Archives for November 2012

No driver’s license or passport for street harassers in Madhya Pradesh, India

November 26, 2012 By HKearl

This is an interesting approach to punishing and trying to prevent street harassment!

“The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has announced that anyone indulged in eve-teasing will be denied passport, driving license and other government facilities.

“Those found involved in eve-teasing would not be given driving licence, passport and character certificate,” said Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chief Minister of Central India’s largest state, Madhya Pradesh.

Chauhan was demonstrating the state’s resolve to combat eve-teasing, an euphemism for sexual bullying or harassment on the streets directed at young women.

Eve teasing in a crime according to India’s criminal laws, but people are hesitant to take the matter to the police, especially due to the social repercussions and also the fact that bullies usually get away with the offence.

He added that a database of eve-teasers and those indulging in similar offences would be prepared and appropriate action would be taken against them.

“A toll free telephone number for registering complaints about eve-teasing and misbehaviour would also become operational soon,” the Chief Minister announced.

As of now, this announcement awaits implementation but first step will be setting up of a toll free number where women or girls can register their complaints.”

Thoughts?

HappyRat’s HarassMap

November 26, 2012 By Contributor

Editor’s Note: HappRat recently started posting her street harassment experiences on a map to show all of the places and times she’s harassed. This is why she decided to do so —

View HappyRat HarassMap 2012 in a larger map

I decided to make the HappyRat HarassMap because, quite plainly, people are visual animals. For some reason just reading the the constant flood of individual stories about street harassment still leaves people the ability to dismiss each one as just another isolated, extreme incident. that isn’t in their world. Many people are just desensitized to the stories, or think it happens elsewhere (as in, “This is modern America, it can’t happen here,”), or believe isn’t a real problem (read: “You’re just being too sensitive,”), or suspect it’s really the fault of the person who gets harassed (aka, “What were you wearing?”).

There are a lot of directions we can take to address the issue of street harassment, but I wanted to show the geographical patterns in the areas where I personally have the most problems so people can see that it is indeed a real problem. In one sense the dismissers are right – while this does happen in all parts of America (and the world) the frequency does have to do with the area you’re in, and that can tie into a lot of cultural factors that can and should be addressed to make the streets there safer for every person.

If the neighborhoods that have the most problems can see a visual map of what is happening in their community, on their streets and on their block where their little girls are growing up, maybe they can work together to do something about it. Maybe businesses there will realize that there is a reason women aren’t shopping at their stores and be motivated to get involved. Who knows what the knowledge could do for the community. I’d like to find out.

I also want to point out these are only the experiences of one person. Just me. I am one of thousands of women who live in my area. If this map seems like a lot of incidents, multiply it by a thousand and you’ll have a closer idea of what’s going on every day.

I feel like I really should have said that the reason I chose to make this map is because I’m sick and tired of letting harassers off the hook to enjoy their day, and I like collecting data, and I like maps, and I really want every harassment to leave a stain on the place it happened instead of being invisible, and that’s why I try to mark the spot with chalk whenever possible. But that doesn’t really sounds as thoughtful. So I’ll just stick with, “Because people are visual animals.”

-HappyRat

Share Your Story: “Uprising of Women in the Arab World “

November 25, 2012 By HKearl

حملة “احكي قصتكِ”

صفحة انتفاضة المرأة في العالم العربي تطلق في 25 نوفمبر، وهو اليوم العالمي لمناهضة العنف ضد المرأة”، حملة “احكي قصتكِ” والتي تمتد على مدى أسبوعين (من 25 نوفمبر وحتى 10 ديسمبر).
لأن على قصصنا المخبّأة تحت وسائدنا أن تخرج مدويّة إلى العلن
لأن علينا أن نخرج من دائرة الخوف والعزلة إلى دائرة الضوء والفعل
لأن الفضيحة هي في فعل المعتدي لا المُعتَدَى عليها
لأن صمتنا جريمة بحق أنفسنا وحماية للمعتدي
لأن كل واحدة منّا تحمل قصة سريّة عن: عنف جسدي أو نفسي أو جنسي تعرّضت له لكونها امرأة، أو حرمان تعسّفي من حريتها، أو تحرّش جنسي، أو حادثة اغتصاب (الاغتصاب الزوجي ضمنًا)، أو عملية ختان رهيبة، أو جريمة تحت مسمى “الشرف”، أو إجبار على الزواج المبكر…

اكتبن قصصكن مع اختتامها بجملة “لذلك أنا مع انتفاضة المرأة في العالم العربي” ثم أرسلنها لنا عن طريق الرسائل على الصفحة أو على الإيميل مع ذكر الاسم الأول والدولة

فلنحكي ونحكي ونحكي كي نملأ العالم ضجيجًا
علينا أن نحكي وعلى العالم أن يسمعنا كي نتحرر
هيا أيتها النساء، أرسلن قصصكن من الآن
قصصكن قد تكون نصًا أو صورة أو لوحة أو رسم أو فيديو مصور
نحن بالانتظار

للتواصل مع فريق عمل صفحة “انتفاضة المرأة في العالم العربي”
الفايسبوك: http://www.facebook.com/intifadat.almar2a
تويتر: @UprisingOfWomen
البريد الإلكتروني:

arabwomenuprise@gmail.com

“Tell Your Story” campaign

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25, “The Uprising of Women in the Arab World” movement is launching “Tell Your Story” campaign, a new call for women in the Arab world. This campaign will last for 2 weeks: from November 25 until December 10, 2012.

Because the stories hidden under our pillows need to come out in the open
Because the only finger of blame should be pointed at the aggressor, not the victim
Because the scandal is in the criminal act, not the victim’s reputation
Because our silence is a self-inflicted punishment and an impunity to our aggressor
Because we have to step out of the circle of fear and isolation into the circle of confidence and confrontation
Because almost each one of us has endured a form of physical, psychological or sexual violence, just for being a woman: an arbitrary deprivation of liberty, or a sexual harassment (at home, at school, at work, in the streets…), rape (including marital rape), female genital mutilation, forced marriage (including marriage of minors), crimes in the name of “honor”…
Write your story, ending it with the words/sentence: “This is why I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world”.
Send it to us via message to our FB Page or via email and we will publish it, mentioning only your first name and your country.
You can choose the format that fits best your expression: text, photography, drawing, painting, video…
Let us speak out to liberate ourselves, and make the world listen.

Contact – Uprising of Women in the Arab World :
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/intifadat.almar2a
Email: arabwomenuprise@gmail.com

Digest of Street Harassment News: Nov. 25, 2012

November 25, 2012 By HKearl

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

Street Harassment Stories:

Share your story! You can read street harassment stories on the Web at:

Stop Street Harassment Blog

Collective Action for Safe Spaces

HarassMap in Egypt

Bijoya in Bangladesh

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Name and Shame in Pakistan

Safe Streets in Yemen

Street Harassment in South Africa

Many of the Hollaback sites

Everyday Sexism

Street Harassment In the News, on the Blogs:

* One World South Asia, “No passport, driving license for eve-teasers in India“

* 7 sur 7, “Un tram contre le harcèlement à l’égard des femmes“

* The Times of India, “Brawl over eve-teasing leads to murder“

* Bite Me, Beautiful, “Street Harassment“

* Limerick Leader, “Limerick woman with Down syndrome tells of bullying torment“

* Beyond Black & White, “Fighting Back Against Street Harassment (Part One)“

* Austrian Independent, “Bum groping is not sexual harassment in Austria“

* The Argus, “March through Brighton’s ‘no go’ areas“

* The Jewish Daily Forward, “The Toll of Street Harassment“

* NPR, “In Brussels, Be Kind … Or Be Fined“

* Al Arabiya News, “Egypt women deserve rights now, not later“

* Books & Feminism, “Another day, another street harassment experience“

* Maps4Aid, “Sexual Harassment in Train: Professor arrested on charges of molestation“

* Der Freitag, “Schreib es in die Welt!”

* Bloomberg News, “Egypt Mob Strips 3 Girls of Clothes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square“

* BB&W Question: How Can I Deal with Street Harassment?

* Those Pesky Dames, “Look at the legs on that” – street harassment needs to stop

Announcements:

New:

* Submit a story about the most empowering response you’ve had to street harassment and it may get published in a book!

* Nov. 20 marked the 14th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

* Nov. 25 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

* Read an interview with the founder of the Street Harassment Fashion Tumblr Ellis Gainsboro

Reminders:

* Check out the project CATCALLED: the stories of 11 women in New York City from two weeks in August 2012, now online.

* Baltimore, MD, folks — take a survey about street harassment for Hollaback! Bmore

* Hollaback! Edinburgh launched a “Said No One Ever” Tumblr to refute the belief that street harassment is a compliment.

* Register — Webinar: Street Harassment: How To Stop Feeling Helpless and Start Feeling Empowered, Dec. 6, 2012: 8 – 9:30 p.m. ET, $15

* Sign the petition: “Tell New York: Subway Sexual Assault is a Serious Crime“

* There’s a new tumblr called Street Harassment Fashion that challenges victim-blaming

* METRAC released a free “Not Your Baby App” to provide responses you can use when experiencing harassment

* The Adventures of Salwa campaign has a hotline for sexual harassment cases in Lebanon: 76-676862.

* In Bangalore, India, there is a helpline for street harassment 080 – 22943225 / 22864023

* Report #streetharassment in Pakistan at @NameAndShamePk, email nameandshame@ryse.pk, SMS 0314-800-35-68 or online at http://www.nameandshame.pk

15 Tweets from the Week:

1. @WordsWithDes: I’m tired of harassment. I’m tired of crossing the street. I’m tired of them refusing to accept that my no means no.

2. @GLuckhurst Street harassment is about as flattering as a knitted sumo-wrestler suit. If you like me, talk to me, don’t holler at me.

3. @LexCurtis @RiaLaDona not only are we constantly subjected to street harassment, but we also have to cater to their egos shaped by savagery

4. @HollabackHRM MYTH: Street harassment is a cultural problem. FACT: It happens in every country in the world, in every culture, including ours. #endsh

5. @Psypherize There’s pickpocketing and some sexual harassment at Qasr El-Aini street. Keep your eyes open. #Tahrir

6. @harassmap: Legal and Pyscological help for victims of sexual harassment in tahrir and else where http://blog.harassmap.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Services1.jpg … #EndSH #Tahrir

7. @SaraLang: It’s sad how grateful I am when I pass a group of guys outside a bar and don’t get a single catcall, whistle, or lewd comment.

8. ‏@SharkDancing We all need to speak out about Street harassment. This is our pubic space @HoldenGrey #TOpoli

9. @missmayse Guy just came out being beaten by many. Turns out he was harassing women. #endSH

10. @SarahGraham7 It’s taken 5 months of living in London for me to have my first experience of street harassment here. Actually quite impressed.

11. @roamingradical until the street harassment Tahrir has become famous for not just ends, but is hunted down & destroyed, the revolution will be incomplete.

12. @nualacabral yes! @FreedomReeves #StreetHarassment Cards. Weekend project! cc: http://tmblr.co/Zg4OXyXivznZ cc: @MoralesWilliams

13. @_ToyyStoryy: street harassment definitely happens at gas stations the most

14. @craftgasm Creepy guy pacing me asked how I get my hair so long. Not amused when I answered, “I don’t cut it.” #AskAStupidQuestion

15. @PeaceCorps “Be a good man!” Young men in Azerbaijan work to stop street harassment of women http://youtu.be/Jtcq_w7h-vA #InternationalMensDay

16 Days: Day 1, Germany

November 25, 2012 By HKearl

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #1: Germany:

Because soccer/football is so popular in Germany, the group ProChange decided to use the concept of “red cards” as a creative way to speak out against street harassment. In the spring, they distributed 2000 “Red Card” against sexism, “Pink Card” against homophobia, and “Purple Card” Courage. They also distributed special coasters in pubs, bar, from clubs in Dortmund, Germany.

« Previous Page