Archives for June 2013

Other project have kept me from blogging about the street harassment-related news that’s come through in the past week or so, so here’s a short recap  —

* How to approach women: On the website, “Yo, I’m just saying” men can learn when it’s okay to physically stop a woman on the street (e.g. they’re lost and need directions or someone needs medical attention) and when it’s not.

* Street harassment and male entitlement: She Does the City wrote, “Walking the Streets: Space, Masculinity and Street Harassment“: “Many males roam the streets at any time of day or night feeling a sense of entitlement to that space and the bodies within it. If a woman were to act in this same way, she’d be “setting herself up for harassment,” because her body, as female, is not entitled to such space or such ownership – and to make it appear as entitled (or appear at all) is to expect backlash. The same goes for “readably” queer folks, who would meet a similar fate of harassment and perhaps even assault. Queer folks are highly invisibilized in public space, save for certain areas of the city where they have both created their own community and have been siphoned off by a culture of heteronormativity.”

* Street harassment as hate speech: Michael, a male ally in Toronto wrote the article, “Sexual harassment on the street: Taking misogynist hate speech seriously.” A key point he makes is that street harassment/sexist speech IS hate speech. “More than ever it is time for men to stand up and say that these narratives are wrong and that they show a total disregard for women’s dignity. That this ongoing vocal misogyny is unacceptable. That this disgraceful and daily objectification of women is what it is…an insult to and violation of the basic rights of women. Public, vocal, sexual degradation of women and girls is a form of hate speech. And it needs to be opposed as such.”

* Stopping harassment in Egypt:  USA Today reports on the high rates of street harassment in Eygpt (a new study found 99% of women have faced it) and on the groups working to change that reality. “It’s all about culture and misconceptions,” said Dina Samir, communications manager at HarassMap, who says harassment has worsened over the last decade. “If the culture changes it would put pressure on the government to enforce laws.” “We believe we can play a big role in changing perceptions,” she said. Men are also getting involved because “it’s not just a women’s issue,” said Ayman Nagy, who founded the Anti-Harassment Movement. “It’s a humanity issue.” Nagy and a group of 73 full-time volunteers hold workshops in universities and even in the streets among other places to talk about issues that include sexual abuse. “We need to solve the problem from its roots,” Nagy said. “We’re going to work on the harasser himself, because we think he is a sick person and needs help, and that we can help him.” Other groups such as Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment seek to end mob harassment and assault, and Tahrir Bodyguard has a team of volunteers in bright green vests who intervene when they see sexual violence taking place during protests.”

* Fighting sexual abuse in India: In Lucknow, India, The Telegraph reports, a 25-year-old woman teaches more than 100 teenage girls in mixed martial arts. They are dubbed the “Red Brigade” and aim to humiliate and beat men who abuse women. Most of the recruits are survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and attempted rapes who have “joined her the group in frustration at the failure of Indian political leaders and the police to curb sexual violence.”

*Teaching respect: Radical Step Mom writes about street harassment and other forms of sexual abuse and concludes: “Let’s talk to all our kids, in whatever way we are able (even if that means asking your partner to talk to their kids), about respect for each other’s bodies, boundaries, and peace of mind. Rather than being crippled by our experiences, let’s use them to inform our influence on the kids growing up under our roofs. With love and persistence on our parts, maybe our boys and girls will choose to shape a world in which this idea isn’t radical at all, because it’s standard.”

* Even “mild” street harassment is unacceptable:  Veronica writes about her tolerance for “mild” street harassment after experiencing worse and why that isn’t okay for SCUM, a literary magazine. “At what point had men screaming obscenities at me become so routine that being shouted out twice was a “pretty good” night? When had I developed this arbitrary threshold for abuse from strangers that could change a walk home from pleasant or pretty good to pretty goddamn shit?

*Leave her alone!  The blog PFPT put together a street harassment quiz for men. Hint: most answers are “leave her alone” or “she wants you to leave her alone.”

* Illustrated responses to street harassment: Brittany published great (illustrated) responses to street harassment for the Portland Mercury. She writes, “What men need is a wake-up call: You’re the problem. If not you personally, then your best friend, a coworker, or that dude in your fantasy football league is. You’re making us feel unsafe every day, in a thousand different ways. To help you better identify your harassing behavior, we’ve illustrated the most common types of misogynists—along with the comebacks from us you might not get, given the trap-door spideriness of your attacks, but which you certainly deserve.”

* Men experience street harassment too: Jay wrote about his street harassment experiences for the Portland Mercury too, ending with: “It would be easy to get into a tit for tat argument over quantity but that’s not the point and big doy. Women are at the receiving end more than men and the power dynamic is different. My point is it’s never pleasant to be singled out and have your body be thrown on the table to dissect and discuss. I’m proud of how I look and feel confident when I walk down the street. But men/women, it’s never an invitation to get your creep on. There are rules. There is etiquette. Stop being weird jerks. Try some charm. And don’t try to reach into my pants. Again.”

* Increase in street harassment in Lebanon: The Daily Star reports on the increase in street harassment/sexual violence complaints and what is being done: “Both verbal and physical harassment are punishable under the law, NGOs say that the legal system is ill-equipped to successfully prosecute offenders, one of several reasons why many victims do not report their experiences of harassment to the police. Aware that incidents were frequently going unreported, feminist collective Nasawiya last year launched a hotline for victims of assault and harassment to share their experiences and receive advice and support.”

* Dealing with street harassment: Feminist leader and author Jessica Valenti’s first #AskJessica video for The Nation focuses on how to respond to street harassers.