Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for 2011

Lara Logan and Egypt’s Next Revolution

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Building on my blog post from last night, I wrote an article for Ms magazine about the attack on Lara Logan and how Egypt’s next revolution should be to address street harassment and public sexual assault!

An excerpt:

As disappointing as it is to see that street harassment is back—and even more devastating, to know through Logan’s story that so is public sexual assault—I see a glimmer of hope.

The people of Egypt, including women, know their power. I hope their next revolution will be to end gender-based harassment and assault. And I know that many there hope for the same.

After the Logan news broke, these were some of the Tweets I read:

This morning Mohamed Safi created a Change.org petition asking Egyptians to resist sexual harassment. Ending gender-based harassment and assault is the kind of revolution that every country needs.

You can also read similar cries for a revolution to end street harassment and assault in Egypt at CNN.com and The Daily Beast.

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Making harasser think about his mother or sister leads to an apology!

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I was walking home–it was dark–and this car is slowly creeping behind me. Guy lowers his passenger door window and asked if he could “hollar” at me for a minute. I was scared, but I stopped and went OFF!

I asked him how would he like it if his mother or sister were walking and some random stranger came creeping up behind them.

I ended up getting an apology. 🙂

– rdh

Location: Nashville, TN

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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The Catcaller Form

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Here’s a handy form you can print and use next time someone harasses you! It comes from The Riot’s Great Big Patriarchy-Smashing Activity Book! by way of The Riot.If you’ve come across other creative ways for dealing with or address street harassment, let me know and I’ll feature it on my blog (and possibly in the PPT for my street harassment talks)

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Street harassment in Egypt and Lara Logan

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Image from CBS, taken moments before the Feb. 11 attack

Like many major cities around the world, there are high rates of gender-based street harassment against women in Cairo. A 2008 report by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights found that 83 percent of Egyptian women experienced it and 98 percent of foreign women.

During the weeks of protests against Hosni Mubarak’s regime, I observed conversations on twitter and among my Egyptian Facebook friends that public sexual harassment was pretty much gone. Everyone was banding together. A miracle? Was Egypt cured of this global problem? But then once Mubarak stepped down, I started seeing comments about sexual harassment again.

Most notably, tonight, I read about how a mob of men harassed and then sexually assaulted CBS journalist Lara Logan last Friday, as she went through the crowds with her team to do her job, report on what was happening. A group of women and soldiers rescued her and she flew back to the United States on Saturday. She was then hospitalized due to her injuries.

The amazing journalist Mona Eltaahawy is tracking what people are saying about the attack on Logan, including in the context of harassment in Egypt: http://twitter.com/monaeltahawy

At this point, many of us are waiting for more news about who the attackers may have been and I know there is great hope that they were outlier “thugs” and not members of the peaceful revolution. But, given that the number of Egyptian men who openly admit to harassing women (more than 60 percent) and the repeat occurrence of mass harassment and sexual attacks on women during Eid, it’s hard to say.

What we can say, is no matter who did it, sexual harassment and assault is terrible and should never occur. It not only negatively impacts the survivor but can also make all women who hear about it feel less safe as women in public places. Logan is brave for sharing what happened, especially given the victim-blaming directed at her (“what did she expect to happen” and comments about her looks), and I hope her attackers are brought to justice.

Update (2/16): Here are three articles about how ending gender-based violence needs to be the next revolution in Egypt! The first is by me, for Ms magazine and the other two are on CNN.com and The Daily Beast.

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“He kept following me in his car…trying to get me in his car despite me refusing”

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I was walking home from the store and I heard car honks. My mind didn’t automatically think the honking was toward me. It blared again and I turned around to see a guy in a car following me.

He yelled out, asking me for my address and if he can take me home. I told him politely I don’t give my address to strangers and I’m not comfortable getting into strangers’ cars.

He then yelled his name at me and said he’s not trying to find out where I live. Um, ok.

I had to go into a store because he kept following me in his car for at least three blocks, trying to get me in his car despite me refusing.

– Anonymous

Location: Chicago, IL

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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