Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for November 2011

“Asking for it” – new PSA by Temple University sophmore

By

Read the background story from PSA creator Kara Lieff:

‘Asking For It’ was made for those who believe that there is a definitive connection between a woman’s clothing choice and her sexual availability. Many people think that women who dress a certain way are asking to be, or wouldn’t mind being, bothered, but this satirical take on street harassment shows that what a women really wants does not coincide with her attire.

This video was created for a class, and the assignment was to make a video that would get viewers to accomplish a certain action. I knew that I wanted my video to be a conversation starter – for my viewers to discuss street harassment, their experiences, why it happens, who is to blame, and what can be done to combat this problem. By featuring college-aged adults, I especially hope to reach out to my peers early on.

My sister Megan not only helped me develop this project, but over the years she has been a huge influence in my life, helping to develop my ideas about women’s rights, safety, and representation. Through her, I have learned that we need to focus on the source of the problem, not placing blame on the victim.

Just the other night while waiting for a few friends outside, two men decided that because I was wearing a short dress and tights, it would be appropriate to call out to me. As, unfortunately, I’m sure many of you reading this know, it’s not a good feeling when you walk down the street from where you live and are made uncomfortable for simply being there. Street harassment is a huge problem, and any method used – whether it be talking back, writing, art, or videos – to fight back is a step in the right direction.

Kara Lieff is a sophomore studying Film & Media Arts and Women’s Studies at Temple University. She loves to bicycle around Philadelphia, cook with friends, and watch TV and movies, while (somewhat successfully) making enough time for schoolwork, her job, and clubs. She hopes to one day have a career dedicated to creating and maintaining positive messages and visibility for women in media.

Share

Street Harassment Stories, Articles & Tweets: November 6, 2011

By

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

** Sign up to receive a monthly e-newsletter from Stop Street Harassment ***

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

Many of the Hollaback sites

New Activism:

* Brooklyn Bike Patrol (NYC, USA): “Call us @ 718-744-7592 we escort women from subway stations to their homes safely in the late evenings hours.”

* Zero Tolerance Campaign (Mumbai, India): “Every woman in Mumbai, be it our mother, sister or friend has been groped or touched inappropriately at some point of time…As a campaign we have three major goals: 1) Spread awareness especially amongst the youth, that Sexual Harassment is just not acceptable and we need to be ZERO TOLERANT, be it victims or onlooker; 2) Empower women through imparting information about their rights and the existing laws to book the culprit and combat the menace; 3) Petition Shri. RR Patil through a signature campaign both online and offline. To strengthen sections 354 and 506, make them non bail-able, a move that is under consideration by the government but has not been implemented.

* maps4aid – Fighting Violence Against Women In India (India): An Innovative way to report incidents of Violence against Women, NGO Activities, Crisis Situations through Web/SMS/PhoneApps! using the famous Ushahidi platform and integrated with FrontlineSMS

In the News, on the Blogs:

* Bikya Masr, “Harassmap launches new anti-harassment campaign, as its services are requested globally“

* Yale Daily News, “BELDING: People are subjects, not objects“

* CBS New York, “‘Occupy Wall Street’ Sets Up ‘Women Only’ Tent After Sexual Violence In Zuccotti Park“

* Safe Streets AZ, “Harassment-free Halloween?“

* The ArtBlog, “Hannah Price on photographing men on the streets in Philadelphia – a new podcast“

* Gawker, “Your New Subway Hero: The Groper Smacker‘” and The Frisky, “The Woman Who Beat Up Her Subway Groper Gets Animation Treatment“

* The Times of India, “Eve-teasing double-murder: Amboli girls to cite sexual harassment, says main complainant“

* Sian and Crooked Rib, “Comment on the New Statesman“

* BBC, “Mumbai murders fuel India ‘Eve teasing’ anger,” and IBN Live, “Eve teasing: Justice for Keenan and Reuben“

* Greater Kashmir, “World is Not Just Men“

* The Times of India, “Women’s commission chief seeks arrest of college girl’s murderer“

Announcements:

New:

* Sign the Zero Tolerance Campaign’s petition calling for stronger enforcement of laws banning street sexual harassment in India.

* Contact the California sandwich chain Togo’s and tell them that trivializing street harassment in their television ad is NOT okay.

* Street harassment is not okay: Watch a new 2 minutes cartoon about street harassment

Reminders:

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

* 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!

* 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. louisethewheeze It is not a compliment to stare and purse ones lips at a lady. makes me wonder how good of a billy club my umbrella is. #streetharassment

2. aliciasanchez wish black men would understand it’s not personal when black women don’t always want to engage with them in public spaces+

3. EVAWhd @RichardJGarside home ok thnx. Regular occurrence for all no doubt & been talking re tackling street harassment today so got me thinking x

4. sydmosley Just gave a guest lecture at John Jay College on #windowsexproject & #streetharassment. It was AMAZING.

5. Monabdelaziz Is sexual tension higher closer to Eid? The harrassment is getting way out of line these days. #EndSH

6. MaiiNewaishy It just feels so good insulting every son of a bitch that calls out something at me on the street. #endSH #Egypt

7. EndStHarassment While crossing the street some dudes yelled ‘yeah baby’ from their car at me. Made me nervous & wish I was not outside. #endstreetharassment

8. acu_margarita I am reminded of the vital importance for women to stand up to #streetharassment, a daily experience for many of us.

9. maps4aid “I ignored him and continued walking but he caught hold of my hand and slapped me four times” – Victim of #StreetHarassment #vaw #India

10. thetrudz I’m 32. By age 25ish all women have heard all pick up lines, attempts to flatter, and street harassment spiels. Now they just repeat. Yawn.

Share

“I yelled that he just groped me. I literally started punching him in the head”

By

Via NY Post -- Shyane DeJesus

22-year old college student Shyane DeJesus attacked, berated, and snapped a cell phone picture of a man who groped her on a subway platform in New York City.

From the New York Post:

“DeJesus, who lives in Queens, was headed to work at a shoe store at 9:50 a.m. Oct. 23 when the drama unfolded as she stood on the platform and leaned over the tracks to see if a train was coming.

That’s when she noticed a man sneaking up alongside her.

Before DeJesus could step away, the deviant began rubbing against her thigh.

“It was disgusting,” she said. “I felt so violated.”

When the downtown No. 6 train arrived, the man “grabbed my right shoulder and pushed my head down and lifted my skirt up and groped me,” DeJesus said.

Via NYPost -- Report this man if you see him!

She began fighting back, and the cowardly creep ran onto the train.

“He went on the train and sat down as if nothing happened. I was hysterical. I yelled that he just groped me. I literally started punching him in the head,” she said.

No one came to her aid.

DeJesus got in a few more knocks on her attacker, and, as the train pulled in to the next station, took her phone out of her bag.

“I held the door and positioned the phone in his face. I was shaking, I’m surprised I got it,” she said.

“He smirked when I looked at him. He never said a word, not a word. All I got was that smirk.”

DeJesus then got off the train and ran to her job, where she called police.

Cops are still searching for the man.”

While I don’t condone violence, I sympathize with her actions. When man after man gets away with sexually harassing, stalking, groping, and assaulting women on the streets, subway platforms, buses, and stores of our country, and when bystanders stand by and let it happen, there comes a breaking point. Maybe after getting kicked and yelled at by a person he thought he could easily grope, this perpetrator won’t be so quick to grope someone else. Especially if the police catch him. Good for DeJesus.

DeJesus is not the only New York City woman to have this type of reaction to groping. In the past year, we’ve heard from Nicola Briggs who was videotaped yelling down the man who rubbed against her and flashed her on the subway (he was later arrested and deported), Kate Spencer who hit the man who groped her on a subway platform, and Robyn Shepherd who chased down a man who smacked her butt as she walked down the street.

Street harassers, beware: more and more women are fighting back and not just figuratively and not just online, but actually, physically fighting back. So stop harassing us. We don’t like it, no one does. If you continue to harass us, you may just find out how much we don’t like it when you get a slap to the face or a kick to the groin. I don’t like violence, I don’t like harassment. Stop the harassment, there will be no violence.

And bystanders: do something if you see another person facing harassment! Ask them if they’re okay if you’re not sure if they’re being harassed or not. Just do something! Standing idly by is not acceptable.

Share

Togo’s Restaurant Trivializes Street Harassment

By

Togo’s fast food chain has launched a new television ad, a cartoon animation featuring a sandwich that flashes two women. The women look horrified initially, and then start laughing, purportedly at the small size of the sandwich’s contents. The voice over says, “Don’t settle for puny…” and then goes on to tout their new sandwich.

“The commercial takes an edgy approach to comparing the short comings of a Breadwich to Togo’s big and meaty sandwiches,” said Renae Scott, Togo’s VP of marketing.

However, this so-called “edgy” approach is not innocuous – it trivializes the fear women feel from street harassment, including flashers (exhibitionists). Thirty percent of exhibitionists also commit acts of direct sexual violence against women. While the clay women in the commercial laughed it off, making this a humorous subject wears down many real women’s ability to object, resist, and to stand up to this form of sexual harassment.

Let Togo’s know that you object to this ad!

Visit  Togo’s website to write and send an email through their online form. You can also call: (866) 708-6467. If more contact information becomes available, this will be updated.

This guest blog post is by Wendy Stock, Ph.D., a feminist psychologist in independent practice in Berkeley, CA.  She specializes in treating sexual problems, Internet and pornography addiction, relationship issues, and PTSD resulting from physical and sexual trauma.

[Editor’s Note: This ad also hurts men because of the way it suggests that some men, or sandwiches in this case, are too puny to be desirable. That’s not ok.]

Share

Reporting a flasher felt empowering!

By

I was walking home from a friend’s house and a guy began yelling abuse at me. I just tried to ignore it and carried on, he then followed me and yelled, “Excuse me!?”

Stupidly I turned around and the guy flashed me. I was so scared at this point, so I just carried on walking quite quickly to get to my house.

Later on in the day I met a friend of mine and we went to the police station to report it. I thought my area of town was pretty safe but it can happen anywhere I guess. Felt empowering to report it!

– JL

Location: Basildon, Essex, UK

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.

Share