Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for 2011

Male Allies, Take Note

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My fiancé brought an article to my attention this weekend in The Guardian that should make male allies take pause. It describes the current legal action being taken against the London School of Economics (LSE). The suit is being filed by a former student who claims that the master’s program he was in at the LSE’s Gender Institute was “sexist” by not emphasizing the male perspective. As the author of the Guardian article points out, gender studies discipline allows people from across the spectrum to share their ideas and views in an accepting, supportive environment.

A post written by The F Word, a UK-based feminist blog, debunks the claim to sexism by outlining the important role that Women’s and Gender Studies programs have played in the lives of women and LGBTQ folks. In a male-dominated academic landscape, women needed a safe and open space to express their views.

At first glance, this suit just tells another story of radical feminists hatching an anti-male agenda behind the halls of academia and stuffing it down the throats of innocent men. There is a wider and more sinister angle to this story, however. This reaction to women’s spaces as being “anti-male” is symptomatic of a worldview that places heterosexual male perspective as the only valid viewpoint.

Misogynistic practices that dominate both space and discourse, such as street harassment and traditional academic disciplines, are only possible within a society that views men as being more acceptable than women. Women are essentially “renting” space in the park or on the sidewalk in the same sense as they are still renting space in intellectual life. The “landlords” are free to impose the rules and fines.

Male allies can play a role in changing this paradigm. By working to end violation of women’s spaces, we are affirming the validity of those spaces. Our primary goal should be a pluralistic society in which everyone’s space and view is included.

– Sean Crosbie

This post is part of the weekly blog series by male allies. We need men involved in the work to end the social acceptability of street harassment and to stop the practice, period. If you’d like to contribute to this weekly series, please contact me.

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Biden is right! 1 is 2 many

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On the 17th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, VP Joe Biden (a co-author of the law) announced a new white house initiative called “1 is 2 Many” that focuses on ending violence against teens and young women ages 16-24 because they are the most vulnerable to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and dating violence.

I applaud these efforts and love the campaign name. One assault IS too many. It is unacceptable that anyone should perpetrate such hate and harm. We are a culture and country that prides itself on freedom, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness, but when most girls face harassment and assault simply because they are female, where is their freedom, their liberty, their justice when they report it? How they can fully pursue happiness?

They cannot.

Our country will never be great until teens and young women stop facing sexual harassment and assault everywhere they go:

*from sexual harassment in schools (more than 8 in 10)
*and sexual assault in college (1 in 5)
* to harassment on the streets (nearly 90% of women face this by age 19)
* and in dating relationships (1 in 10).

    Most alarmingly, too many teens also experience the worst betrayal of trust: incest and abuse within their own homes, something I heard about all too often during my 2.5 years as an online hotline counselor for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

    These are very depressing statistics, especially considering the efforts of many organizations, people, and pieces of government legislation aimed at ending the violence.

    Focusing on prevention is still relatively new and I really appreciate that the white house campaign is focusing on prevention in their campaign. That is the only thing that will create sustainable change. The campaign page states:

    “By targeting the importance of changing attitudes that lead to violence and educating the public on the realities of abuse, the Vice President is leading the way in an effort to stop violence against women before it begins.”

    To start, they are soliciting ideas. They say:

    “As teens and young women across the country head back to school this month, tell us how you think we can make campuses safer for all students and share your ideas for preventing dating violence and sexual assault. From September 13th – the 17th anniversary of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act – to September 27th, use the form to submit your ideas, or use the hashtag #1is2many to share on Twitter.”

    So, share YOUR voice and ideas with the white house. Let us brainstorm and work together to figure out how we can make our society one where girls and women truly can be free and fully pursue happiness.

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    “I hope he finds what he’s looking for”

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    Mid-afternoon, I was walking alone down the street, when a man approached me from behind and told me I had a nice ass and asked if I knew where he could get a blow job, and offered me a hundred dollars. I ignored him for a minute until I could tell it wasn’t getting rid of him, so I told him, no, I didn’t know where he could get a blow job. He gave me another line that I don’t remember and disappeared.

    I called a male friend of mine and told him what had happened. His only response was, “I hope he finds what he’s looking for.”

    I then called a female friend of mine who immediately asked where I was, if I was some place safe and if I needed a ride. I told her, thanks, I was fine.

    – Anonymous

    Location: None listed

    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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    Impact of 9/11: “You look like Bin Laden’s sister”

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    Like most Americans, today I am remembering the terrorist attacks that occurred ten years ago. It’s a day that must be so painfully difficult for everyone who lost loved ones and I can’t even fathom how hard the last 10 years have been for them. No one should have to live through so much pain and sorrow.

    During my reflection I’ve thought a lot about the impact of the 9/11 attacks. As we keep hearing over and over in the news, our country and our lives were forever altered, from the way we go through airports to the way we perceive our own security and sense of nationhood.

    A few days ago when I was watching a powerful video clip featuring Linda Sarsour, director of the Arab American Association of New York, a few of her comments alluded to the impact 9/11 has had on the types of street harassment Muslim and Arab women face. It reminded me about some of the stories I’ve heard over the years.

    Before 9/11, women who previously could wear a hijiab in public without facing harassment suddenly were told things like, “Go back to your country, stupid bitch,” by people they didn’t know on the streets. It didn’t matter to the harassers that there are plenty of “home grown” terrorists or that 99.9% of the population in every country around the world are not terrorists; they used 9/11 as an excuse and an opportunity to harass certain people, to engage in racial profiling. That is not okay.

    One woman who shared a story for my Stop Street Harassment book said:

    “As a Muslim woman who wears hijab (the headscarf and modest clothing), most of the feelings I have are due to religious discrimination and anti-immigrant sentiments. (Even though I am not an immigrant). I am constantly worried about being attacked verbally or physically because it has happened to friends of mine.”

    And many women who do not wear hijabs but who simply have heritage in countries in the Middle East faced a different kind of street harassment after 9/11, too. I will always remember a story a woman shared during a workshop I attended at a Street Harassment Summit in New York City in 2007. She said:

    “Street harassment is a huge part of my day and it makes me very angry and I think it’s always tied in with my racial identity. The worst thing that happened to me lately was I was on my way to work at a new job and I was very happy, and this guy said something to me and I kept walking and he came up around me in my face and said, ‘You look just like Bin Laden’s sister.’

    My mouth was closed, and I was like, why aren’t I responding?  He continued to scream at me and I kept walking, and he said, ‘You should get home, women like you don’t work.  Don’t your men keep you locked up?  Oh that’s right; your men aren’t real men.  I’ll show you what a real man is.’

    And he proceeded to tell me the actions that real men do to their women.  People on the street were stopped and were staring at me but no one said anything.”

    She was visibly upset and shaken when she relayed this horrifying incident. It had layer upon layer of offensiveness and hate. Given the hostility that some Americans willfully feel toward people they perceive to be potential terrorists, these kinds of street harassment incidents can be very frightening.

    So, today, as we honor and remember all of those whose lives were lost, let us also vow to make sure our country becomes free from harassment, hate, racial profiling, and hostility for everyone. Call out people who harass others, show that it’s unacceptable. Help out people facing harassment. Every person should be able to feel safe and un-harassed in public, hijab or no hijab, dark skin or light skin, gay or straight. That’s how America should be.

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