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Archives for October 2011

Street Harassment Snapshot: Stories, News, & Tweets: October 30, 2011

October 30, 2011 By HKearl

Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

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Street Harassment Stories:

Share your story! You can read new street harassment stories on the Web from the past week at:

Stop Street Harassment Blog | “Street Respect” stories

HarassMap Egypt

Resist Harassment Lebanon

Hollaback

Hollaback Berlin

Hollaback Croatia

Holla Back DC!

Hollaback Israel

Hollaback London

Hollaback Mumbai

Hollaback NYC

Hollaback Philly

Hollaback Queretaro

Hollaback Tegucigalpa

Hollaback West Yorkshire

In the News, on the Blogs:

* Racialicious, “Unsafe in Seattle”

* Feministe, “So There’s a Woman Dressed All Sexy-Like: Your Role as Observer“

* Huffington Post, “Street Harassment is Everywhere; What do We Tell Our Daughters?“

* Negin Dahya, “Big City Etiquette“

* HR Daily Advisor, “I Stopped My Harasser in His Tracks” and HR Daily Advisor, “How to Respond to a Harasser? 10 Things to Say“

* The Times of India, “On Diwali eve, many roads without street-lights“

* Reuters, “NY may close bus service that makes women sit in back“

* Gender Across Borders, “Street Culture“

* Her campus University of Leeds, “Street Harassment – The Daily Battle“

* Cool Age, “That evil called ‘street harassment‘”

* NY1, “Police Ramp Up Search For Queens Sexual Assault Suspect“

* LiveMint.com, “A girl’s guide to public speaking“

Announcements:

New:

* Sign the petition to tell Toronto Police to stop blaming victims for street harassment and sexual assault!!

Reminders:

* Participate in a “Taking Back Halloween” contest and show off your creativity for creating non-sexy costumes

* Donate to Students Active for Ending Rape so they can mentor and teach students to advocate for safer campuses!

* If you’re in London, help a Ph.D. student out with her dissertation research by meeting to share your street harassment stories.

* Contribute to the Monday “Street Respect” series that highlights the type of stories we want to see instead of street harassment stories!

* Call for men to share views/stories about street harassment

* Sign Mend the Gap’s petition to address subway harassment in Delhi, India

* Are you in Egypt? Use HarassMap to report your street harassers

* Have an iPhone? Download the Hollaback iPhone app that lets you report street harassers

10 Tweets from the Week:

1. Karnythia What I will do to protect myself is nothing compared to what I will do to protect my child. You won’t be here to engage in #streetharassment

2. nualacabral Excited to speak out on #streetharassment at the Media That Matters Film Festival this wk in NYC. mediathatmattersfest.org/news/media_tha… #p2 #fem2

3. feministteacher Students @lreinyc are writing their own responses to #streetharassment via spoken word, poetry, response yfrog.com/h7bltugj @GGENYC

4. rlalita @Bell_Bajao censors should ban every Bollywood movie with eve teasing, street harassment, & any form of abuse against women. #rewrite

5. cathredfern YES. Just successfully challenged street harassment i am shaking now so much

6. MarwanAnwar #EgyptianMisconception Hitting on random girls on the streets would make you the coolest person ever born

7. VAWMonth Read today’s live chat with @BLANK_NOISE on Street Violence Against Women by following #VAWAM.

8. HollabackCHD #KeenanSantos lost his life standing up against #streetharassment He chose to speak up. Will you? chd.ihollaback.org/2011/10/keenan…

9. PamelaScully Street harassment against women is most visible symptom that society uses fear to control more than 1/2 the population. huff.to/vclgbY

10. HollaBackBmore Women don’t always have the time or safety margin to determine between #streetharassment and a compliment. ow.ly/7d6au

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Filed Under: hollaback, News stories, Stories, street harassment, weekly round up

Interview: Sydnie L. Mosley and The Window Sex Project

October 29, 2011 By HKearl

When I was in New York City two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with Sydnie Mosely and talk about her anti-street harassment initiative The Window Sex Project. She has a big event coming up on November 12 and so I thought this was the perfect time to interview her so you all can learn about her creative project and how to get involved.

Stop Street Harassment (SSH): Hi Sydnie! To start, can you please share a little bit about who you are before we talk about the Window Sex Project?

Sydnie L. Mosley (SLM): Sure. I’m a New York City-based dancer, choreographer and teaching artist. I’m currently an Alumnae Fellow with the Barnard Center for Research on Women, a position that allows me to deepen my artistic work with the resources of the academy. I present my choreography with my Harlem-based company Sydnie L. Mosley Dances with works that seek to actively engage the audience’s physical and emotional senses with dance performance in addition to involving audiences in the artistic process. I earned an MFA in Dance with an emphasis on Choreography from the University of Iowa and a BA in Dance and Africana Studies from Barnard College.

SSH: Thank you. What is the Window Sex Project all about?

SLM: The Window Sex Project is a dance performance which addresses and tackles the every day practice in which women are “window shopped,” that is forced to bear unsolicited harassment from men while walking on the street. The Window Sex Project gives voice to these concerns and restores agency to women by celebrating their bodies in a public artwork informed by members of the Harlem community, for the Harlem community.

The work places women of varying races and body types on pedestals in an art gallery setting, forcing audiences to contend with the objectification of the female body in a contemporary society. The dance investigates how a woman’s sexuality is perceived based on these physical attributes. It aims to equally celebrate all the bodies which are unique, and do not fit into generic models of womanhood.

This work is grounded in personal experiences, feminist theory, and a collective need to take action. Much of the movement content was generated from women who participated in free workshops over the summer, who were asked to create movement expressions of their harassment experiences. This aspect makes this activist project unique. The Window Sex Project specifically uses bodies, the site of harassment, as the mode of response and activism.

The sound score orchestrated by Ebonie Smith includes newly composed instrumental and/or vocal selections, energetic dance beats, a collection of “hollas” heard on the street, and also the voices and bodies of the dancers. Visual media aspects of the work include projected video of Harlem women who participated in community workshops, as well as the work of some visual artists in Harlem. The show also integrates excerpts of “Can I Get A Smile?” a one woman theater show written & performed by Leah King.

SSH: I love the integration of body, dance, and activism. What inspired your project?

SLM: I was inspired by a simultaneous creative want to make a dance about a woman’s body & sexuality, and my own daily experiences with street harassment and a need to act out against them. [In this video, she expands more on her inspiration and why she decided to address street harassment]

SSH: What kind of response are you getting to your work?

SLM: Harlem artists, businesses, organizations and people in general have been extremely receptive and supportive of this work. People have been and continue to be involved with the project in a myriad of ways. Community members have participated in workshops this past summer which took place at Grosvenor House YMCA, Barnard College at Columbia University and the Harlem School for the Arts.

Businesses such as The Body Shop in Harlem, Land Yoga and The Best Yet Market made generous donations in food & give away items to our participants. Local artists & teachers graciously volunteered their time to co-facilitate workshops.

Women continue to be involved by being a part of our online video series in which we ask them to share their story. Incredible artists including dancers, painters, and musicians have graciously shared their talent, time and energy to bring this work to fruition.

Lastly, the Barnard Center for Research on Women has become a major supporter of the work providing a home base for continued research & planning to produce a published curriculum for workshops, and dance performances.

SSH: That’s great to hear. And lastly, how can people get involved with The Window Sex Project?

SLM: There are several ways:

* Submit an online video link to you sharing your story like these.

*Submit a guest blog to sydnielmosleydances@gmail.com with the subject “Guest Blog” about your street harassment or related experiences to be posted on the website.

*Become a producer of our performance project by making a tax-deductible donation in ANY amount, and encouraging others to do the same.

*Plan to lead a community workshop in your own neighborhood in 2012. Email sydnielmosleydances@gmail.com with your interest.

*Attend a Work In Process showing and give your feed back as we develop the choreography. Help us make sure the dance speaks to you and your concerns.

If you’re in NYC on November 12: You are invited to see the first draft of the full length dance on Saturday, November 12 at 5 p.m. HOORAY! The showing will take place at Land Yoga located at 2116 Frederick Douglas Boulevard (between 114th & 115th Streets). The performance will be followed by an audience feedback session. Please attend & contribute your constructive criticism. This is a community work & I value each of your opinions.

*Spread the word! Follow @sydmosley & @SLMDances. Be friends with http://www.facebook.com/sydnielmosleydances. Use the hashtags #windowsexproject & #streetharassment.

SSH: Thank you!

Sydnie recently spoke about her work on a panel at Activism & the Academy: Celebrating 40 Years of Feminist Scholarship & Action, a conference in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Barnard Center for Research on Women.

Expanding Feminism: Collaborations for Social Justice from BCRW Videos on Vimeo.

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Filed Under: Activist Interviews Tagged With: dance, harlem, street harassment, sydnie mosley, window sex project

How to act when you see a woman dressed “sexy”

October 28, 2011 By HKearl

How to treat and respond to someone dressed “slutty,” “provocatively,” or “sexy” comes up a lot during discussions I facilitate on street harassment and sexual harassment in schools (‘Well why do girls/women dress that way if they don’t want the attention?”). I address this issue in my book and briefly on my website in the section “How to Talk to a Woman.” The bottom line is, no matter how someone dresses, treat them with respect.

Caperton at Feministe broke the issue down further in her excellent post “So There’s a Woman Dressed All Sexy-Like: Your Role as Observer“:

“There’s a lot of ongoing debate about what, exactly, a woman is looking for when she goes out dressed all sexy-like (which is itself a subjective concept). Men (and women) get ideas about exactly what that woman wants, what she welcomes, how they should behave toward her, what her all-sexy-likeness indicates. And guys, in particular, can come up with a thousand excuses for publicly ogling a woman’s goodies–They’re right there; I can’t help but look. She’s doing it for attention–she wants men to look. If she didn’t want guys to look, she shouldn’t put them out there. They’re so ubiquitous, I hardly notice them anymore, and when I do I generally dismiss them with rolled eyes and an unladylike snort.

There is one excuse that, while common, is sufficiently uncommon to draw my attention: Some girls get their feelings hurt if you don’t look/whistle/comment/shout/grope. Seriously. Seriously? Your personal approval is paramount to them, and you’re doing them a service by sexually harassing them. They pass you by at a bar, ladypillows pushed up to their chin, and when you don’t hazard a pinch they look back at you with a single, crystalline tear rolling down their cheek. Your unsolicited grunt is really your generous way of seeing to their emotional health, you saint, you. (Whether the gentleman offering this service is the same one who wanted custody of our metaphorical dog, I shall not say.)

And so I provided him a list, albeit not a universal or comprehensive one, of things to do when you see a woman dressed all sexy-like.

1. Admire, if it’s your thing. I mean, why not?

2. Don’t stare. It’s rude. And it’s not like the view is going to change from minute to minute–generally, women don’t spontaneously disrobe or hyperinflate their breasts or turn into lizard-people such that you’d miss it if you turned away. The view ten seconds now will be pretty much the same as the view you’re getting now, so it’s safe to look away.

3. Keep your commentary–and your hands–to yourself. Some women truly are into it; many aren’t. Many really aren’t. It’s best to err on the side of not offending anyone.

4. Don’t assume she’s dressing for you. Maybe she’s dressed all sexy-like for the benefit of her boyfriend/girlfriend, and they just happen to be out in public where you can observe it.

5. Don’t assume she’s dressing for you. Maybe she’s dressed all sexy-like for the guy two barstools down from you, who’s taller than you and flashed a Rolex when he reached for his drink. Or maybe it’s for the guy next to you on the other side who’s shorter than you and wearing tight jeans and hipster glasses that you think look stupid. Or maybe it’s for the woman behind the bar. She’s allowed to be picky, and she’s allowed to not pick you. The fact that you’re sitting within sight of her all-sexy-likeness doesn’t mean she’s aiming it at you–just that she’s a shotgun and you’re within the spread.

6. Don’t assume she’s dressing for you–or anyone else, for that matter. Maybe she’s dressed all sexy-like purely for herself, because she likes the way she looks. Maybe looking all sexy-like makes her feel sexy, and that gives her more confidence or a little bit of a personal thrill. And yes, maybe her look is one that is also appealing to the more prurient gaze, but there’s a difference between wanting to look sexy and wanting to actively pursue interaction of a sexual nature. She gets to do either one.

7. Don’t think she owes you anything. Dressing all sexy-like isn’t some contract with the world that a woman will respond positively to all come-ons or welcome all (or any) physical advances. Even if she is dressed all sexy-like expressly so that people will look at her, that doesn’t mean she wants anyone to touch her or even speak to her, and she gets to do that. If you insist on seeing it as a transaction, think of it this way: She gets to dress in a way that makes her feel sexy, and you get to enjoy seeing a woman who’s dressed all sexy-like.

8. Be a nice guy (or girl), not a Nice Guy™. Review #5. Maybe she’s not into short guys, or tall girls, or guys at all, or girls at all, or facial hair, or muscles, or people who open with “Hey, nice tits.” People have their reasons–and you’re eyeing the woman who’s dressed all sexy-like and not the woman in the mom jeans next to her, so it’s not like you’re one to talk. Here’s a clue: If you find yourself saying, “I’m a nice guy, but no one will sleep with me! Women are only into rich/bad/hot guys. Shallow bitches, all of them,” you’re not a nice guy. You’re a Nice Guy™, and that’s why you’re single.

Am I leaving anything out? Moreover, at what point do you know that a male friend is just plain not educable?”

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: feministe, respect, sexual harassment, street harassment

Harassment in an Italian Doctor’s Office

October 28, 2011 By Contributor

I was standing in a doctors office with my three month old baby, waiting for my husband. An older Italian man was staring at me nonstop for at least ten minutes. It made me feel uncomfortable so I looked up and blinked and looked away again. I had my daughter in a papoose. The man walked towards me, and grabbed my arm very tightly which angered me. I broke away and began yelling at him in English. People stood around and just watched as if it was nothing.

I felt like a piece of dirt and knew that had I not been a woman of color, people would have rendered assistance. I am an American woman married to an Italian. I am not in the country to freeload off of the Italians. I am a business owner, and a degreed professional in my former life. Yet, I get the impression that women of color, as well as very blond white women are associated with sexual trafficking based on color and not respected.

-Anonymous

Location: Livorno, Italy

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment

Domestic Violence and Street Harassment: Five Connections

October 27, 2011 By HKearl

Today the building where I work is flooded with purple: purple sweaters, shirts, skirts, shoes, scarfs, necklaces, umbrellas, and even wallets. It’s also over-run by cupcakes…yum.

It’s Purple Thursday in Washington, DC, an awareness day organized by the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCCADV) during national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Many of my co-workers at AAUW and I are wearing purple to show support.

The cupcakes are here because, as part of the Pixel Project’s “Paint it Purple Campaign,” I’m holding a fundraiser cupcake bake sale. All of the proceeds of my home-made cupcakes will go to DCCADV and Pixel Project. As the day comes to a close, I’ve sold 47 cupcakes (and counting) to the generous folks who work in my building.

I’m participating in Purple Thursday and hosting a bake sale because I believe no one should be unsafe at home or in trusted relationships, and certainly not one in four women. I’m participating in Purple Thursday because I have a personal connection to the issue of domestic violence through family members and friends who’ve survived such relationships. I’m participating because I spent four years volunteering at domestic violence shelters in high school and college.

I’m also participating, and blogging here, because of the very real connections that domestic violence has to street harassment*.  Here are five of them

1. Combined, they ensure that everywhere unsafe:

Too often people who do not “get” street harassment say, “Well if you don’t want to deal with street harassers, then stay home.” Most famously this year, a 71-year-old male mayor in a province in Turkey said, “Do not walk around, sit in your homes,” when women talked to him about the problem of street harassment.

Sadly, given how few alternatives there are for dealing with street harassers, many women occasionally do “choose” to stay home to avoid harassers and to feel safe. In a 1993 Harvard Law Review article, Cynthia Grant Bowman wrote that street harassment creates an “informal ghettoization of women…to the private sphere of hearth and home.”

Nearly 20 years later, that term rings true. “Choosing” to stay home in order to avoid harassment or worse on the streets is a human rights issue. Having to make this “choice” also begs the question, “What do you do when your home isn’t safe either?”

Getting back to the Turkish mayor, not only was his “advice” to stay home impractical and it put the onus on women to be safe instead of on men to stop harassing them, but it was also ironic. His town has a 70 percent rate of domestic violence and the women he advised to stay home were employees at a domestic violence shelter! They of all people know that a woman’s home is not always safe and they know that in their town, it’s not safe for 70 percent of women.

While other places have lower rates of domestic violence, telling someone to stay home to avoid street harassment is not a realistic or desirable solution and it can put them in more danger. For some women, the combination of street harassment and domestic violence means that nowhere is safe.

2. The same individuals may perpetrate both:

Just last week, police arrested Jesse Perez Torres in connection with the murder of a 17-year-old who was attacked in broad daylight when she was walking home from high school. He has an alleged history of domestic violence. Five months before the murder, Torres allegedly assaulted his wife and threatened to kill her.

If someone has no qualms about harassing, groping, stalking or assaulting (or, in the case of Torres, murdering) a stranger on the streets, they may not be very respectful at home either. And vice versa. If you hurt your loved ones, it may not be a stretch to think you’d hurt a stranger on the street, especially if you think you can get away with it, just as most street harassers and rapists do. As a result, working to prevent domestic violence can help prevent street harassment and vice versa.

3. Neither are viewed as serious problems:

For far too long, domestic violence was an issue people did not talk about. It was a private matter that you ignored if you knew it was happening to someone else and you didn’t talk about it to others if it was happening to you. The rise of the “battered women’s movement” changed that a lot, but today, the issue is still not given the gravity it deserves.

Did you know that funding to domestic violence shelters is often one of the first things cut or reduced in city or state budgets? When domestic violence isn’t viewed as a serious problem, shelters can seem unnecessary or “extra” instead of lifelines and beacons of hope. Earlier this month, the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, repealed the city’s domestic abuse law to cut costs so the city wouldn’t have to pay for prosecuting domestic violence cases.

From CBS: “Topeka has had at least 35 reported incidents of domestic battery or assault since early September. Those cases are not being pursued, and as of last Friday, 18 people jailed have been released without facing charges, according to Topeka police.”

Unbelievable and unacceptable.

Related, street harassment is rarely treated as a serious problem. Sexual comments, stalking and even groping are construed as a compliment, no big deal, and something to get a “tough skin” about. When street harassment escalates to sexual assault or murder, it usually is acknowledged, but only as an isolated incident instead of as something that’s part of a larger problem.  In the US, there have been no large-scale studies on the topic, no major public service announcement campaigns, and almost no acknowledgment from leaders and stakeholders that it’s a problem. This needs to change.

4. People who share their stories of domestic violence or street harassment are often blamed:

“Why didn’t she leave?” and “What must she have done to make him treat her that way?” are common questions people ask when they hear about domestic violence. Many people asked them in 2009 when it surfaced that singer Chris Brown beat his then girlfriend Rihanna.

“Why did you go to that part of town alone?” or “Why did you wear that outfit?” are common questions people ask when someone shares a street harassment story.

These questions put the blame on the survivor of domestic violence and street harassment, not on the perpetrator. Such questions allow the violence and harassment to continue and they create an environment where people who speak out aren’t taken seriously because it’s assumed they must be partly to blame for what happened. The blame game must end before more survivors feel like they can come forward and before all perpetrators are held accountable for their actions.

5. Bystanders can make a difference:

Let’s end on a good note. Bystanders can make a big difference in ending the social acceptability of domestic violence and street harassment by speaking out and they can make a difference in ending specific incidents of each behavior by creating an interruption.

A bystander campaign I really like in India focused on domestic violence is called Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell), which is a campaign that asks people to interrupt violence when they hear it by ringing the doorbell of the house. They recommend saying something like, “can I borrow a cup of sugar” or simply ringing the bell and leaving and then calling the police if the abuse continues. To advertise the campaign, they have video PSAs and a video van that has reached 5.5 million people thus far. Innovative and interactive, the van builds audience-participation through games, street theater, audio-visual tools and quizzes. The campaign just won the World Summit Youth Award in September.

In the USA, the University of New Hampshire and Men Can Stop Rape each have bystander campaigns aimed at college students that center on how bystanders can prevent and stop sexual assault and rape, and each campaign also addresses street harassment. They provide interested people with all of the components necessary to create a campus-wide campaign. If you’re on a college campus, I encourage you to check them out.

As Purple Thursday draws to a close, remember, you can make a difference in ending domestic violence and in ending street harassment by being an active bystander. You can believe, support, and not blame people who talk to you about domestic violence and street harassment. You can speak out against perpetrators of those behaviors. You can think of creative ways to interrupt and intervene when you know domestic violence or street harassment is happening, such as asking for a cup of sugar, asking for the time, or simply asking the abused or harassed person if they’re okay.  You can make a difference.

*Men face domestic violence and street harassment too, but the connections between domestic violence and street harassment are most clear when women are the survivors and men the perpetrators and that is the focus of this post.

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Filed Under: News stories, street harassment Tagged With: bell bajao, bystander, DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, domestic violence, men can stop rape, pixel project, ring the bell

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