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Archives for April 2013

What men need to do for women to feel safe

April 7, 2013 By Contributor

This is a guest blog post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2013 by Lea Goelnitz, Germany.

Street harassment is a strategy to scare women away from the public space so they do not work or go to school, earn their own money, go into politics, make decisions, claim property and take power.

I feel harassed when I receive unwanted attention in the street (for the record, basically all of it is unwanted), and the only one who decides what is unwanted is myself. When I am alone in public, I am usually going somewhere deliberately. So when strange men talk to me or stare at me, that means it is assumed that whatever I am up to do is less important than what they are doing and it is fine to interrupt me and demand my attention.

Even if that does not physically hurt me, it destroys my feeling of security and shows me that my time and me as a person is perceived as less valuable compared to others. So the message to me on a personal level is that I am made to feel uncomfortable and out of place because I dared to be in the male dominated public space, where according to them I should not be. I am being punished for participating in everyday life.

If I ask male friends what precaution they take when they step out into the street, they are confused. They do not take another way, dress differently, behave differently, try not to be too drunk and go home earlier or take a taxi instead of walking. They do not do any of these things, meaning that they feel safe enough just doing what they want.

The permanent feeling of insecurity makes women follow unwritten rules to go out in public.

They are always careful, they are made to think about what to wear (although not at all relevant as a strategy to avoid harassment), avoid going out alone, go in groups or with trustworthy male friend, avoid being out in the dark, avoid certain routes, avoid to generate attention, change their body language and attitude.

We debate on the advantages and disadvantages of pepper spray and other “weapons”, we strategize on routes to take to places and on responses we give in which situation to which men, considering what is possible to do and say in regard to the amount of men, the level of aggression and if it is daytime or night time. We applaud each other when we managed to react in a way, which did not leave us feel powerless.

For all these efforts we are neither rewarded by feeling safe, nor are these restrains publicly acknowledged.

The women-focused victim-blaming approach did NOT result in a decrease of harassment, rape, murder and other gender-based violence. More women might report more crimes. But clearly they do not feel safer.

The women-only compartment in the Delhi metro inspired the Safe Urban Space Initiative I started with a friend in a Delhi neighborhood. Obviously, a women-only zone is backwards and no long-term solution. So the plan was to create women-friendly zones instead of women-only zones, in which men could enter, but in order to secure and to enforce a street harassment-free environment, these (half-seriously meant) opposite rules of what women follow in order to be safe, applied;

1. Men are not allowed to come in groups
2. Men have to be escorted by a woman, so that other women can see that he is ok.
3. Men are not allowed to approach and speak with unknown, in case there is need for communication, this can happen via the women who escorts him.
4. No cameras, no mobile phones, so that men cannot take pictures of women.
5. No staring!  If men are unsure if they are still creating an atmosphere of harassment, they have the option to be blindfolded
6. There is a total ban for men to be outside from 7.30 p.m. to 7.30 a.m.

The approach is perpetrator-based and solely focuses on what men need to do/ need to stop doing in order for women to feel safe.

Back in Germany, I got increasingly annoyed with the media coverage of gender-based violence outside of Europe. It is easier to talk about a (far away) country and portray that as barbaric and then not address the same issues at home, but instead using the same victim-blaming arguments.

This actually inspired a new initiative “There is no dress code for street harassment,” an online- exhibition of clothing. 

In order to shut down the re-occurring argument of blaming women for the way they dress, “provoking” men, the aim of the campaign is to visually demonstrate the range of clothing women are wearing when harassed.

Lea became an anti-street harassment activist when living in Delhi. Now living in Berlin, she is also involved in some anti- street harassment action.

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Filed Under: Activist Interviews, anti-street harassment week, street harassment

“I was all alone and was totally shaken”

April 6, 2013 By Contributor

I am from Kathmandu Nepal and it was few years back when I was in my high school. A group of boys used to follow me every time while going and coming to school. I used to feel really annoyed but I was young and scared to tell them anything. all I used to do was stare at them but later they even used to comment me about my stare.

One day, while returning back from school, I was walking and I saw them coming on the way. I just looked down and walked but suddenly when we were about to cross each other, one of the guy raised his hand. His hand was on my chest. I was all alone and was totally shaken. I could not do any thing and did not know what to do. I looked all over if anyone had seen but no one was there so i just closed my eyes and looked down. They all laughed at me and walked by giving comments like, ” That was awesome,” and, “OHHHH” etc. Then i just started walking quickly and went home.

– US

Location: Jawalakhel, Kathmandu, Nepal

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Plan to speak out against street harassment, April 7-13, 2013, during International Anti-Street Harassment Week.

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment

My body is NOT public space

April 6, 2013 By HKearl

Tomorrow is the start of International Anti-Street Harassment Week! SSH media volunteer Julie Mastrine and her sister Amy created these shareable graphics for you to use!!

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Filed Under: anti-street harassment week, street harassment

Tunisia: Street Harassment is Constant

April 5, 2013 By Contributor

By: Carla C. Avenia, SSH Correspondent

It might come as no surprise that street harassment is still very much prevalent in a country which is part of the Arab world. But actually, in the case of Tunisia, it is quite surprising. Tunisia is well known for being one of the most modern and forward countries in this area, a place where activism concerning equality has a strong presence, where particularly the youth – both men and women –  are engaged in fighting extremist right-wing (read Islamist) policies that try to cover up women against their will and institute laws depriving them of basic rights.

I spent ten days in Tunisia in order to attend the World Social Forum. This post gathers my experiences as well as those that where told to me directly by two different women.

Personally, I found it impossible to go out on the streets on my own without anticipating some sort of harassment, ranging from unwanted verbal communication to cat-calls, all the way to what can be called stalking. On my way to the hotel, a man followed me and even walked into the lobby. I was scared to check in until he left, because I didn’t want him to find out my name or room number. I tried to leave my hotel one evening at 7 pm in order to buy some food just a block away, and I ran back (luckily, food in hand) after I was cat-called once and two different cars full of men slowed down, yelling at me in Arabic and following me back to my hotel. Please keep in mind that, although it shouldn’t matter, I am quite culturally sensitive and my attire had nothing to do with attracting unwanted attention. I wasn’t wearing anything different than other local women wear, which is verified by the fact that given my complexion, many people that I interacted with on a daily basis (shop owners, taxi drivers) always spoke Arabic to me because “I look local.”

I met young locals and they told me that women, for their own safety, should not walk the streets alone after dark. Even in the center of the city, which was full of foreigners at the time because of the World Social Forum. From the moment I voiced these incidents, local friends made it a point to accompany back to the hotel every evening, or even pick me up in order to go eat or have a drink.

The worst incident took place one evening at a bar called Cafe Paris, right on Bourguiba Avenue, in the center of town. First, I should state that there are still some old-fashioned laws present in the country, one which allows only foreigners to drink alcohol while sitting outside on a terrace. Tunisians are not allowed to do the same. Even if they try to order something, they are simply not served. Which means that usually the terraces are full of foreigners, while the locals all sit inside. This place in particular was full of men, because local women prefer to go to higher-end bars which seem “safer”. I soon learned why.

That evening it rained, so my group of mixed foreign friends chose to go inside. The women in my group where the only women in the whole bar. We attracted a lot of stares, but by then, we were used to that. We endured uncomfortable, deep-seated stares almost everywhere we went. Particularly on the streets and at bars.

Having had a few beers, the call of nature manifested. So together with a colleague, we decided to make a line for the bathroom, which was located in the basement. We started feeling tense as soon as we got on that staircase heading to the basement. Local men swarmed around us, staring, checking us out, whispering things amongst each other. We made it halfway down before we chose to turn around and get out. But the swarm of men closed around us, and grab my colleague by the arm, telling her something in Arabic. The men laughed and got in even closer. She froze with fear for a moment and shook this man’s hand off, pushing her way through the laughing crowd of men, and luckily weaving an escape route for me too. We hurried back to our table in fear.

Then I remembered the stories from Tahir square. This is how it must start for the women who have suffered atrocities in Cairo: the swarm of laughing men closing around them, the unwanted touching, the sudden panic attack followed by an attempt to flee the situation. We were lucky enough to have made it out just with our feathers ruffled.

The male domination of the public sphere is commonplace. Most local and foreign women justifiably prefer to avoid certain places such as bars, or walking the streets at night, so as to not be subject to constant sexual harassment.

A French colleague told me how she was stalked for blocks while heading back to the hotel in broad daylight. A young man followed her closely, talking to her the whole way. She ignored him, but that didn’t stop him of following her for at least five blocks. The local passersby didn’t do a thing about it.

The worst story came from an Egyptian colleague, who came to a get-together at a house that I was at, sometime around 9 pm. She arrived in tears, so I walked her out the balcony so she could tell me her story. She said how in Cairo she’s constantly walking around with pepper spray, and wards off harassers on a daily basis. Older local women have told her to ignore them, but after the fifth or sixth incident she experiences on a daily basis, she just cannot keep her mouth shut and must verbally fight back.

She never expected to experience the same in Tunisia. As I, she knew that Tunisia was reputed for being quite modern, so she came unprepared to face what happened to her that evening. And unarmed, since she couldn’t pack her pepper spray.

She was walking on the street parallel to Bourguiba Avenue (the main street), looking for the apartment building in which this get-together was being held. Seeing the policemen guarding the French Embassy (which is surrounded by barbed wire), she weighed her options: although she didn’t trust policemen given the atrocities they were involved in back in Egypt, this was Tunisia, a liberal, free, forward-thinking country in which policemen could be trusted. Right?

Wrong. She asked the policemen for the apartment building’s number. They signaled the right way, which was through a narrow pathway squeezed between buildings on one side and barbed wire on the other. Yet, they started to initiate a conversation. She ignored them and followed on. They didn’t give up.

The group of policemen followed her and kept on harassing her. Making fun of her, enjoying her fear. As soon as they made it to the right doorway, the surrounded her, and closed in around her, trying to touch her. She started to cry and quickly forced her way through the main door, leaving the men roaring with laughter behind her.

The political situation might have changed in Tunisia, and it is – technically – slowly evolving towards a modern democracy. But there is no democracy without equality. And there is no equality when women are scared into avoiding public spaces, which are still dominated by an old-fashioned patriarchy who find satisfaction in the objectification and intimidation of women.

Carla is a proud feminist originally from Texas, who strongly believes in creating safer spaces for women. She holds a Master’s in Local Development, and she runs her own translation company from France. She is also a travel blogger. You can find her on Twitter.

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Filed Under: correspondents, Stories, street harassment

“It happens to us all the time, everywhere!”

April 4, 2013 By Contributor

I stumbled upon this site. I think the work you are doing is really good!

I am from India and street harassment here is often trivialized by using words like “eve teasing.” It happens to us all the time, everywhere! The fact that most of us here use public transport and also because all forms of public transport are dreadfully crowded makes it very easy for groping and other forms of unwelcome touching!

I am forty-five-years-old and so no longer the target for this. But I remember how much of a problem it is when you are a teenager or even younger. I have a teen-aged daughter and so this is something that I have alerted her about . It is no point avoiding public transport. It is part of life here and one needs to be alert about guys who feel you up or whistle at you on the road.

I have often found that guys who grope you in a crowd are usually middle aged men while those who whistle and make noises at you on the road are much younger. The guys who grope generally target young girls -teenage or younger. The child usually is so shocked because she is embarrassed and does not have the confidence to say anything. It helps if someone notices this and takes on the creep! When it happens on the road and others watch there is a feeling of deep anger and embarrassment.

I will tell you about an incident that happened when I was in college. I was in a bus sitting on the aisle seat. There was a man standing on the aisle who was falling all over me and trying to squeeze in between my knees. The lady by the window was not affected but I was distinctly uncomfortable. So I finally asked him loudly if he wanted to sit on my lap? I guess I embarrassed him enough for him to move away. Some school kids who were at the back thanked me when I got off the bus. They said that he had behaved similarly with them and it was to avoid him that they had migrated to the rear of the bus.

We in India are in a sort of social change mode at this moment after the gruesome rape of a young woman in Delhi in December this year. There have been protests and debates on this entire issue demanding a stronger anti rape law.

While rape is horrible and probably an extreme situation, I think people need to take this kind of harassment equally seriously in our country. I really like what you are doing and wish there were more organizations in our country which worked exclusively on this ( we have so many problems affecting women that this is just one in the long list ).

– Meera

Location: India

Share YOUR street harassment story for the blog

Plan to speak out against street harassment, April 7-13, 2013, during International Anti-Street Harassment Week.

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment

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