Azerbaijan Video: “Hey man, be a gentleman!”

It’s always heartening to hear about male allies who are speaking out and organizing against street harassment all over the world. One of them is Jake Winn, a Peace Corps volunteer and a youth development facilitator in northern Azerbaijan, on the Russian and Georgian borders. He is also a member of Peace Corps Azerbaijan’s WID/GAD (Women in Development/Gender and Development) executive committee.

He wrote me this morning saying,

“Inspired by your ‘Shit Men Say to Men Who Say Shit to Women on the Street,’ some of my male students made their own Anti-Street Harassment video. The title, “Ay Gardash! Kishi Ol!”, can be translated to, ‘Hey man, be a gentleman!” We now plan on distributing the video throughout the country, along with a lesson plan and discussion questions for other volunteers to use with their own students.

Street Harassment is quite a serious problem in Azerbaijan, as well. Hopefully, this video will have a positive impact on many Azerbaijani communities.”

I will post English subtitles soon.

WAY TO GO Jake and the youth you’re working with!! I hope your video and lesson plan has an impact in Azerbaijan and inspires similar efforts by male allies in other countries. Keep us updated!

I also want to give a big shout-out to Bix Gabriel, Joe Samalin, and everyone they worked with to produce the original “Shit Men Say to Men Who Say Shit to Women on the Street” video. Not only has their video brought a lot of attention to the problem of street harassment and how men can be involved in ending it, but it’s inspired at least three videos – the Azerbaijani video and videos produced in San Jose, CA, and Cairo, Egypt.

Thanks to the Internet, you never know who will see your work and be inspired to take action, too 🙂