Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for August 2012

“We don’t owe anything to these strange men”

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I was walking home from school and a car followed alongside me for about 10 minutes, constantly asking me if I wanted a ride several times. The last time he asked I looked him in the eye and said, “You’re obviously not going any faster than I am, so why would I want a ride?” He sped away.

Another time I was walking the same route and a man sitting on a bench asked me to come over and talk to him. I ignored him and kept walking. He shouted at me, “You’re not pretty enough to ignore me.”

The worst story I have was the time my female roommate and I met up with a boy in a public place to sell him her bike. He gave us cash, we gave him the bike, and we went our separate ways. As we were heading home, a man who had been sitting nearby asked my roommate how much money she got from the sale. She told him that it wasn’t any of his business and we continued walking home. He ran into his car and started driving alongside us, screaming profanities at us, namely calling us cunts. When it came time for us to cross the street, he attempted to run us over. We jumped out of the way and he sped off. I wasn’t able to remember his plates.

All three of these events left me shaken up and angry. We don’t owe anything to these strange men and I don’t know where they get the idea that we do.

– Jackie

Location: Savannah, GA

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Street harassment, water balloon fights & anime conventions

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I’ve known Shawna Potter, Director of Hollaback Bmore (and the frontwoman for the band War on Women) for a year and a half, and I’m always impressed by the creative ways she brings attention to street harassment!  Here are just two recent examples. 

Two weeks ago, she talked about street harassment with the girls from St. Francis Community Center and helped them relieve their frustration with street harassers with….a water balloon fight!

Then, last week, she led a group of activists in an outreach effort at the harbor during Otakon, a fan convention for East Asian popular culture (“anime”). Otakon occurs in Baltimore every summer.

The Indypendent Reader published an article about what happened:

“As one of the largest anime conventions, the city fills with costumed attendees –each one personifying their favorite anime (or other East Asian icon) character. For many, it is a delightful and fantastic sight and experience to behold.

Wanting to make the most of this highly populated opportunity, the activists trekked over to the Convention Center for some direct feminist outreach.The group set-up shop on the corner by the front doors. Stuffing their pockets with “Hollaback! Bmore” buttons, for an hour the predominantly female organizers confidently approached the hundreds of Otakon attendees streaming in-and-out of the Center.

Potter began the outreach. Grabbing a stack of papers, where people could share their harassment stories, she walked up to a costumed group of presumably  female-bodied individuals and said, “We’re documenting women’s and LGBTQ folks’ stories of street harassment. Has this ever happened to you?”

Soon the other activists were following her lead, passing out flyers, buttons, engaging in candid discussion on street harassment, and documenting written and video stories.

Brooks, the only male-bodied Hollaback! activist present, observed, “It’s interesting to do direct outreach at an event like this. When they see us, they think we’re part of the convention. Then when they start talking to us, you can see the realization that what we’re talking about is really very serious. And most of them, are expecting attention due to their costumes. So you can see the exact shift towards thinking about how attention can be incredibly unwanted.”

Many of the attendees were teenagers or of college age, experiencing street harassment in its first confusing waves. Some expressed the “behavior” as “annoying” but “harmless”; one young woman even stated the all-too-common conception that the “behavior” was complimentary. This is an idea that Hollaback! actively works to combat; aiming to expose women to the truth that they do not need to find their worth as sexual beings and people in this world from this form of the objectifying male conduct — that when they allow objectification they allow the oppression of their identities.Others stated that they were from small towns and didn’t recognize what was being discussed. It should be noted that much street harassment research conveys that it is prevalent regardless of location, whether urban, suburban, or rural. However, more data is needed; hence the need for more Hollaback! geo-tracking.

This being stated, many also engaged excitedly about the topic. They discussed their street harassment stories, filled up our pads of paper, and went on camera to tell their tales.

Some didn’t want to share their stories but vocalized their support for the movement. One young woman became emotional when an activist approached her, stating that she had been “jumped” just the previous night. The activist strongly encouraged her to seek support through a variety of means..

Next Steps

As the flyer collection diminished and handfuls upon handfuls of buttons were dispersed,the activists excitedly gathered to discuss their work. Immediately palpable was the organizers thrill to have interacted so intimately with so many about street harassment.

“We’re definitely going to do this more often,” reflected Potter.“So much of this movement is about education. This is a  simple yet obviously effective way to publicly discuss and bring awareness to such an often invisible issue.”

Great work!!

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“This man gets out the car and starts following me”

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It was around 10 p.m. and I was walking home from a friend’s house. My friend lived a little less than a mile away from me. Walking past a bodega, a tall man spoke and immediately asked for my number. I replied, “No thank you” and I kept walking.

About five blocks later, this same man pulls up in a car. A woman was driving. the man motioned me to come closer to the car, kind of like a, “Hey come over here” wave. Frustrated, I told him to fuck off.

Next thing I know, this man gets out the car and starts following me. It was the weirdest thing. Once I started walking faster, he started running towards me. Then I took off running. The man chased me and I finally got to the main street (at the time I lived right on 7th Ave) and didn’t see him behind me.

Once I put my key in the door, I looked over my shoulder and saw him in the car pointing at me and they drove off. what the fuck was that? I’m still confused about the whole thing. It happened 3 years ago. What was this man trying to do? Was he trying to heal a bruised ego by harassing someone who turned him down? How could a woman take place in the harassment?

What hurt the most was when I called two of my closest friends (roommates who are both male) to come by and just hang with me until I felt safe and they chose to stay at some party. Was I wrong to think that I needed a trustworthy man around to help the situation? Or is it wrong for men and women alike to think that the only time a woman is in danger is AFTER she’s been physically violated? I guess it’s wrong for both.

– Anonymous

Location: Harlem, NY

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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Full Video: Street Harassment in Brussels

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Belgian Sofie Peeters created a documentary about street harassment in Brussels for her school project and it is generating a lot of online conversations and articles. One point of contention is how she says immigrant men are the main people who harass her  (perhaps because it’s a high immigrant area?).

What’s fantastic is how the film seems to be prompting substantial offline action. Hollaback Brussels told me that soon, “in Mechelen [near Brussels] there will be undercover cops handing out fines to harassers.”

I also read that, “A new law is due to come to force this fall in Belgium which will fight street harassment. Victims of leering, honking or whistling and sexual harassment, will have to report a violation so the police can investigate.” I’m researching this law, so stay tuned for more information.

MRC TV posted a video segment that includes an interview with Peeters and her whole video (up to this point, only a two minute preview has been available online). There are English subtitles.

What do you think?

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“Such a public endorsement of street harassment is sickening to me”

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Although I certainly have direct experiences with street harassment, this story is a little different — but still very upsetting. Last night, an acquaintance/former classmate posted this status on Facebook: “Ladies: I honked because you’re hot, no need to flip me off.” In the few minutes between reading this and deleting this person, it had already accumulated 12 “likes”, from both men and women. Perhaps the most bewildering part of this is that the status was actually posted by a woman.

Regardless of the sex of the poster, however, such a public endorsement of street harassment is sickening to me. The worst part is that all of those people “liking” and commenting on the status about how “funny” it is most likely don’t even know that what they’re making jokes about and encouraging is a very real problem; a problem that is part of the even bigger issue of how women are seen and treated all over the world. It’s beyond sad to know we can barely walk down the street without being honked at, catcalled, or followed. It’s terrible that we’re expected to take it as a compliment. Even worse, it’s such a common part of society that many women can’t even see what’s happening.

– Anonymous

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