streets, in bars and clubs, on dates, in committed relationships, and in the bedroom. And reaching college students is essential – did you know that college women are more than four times as likely to face sexually assault as any other group of women (RAINN statistic)? So thanks for the important work you’re doing, Ben!

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“It makes me feel better to know I stood up for myself”

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I live in a ‘not so great’ neighbourhood in Queensland, Australia… or at least it has the reputation of being so. I’m originally from the UK and hadn’t been living here long, so I brushed those sentiments off as being stigma. Sadly, I was wrong. Every time I walk to the train station to catch my train to work, I am harassed. It varies in severity, but it’s always uncomfortable and always upsetting. Virtually to the point where I take every opportunity to avoid that walk.

On most occasions I have the typical ‘cat calling’, with men regularly slowing their cars to shout at me or whistle or beep their horn. I’ve had one guy follow me from the local supermarket (after seeing me in the cashier line ahead of him); it was around 8 p.m. at night and fairly dark, he pulled over on the road to approach me and ask me to get in his car so he could take me home, when I said no, he continued to follow, until I began running.

On a worse occasion, this time in the middle of the day, I was walking along the street near the busiest road and a man walked past and lifted up my skirt to expose my underwear. He ran before I could catch a look at his face, but I screamed out at him to make sure attention was drawn to him. From that incident, I’ve taken to avoiding skirts when possible… even though that sometimes means walking in the summer heat feeling uncomfortable, or having to get changed at work.

I once had a young boy aged around 15 follow me home, almost to my front door, and expose himself to me. I screamed out that he was sick and that he needed to get away from me before I called the police. He ran off. That night I couldn’t sleep because I was scared he’d come back, because he knew where I live.

The harassment upsets me and makes me feel uncomfortable in places I’m entitled to be; the shops, the streets, the trains.

I now feel empowered by my experiences and the stories I read here, and I try to retaliate to those who attempt to harass me. I’ll tell them how disgusting they are, or how pathetic they are.

Most of these people aren’t used to hearing a woman stand up to them, so when I do this they are usually speechless. I’ll tell them that they can’t make me feel uncomfortable and that I have a right to be here too…. they’re usually dumbfounded by it, and it makes me feel better to know I stood up for myself and made them feel uncomfortable, maybe they now know how it feels to be abused in public? And when other people have witnessed me defending myself, they’ve actually congratulated me, or laughed at the men who’ve tried to abuse me (and usually other women at the same time). It feels good trying to take back the streets, to feel comfortable in places I’m entitled to. I still get harassed, but I’m much braver since visiting this site.

– Claire

Location: EVERYWHERE! Eagleby, Queensland, Australia

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

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Who was the sexist & most violent of them all? Super Bowl commercial Bingo results

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This is a follow-up to my blog post from Friday.

I didn’t end up watching the Super Bowl yesterday, but my partner watched it at a friend’s house and he brought along the End-It Bingo sheet (created by Riverview Center which I found on the Men’s Anti-Violence Council blog).

My partner and his friends took the Bingo card seriously. Not only did they make a mark each time a commercial fit into a category, but they noted which company’s commercial warranted the mark. They marked off almost all of the squares on the sheet and added a few more categories. “Street harassment” became a category when Pepsi Max included it in one of their commercials.

Overall, my partner felt that the companies that produced the most offensive ads were Go-Daddy (no surprise there), Sketchers, and Pepsi Max. He said he was the most surprised by the Sketchers commercial, saying, “I didn’t think they’d take footwear to that extreme.” When I read through his Bingo card today, I saw that he wrote Pepsi Max the most times in the various boxes. Thumbs down to these companies!

I wasn’t sure how my partner’s friends would react to the Bingo sheet since it would bring up serious subjects during a fun event. But they were really supportive and actively participated. My partner said the Bingo card got them all thinking critically about the commercials and noticing how companies were trying to sell products. It also made them more aware of and appreciative of the companies that didn’t have to resort to violence or sexism in their commercials (the Volkswagen commercial with the kid in the Darth Vader mask was a big hit).

What were your thoughts about the commercials? Did you use the Bingo card?

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