Archives for February 2013

* Stop Street Harassment joined thousands of groups in more than 200 countries on Feb. 14 to take action against gender violence during One Billion Rising .

* On Feb. 19, Stop Street Harassment will participate in a global day of action when groups in more than 40 cities will meet with government officials about strategies for making cities safer. Learn how you can participate, too.

Reminders:

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

15Tweets from the Week:

1. @jdschulman My response to hearing street harassment tonight was to say, “Aw, that’s not appropriate. That’s just not kind.” The dudes had no response.

2. @Krissssyyyy93 Have some class don’t drive by me and honk and catcall you pigs

3. @leloveluck Level of harassment in downtown Cairo absolutely maddening today. One guy decided to follow me then put his hand around my neck. #EndSH #ugh

4. @juliemastrine Excited to start planning some anti-#streetharassment actions in State College this spring! Let me know if you want to be involved

5. قوة ضد التحرش ‏@OpAntiSH “Your Right to Live” Watch #EgyWomen respond to #EndSH during#GlobalProtestFeb12 in #Cairo http://bit.ly/UjRM5c (w/Eng subs) #VAW #Egypt

6. @sydmosley such a good day! many thanks to the #wgso12 organizers @penn_state. so fantastic to continue to start conversations around #streetharassment

7. @iyad_elbaghdadi I come from a place of the world where love scenes in films are censored, but abuse of women is on the streets for all to see. #EndSH #Egypt

8. @KateRoseBee Takes some nerve to catcall a woman while doing court-ordered litter pickup. “Hey baby I make some real good decisions…”

9. ‏@YWCAGREENBAY A great discussion yesterday on gender-based harassment! @hkearl pic.twitter.com/omJIK26j

10. @seventeenSA Tell us how you deal with street harassment – follow the hashtag #17SaysNo

11. @karishma31 I just had a guy pull down his window while I was crossing the street to wink and tell me ‘hey baby’. Talk about sexual harassment #Mumbai

12. ‏@UNC_GAC Stop by the pit and share your story of street harassment with @UNCBetas! 10-2 TODAY!

13. @lesellele That I’m at SIGNIFICANTLY more risk of street harassment, physical violence and rape than any man in my same neighborhood. That’s unfair

14. @EvrydayFeminism My short skirt and everything under is in mine mine mine! #streetharassment pic.twitter.com/CSLhWgSz

15. @aaboulenein Female protestors chanting against sexual harassment and #Morsi. #GlobalprotestFeb12 #endSH

USA: Rest Areas Aren’t So Relaxing

February 17, 2013 By Contributor

By Lauren Duhon, SSH Correspondent

As a college student at Louisiana State University, I spend a lot of time on the interstate driving to and from my home in Texas. Each road trip brings the opportunity for uncomfortable situations as I stop at truck stops, gas stations, fast food restaurants and rest areas along the way.

This weekend I made the 300-mile trip from Baton Rouge to Houston and I encountered some less than comfortable scenarios with each stop. I was confronted with everything from whistles and catcalls, to glares and offensive gestures. Most of the comments were along the lines of “Hey, sweet thing!” or used the words “doll face” and “sweetheart” followed by a honk. The severity of each occurrence varied, but I usually expect to find some lonesome trucker or awkward tourist gawking at me each time I get out of my vehicle.

Most of the time I can ignore the comments, other times I grow increasingly annoyed and angry. The situation should make anyone uncomfortable, let alone a 20-year-old college student by herself on the open road. I have tried to seek out safe havens, but it is usually unavoidable. It has gotten to the point where I often avoid stopping altogether unless I absolutely have to.

It is a shame that I don’t feel comfortable driving on the road with the fear of being harassed by random men. Driving is stressful enough as it is, and it is a pity that the added pressure of harassment from others is even a thought that crosses my mind.

I hope for men to take a second to realize that I am not an object for their viewing pleasure as they stop along the highway. I am the daughter of someone who is trying to safely return home from college. I would surely hope these men wouldn’t want for their daughters to be in the same situation. I shouldn’t feel threatened or vulnerable every time I need to stop. It is not my goal to place rest areas and truck stops in a negative light, but there needs to be a safer climate for everyone on the road and it starts with the men.

Lauren Duhon is a student journalist from LSU in Baton Rouge, La.

“My right not to be sexually harassed”

February 17, 2013 By Contributor

Here is a blog entry I wrote about a time when I was street harassed:

I write to you tonight as a VERY PISSED OFF WOMAN. I’ll just go ahead and tell the story before I start ranting.

So…Every Thursday I attend meetings for a university organization called PAGE- People Acting for Gender Equality. Basically, we are one of many student organizations on the Ohio University campus fighting for open-mindedness and equality when it comes to all genders, sexual preferences, body types, yada yada yada all that good stuff. Anywayyyyysss, as I walked out of my building I noticed a group of boys (yes, I’ll call them boys, not men) drinking on a balcony above me. One noticed my t-shirt and yelled, “Hey, red shirt,” and mumbled some other comment that I ignored. I kept walking, writing him off as just another guy trying to get a girl’s attention. I was wrong.

He followed his little comment with, “Let me lick that pussy!”

UMMMMMMM, many of you probably don’t know me that well, but if you do you can probably guess that I didn’t let him get away with that. I am so tired of just walking away from comments like this, and I know other girls are too. Too often we just let it slide, but if we ever expect to make this world at least a little better we have to put people like this in their places. Needless to say, I turned around and gave him quite a large piece of my mind.

I started off pretty calmly and said, “I don’t know who just said that, but you should rethink ever saying that to another woman again, especially not as she’s walking down the street.”

They hated it. There were about five guys on the balcony, and not only did they deny saying it but also got completely defensive. They started with the excuses and saying how I’m just mad because I’ve “never gotten laid.”

They also seemed to think the words “bitch” and “dyke” offend me; little did they know that those words only empowered me further. I’m proud that I can be a bitch because that just means that I stand up for myself. If being a bitch means that I’m not a pushover then so be it. And who gives a SHIT if a girl is a dike. MORE POWER TO YOU. GIRLS ARE BEAUTIFUL, AND SEX IS GREAT! I hate closed-minded people more than I hate salmon patties, and that’s a lot– ask my mom.

I went on with many more comments; you can probably imagine them, so I won’t go on and on about it. But this is just one example of the millions of idiotic statements that are made every day.

PLEASE help put a stop to it. If you hear anyone making comments like this, tell them they’re wrong. I’m pretty surprised that not even one of the guys on the balcony stopped the other ones. They all thought it was acceptable to go on screaming at me. It’s one thing to make a joke. It’s one thing to use the word “bitch” or others like it; I do it all the time. But that guy had absolutely no right to say that to me.

You can preach free speech all you want, but when he opened his mouth he infringed on MY rights– my right not to be sexually harassed by some drunk dumbass.

Those guys were just pissed that I stood up to them. Instead of giggling and smiling and taking it as flirting, I said exactly what they would say if a gay guy said to them, “Let me suck that dick!”

It’s unwanted attention and a ridiculously disrespectful comment.

“A woman should be proud to declare she is a Bitch, because Bitch is Beautiful. It should be an act of affirmation by self and not negation by others…If taken seriously, Bitch is a threat to the social structures which enslave women and the social values which justify keeping them in their place. She is living testimony that woman’s oppression does not have to be, and as such raises doubts about the validity of the whole social system.” – Joreen (Jo Freeman), The BITCH Manifesto

– Taylr U

Location: Outside of my apartment on a college campus, Ohio

A Rising & a Poem for Survivors

February 15, 2013 By HKearl

stop street harassment at one billion rising — Holly Kearl of SSH and Renee Davidson of Collective Action for Safe Spaces

One billion people have been sexually assaulted or raped, an astonishing and shameful number. Yesterday, a goal of one billion people rose to protest this violence through dance, rallies, and other actions through Eve Ensler’s One Billion Rising effort. Stop Street Harassment was a participating group and I attended a rally at Farragut Square in Washington, DC, and happily met up with activists from several groups, including Feminist Peace Network, Fem2pt0, and Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

(Note: If you want to carry on the momentum from your One Billion Rising event, be sure to take part in a day of action on Feb. 19 to meet with local government officials to discuss ways to make our cities safer.)

Yesterday, I also had the opportunity to participate in an amazing guerrilla art project organized by the Baltimore-based group FORCE. I thought I was just going to be observing and then suddenly I was part of it, hoisting up the word “one.” I love the project and the message and think the words “I can’t forget what happened but no one else remembers” speaks well to many instances of street harassment that may remain with us for the rest of our lives, but no one else knew about or remembers.

Via their website:

“Giant styrofoam letters state “I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS” in the national reflecting pool. The poem, written by a survivor, highlights the isolating and silencing experience of rape in the United States. The action is a call to create a permanent memorial to survivors of rape and abuse.

FORCE, the group behind the action states, “We want to build a national memorial to survivors, because we want to live in a country that holds public and supportive space for survivors to heal. We want to build a national memorial to survivors because we want to live in a country that believes rape can and must end.

The call to build the permanent memorial started on a warm February day with about 20 volunteers unloading enormous letters from a rented U-HAUL van. The red letters were strapped together to create a giant raft. After gathering for a photo on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the group pushed the poem into the reflecting pool among cheers, cameras, and a crowd of curious tourists.”

USA: Hypermasculinity and Street Harassment

February 15, 2013 By Contributor

By Sean Crosbie, SSH Correspondent

Street harassment is one of the by-products of the culture of hypermasculinity that is so pervasive in our society. David L. Mosher and Mark Sirkin provide an excellent list of the typical behaviors of hypermasculinity in “Measuring a macho personality constellation,” published in the Journal of Resarch in Personality: degrading attitudes towards women (i.e. viewing them as property), violence as a manly ideal, and the thrill of danger. All of the behaviors that Mosher and Sirkin describe create cultures of both entitlement and silence. Some men feel entitled to interact with women in an inappropriate manner; likewise, a culture of silence ensures that these behaviors will be accepted and not judged by other men in the group. Men on the sidelines may be afraid to break what Michael Kimmel refers to as the “guy code.”

In a previous blog post, I wrote about how women feel like targets in our male dominated public space, and how this has effects on women’s use of that space. The two friends who I interviewed for the post also had strong opinions about how hypermasculinity is a factor in street harassment. While both cited the culture of silence as a hindrance to constructive action, interviewee 2 noted how “having a girl on your arm” and playing games to get a woman’s attention (even if she is not interested) is seen as macho:

…Having a girl on your arm is seen as masculine. Being able to get that girl with a cat-call I suppose is macho…Society definitely plays a part in how people act because, naturally, we care what others think of us. And there are games that people play to get each other’s attention. It is when one of the people involved is clearly uninterested or feeling uncomfortable with the game that I think it becomes harassment.

Men feel they have a right to “…get that girl with a cat-call” just as they believe they have a right to “own” public spaces; both are symptoms of a culture of entitlement. Interviewee 1 pointed out how the culture of silence has a negative effect on men in a group. In this “perverse support system,” any man who goes against the “guy code” is considered an outsider:

We know that humans act differently while they’re in groups. Groups of men seem to reinforce “masculine” attitudes toward women, and cheer each other on while one is behaving inappropriately toward a woman or group of women. This perverse support system exacerbates the problem of harassment … I wish more men would step up and say “hey, that’s not cool, let’s go” instead of standing on the sidelines.

Both of these women agree that something must be done to change a culture where entitlement and silence create unsafe spaces for women everywhere. We must empower male allies to take action against harassment and not be relegated to the sidelines. Since none of the behaviors associated with hypermasculinity are biological, there is much we can do to change the education of men and boys and put an end to the attitudes that create street harassment. I will address some of the ways in which local communities and governments can work to accomplish this in a future post.

Sean has written for Stop Street Harassment since April 2011. He is a library/research assistant at a labor union in Washington, D.C. and holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics from American University.

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