Archives for August 2013

USA: Street Harassment in India and Beyond

August 28, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Delia Harrington, Massachusetts, USA, SSH Correspondent

Last week, under the username Rosechasm, University of Chicago student Michaela Cross published a CNN iReport that has shaken readers and spurred reactions across the web. The piece, entitled “India, the Story You Never Wanted to Hear” details many terrifying examples of street harassment, staring, groping, and attempted or threatened rape that the author says happened to herself or fellow classmates during a semester abroad in India through their university.

CNN has since called for women all over the world to share their own stories of street harassment and perspectives on Cross’s original iReport as well as potential solutions or methods to mitigate street harassment and other gender-based violence. Many women, including Stop Street Harassment’s founder Holly Kearl, have since heeded that call, and their stories are well worth a read.

Many have misread the article as a universal condemnation of Indian men and India in general. The author expresses repeatedly that her experience in India was one of contradiction, including both those of the positive, once in a lifetime variety and those of a more traumatic nature. While it is hard not to feel lately that some observers and media outlets are holding up India as a problematic “other”, that doesn’t mean people should stop telling their stories or reporting on the stories of others.

Another common criticism is that Cross’s article ignores the treatment Indian women receive within their own country. That was not the focus of her article, and it seems reasonable that Cross would only write of her own experience and the experience of those she knew through her program, especially given iReport’s format. However, since it bears repeating, here are some stories Indian women have since posted to CNN about their own treatment, good or bad. Gender-based violence looks different for local women than it does for foreigners, but as travelers and allies in the struggle against such violence, we must remember that eventually we will leave, and many women don’t have that option.

Finally, many have highlighted the prevalence of street harassment and gender-based violence worldwide, especially within the writer’s (and my) native United states. Again, I think this is rightfully outside the scope of Cross’s article, but the very existence of this blog and others like it demonstrates that street harassment is not limited to India or the developing world. However, that doesn’t make Cross’s experience any less real or traumatic.

Cross’s experience shows how street harassment is unfortunately only one part of the spectrum of gender-based violence, which includes stalking, groping, sexual assault, and murder. For a victim of this type of violence, even the more “minor” incidents can feel (and become) incredibly dangerous. In a statement to CNN, the University of Chicago writes that all students are offered, “extensive support and advice to students before, during and after their trips abroad,” and yet Cross didn’t approach them during her program. In her own words, she thought she was prepared to handle the stress of India:

“When I went to India, nearly a year ago, I thought I was prepared. I had been to India before; I was a South Asian Studies major; I spoke some Hindi. I knew that as a white woman I would be seen as a promiscuous being and a sexual prize. I was prepared to follow the University of Chicago’s advice to women, to dress conservatively, to not smile in the streets. And I was prepared for the curiosity my red hair, fair skin and blue eyes would arouse. But I wasn’t prepared.”

Contrary to what many online commenters have accused, it appears Cross was as fully equipped as a person could be for the potential stresses of travel. Not only that, she seems to have taken all the usual precautions advised to female travelers (and females in their own countries.) If all of the University of Chicago’s years of experience sending students to India, as well as her personal knowledge from traveling to India previously weren’t enough to help keep her safe, would anything be enough? Short of not going to India, which is not an option for many Indian women and isn’t a viable option for travelers, what more could a woman do to avoid this situation? I think perhaps it’s time for the onus to prevent street harassment to come off of women, and be placed on perpetrators as well as our law enforcement and legislators.

I am impressed that Cross was able to share her story so publicly, and I love that so many women worldwide have taken to CNN’s iReport assignment to join her in sharing their lived experiences with street harassment. I’m a firm believer that speaking up and supporting those among us who speak up is one way of fighting back. Instead of devolving into an argument over where harassment is worse, I hope we remember that women in America, India, and the world over have something in common right now: we are speaking up, and we are fighting back.

Delia Harrington is a recent graduate of Northeastern University and calls Boston home. In recent years, she has found herself studying, working, and volunteering in Egypt, Cuba, France, Benin, the Dominican Republic, Turkey, Germany, and Greece. You can read more of her writing on her blog, or follow her on Facebook and Twitter, @deliamary.

New Book Tackles Street Harassment, Other Feminist Topics

August 27, 2013 By Contributor

By: Julie Mastrine, USA

In the fight against street harassment other gender inequalities, our voices are our most powerful weapons.

This is something I’ve always believed. The fight for social justice is difficult and fraught with roadblocks, chief among them flawed cultural attitudes. The best thing we can do to create change and end issues like street harassment is to fight the fear in our bellies and give a face to these incidents. Stories have power, and they can provide the groundwork we need to help others understand the links between personal injustices and how they connect to a broader, global issue.

This was the thinking behind the creation of my new ebook, Make Your Own Sandwich: A 20-Something’s Musings on Living Under (And Smashing) The Patriarchy. Plenty of people have pegged Millennials as lazy, entitled and narcissistic, but the truth is, our generation has championed the use of new technologies as a way to create lasting change in the world away from our computer screens. Opening up about our experiences online through ebooks, blogging and social media has proven an effective and pervasive way to ignite the change we want to see.

And just what change do we want? My book delves into the more subtle ways we harm and oppress others, like creating conflicting media messages about how women should look or act, using language that pegs femininity as weak or trivial, criticizing how — or if — women wear makeup, taunting women who engage in self-portraiture like the selfie, and yes, street harassment.

The following excerpt from Make Your Own Sandwich delves into the issue of street harassment:

“At some point in their lives — often starting at a very young age — 99 percent of women will experience street harassment. One in four will experience it before the age of 12. Some will endure it every day. Some will experience hateful and sexualized comments. Some will be threatened with violence. Some will be assaulted. Some will replay the incident in their head for years, wondering how they could’ve retaliated, what it was they’d done to deserve being the victim of such behavior…

Too often, women and LGBTQ persons are told street harassment should be taken as a compliment, that it’s just “boys being boys.” But street harassment is not a compliment — it is scary, threatening, and a human rights violation.

Men and women have competed for access to public spaces since the beginning of time. Now that women are no longer expected to stay at home tending to house and children, we’re seeing these power struggles being doled out on the streets. And consequently, it’s made plenty of women afraid.

When I told my mother about my first street harassment incident at age 11 — I was catcalled while walking my dog — she brushed it off, saying, “Oh, that’s always happened around here.” We’ve created a culture in which women are often told to take harassment as a compliment, and if we don’t like it, to watch what we wear, travel with a companion, or otherwise police our own behavior to avoid being targeted. And plenty of women and LGBTQ folk simply accept that they should “choose” to restrict their actions to avoid harm…

“It wasn’t until I started to get wind of the anti-street harassment movement — efforts fueled nonprofits like Stop Street Harassment and Hollaback! — that I learned this wasn’t just an isolated incident, but an issue happening on streets worldwide. As a volunteer for Stop Street Harassment, I learned how powerful it can feel to share these incidents with others to take the power back, whether that means standing at a demonstration with the comment scribbled on a sign or simply sending out a tweet. Just telling other people what happened can be an effective tool that affords the incident less strength over our consciousness and sense of self. It opens up others to the idea that this isn’t something we should tolerate, but should fight back against.”

I hope you’ll give my book a read, and hopefully come away not just with an understanding of the complex sociopolitical landscape of gender issues, but with a sense of empowerment to affect change. Make Your Own Sandwich is available for download here.

Julie Mastrine is an activist, feminist, and writer working in the PR industry. She holds a B.A. in Public Relations from Penn State University, and is a social media volunteer for Stop Street Harassment. You can follow Julie on Twitter.

USA: Claim Your Space!

August 26, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Molly Redding, San Francisco, CA, USA, SSH Correspondent

“Caution: May cause Twitter abuse.” Via South London Today

By now you have probably heard of what happened to Caroline Criado-Perez a few weeks ago. If you haven’t, I’ll break it down for you:

She noticed that there will not be any (non Royal) women featured on the back of British banknotes.
She campaigned to make sure a woman is included.
She succeeded: Jane Austen will be featured on the back of a 10-pound banknote.
She is then subjected to an endless barrage of insults, rape, and death threats on Twitter. (Read my Storify for some of the highlights.)
She is told to “just ignore it.”

A lot has been said written about it, for example here, here and here. I caught wind of this on my Twitter account shortly after it started, but I couldn’t find the time to write about it until now (although maybe a cooling down period was in order so I didn’t write this entire post in ALL CAPS).

What happened was disgusting, despicable, and yes, criminal (one man has been arrested for his threats). At moments I would follow the action riveted by the speed under which the tweets were coming in, only to find myself traumatized by the language and vitriol that was being used. I would distract myself and go do something different. But Caroline didn’t have that choice. And the tweets were directed at her.

You’re probably wondering by now why a blog for a street harassment site is discussing harassment on Twitter. It’s all about power over space. In trying to assert their power over public spaces, men harass women on the street. In trying to assert their power online, they harass women on places like Twitter and Facebook, and in the comments of other websites. The message is the same – you do not belong here. Your presence is not welcome here.

Women also get the same message online that they do on the street – just ignore it, you’re just encouraging them, etc. Caroline was even accused of fighting back just to get attention. To get attention? Are women not allowed to just say, “No!” anymore?

Caroline is not the first woman (or person) to be harassed online, and she certainly won’t be the last. Even when I was considering applying to blog for this website, I feared what would happen if I came out as a Feminist to the Internet. What would they say to me? Could I handle it?

But that’s what this site is about. Reclaiming space. We are fighting for space that allows us to get dressed and not think about changing our outfit to reduce the possibility of comments. We are fighting for space that allows us to express our opinion and be treated with respect and dignity, rather than drowned out by threats of sexual violence. In a public setting you might not be able to shout back or defend yourself, but just by being on the street, on the bus, and posting your thoughts on Twitter, you are sending the message that you cannot be silenced, penned in, broken down.

Caroline is still Tweeting. I applied to blog for SSH, and you are still walking down the street. We are all reclaiming our space.

Molly received a graduate degree in International Development and Gender from the London School of Economics in 2011, where her dissertation focused on websites allowing victims of harassment to post about their experiences. She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 10 years. You can follow her on Twitter, @perfeminist.

Women’s Equality Day: Share Your Story

August 26, 2013 By HKearl

Today is Women’s Equality Day and while we’ve come a long way since women gained the right to vote in the USA in 1920, there is still so far to go since sexism and gender violence are very real issues.

Help bring attention to the issue of street harassment by sharing your story with CNN via their iReport assignment.

I shared mine and then linked my story and the issue to Women’s Equality Day.

Street harassment is a global problem. Studies show that more than 90% of women in countries like Egypt, India, Yemen, and the USA experience it. More than 80% do in Canada. A recent study in France found that 25% of women ages 18-29 feel scared when they walk down the streets. In London, 43% of women ages 18-34 had experienced street harassment just during the prior year.

If you add to that the thousands of stories women have shared on my blog Stop Street Harassment, on the Hollaback! sites, and through the The Everyday Sexism Project, as well as the stories they share on personal blogs, Tumblrs and other social media sites, you can see that this is a huge problem.

Repeated street harassment and severe forms of it cause many women emotional distress and significantly impact their lives, including prompting them to avoid going places alone, to change routes and routines, and even to move neighborhoods or quit jobs.

I’ve seen this over and over through the stories shared on my blog Stop Street Harassment. There was the woman in Kansas who considered dropping out of her PhD program because she was routinely harassed by men near her campus; a woman in Mississippi who quit her job at a retail store because male customers began following her to her car after her shift; and a woman in California who was harassed so many times while she waited for a bus to campus that she finally went home, feeling upset and powerless, and missed the class.

Most telling is how unsafe street harassment makes women feel. Gallup data from surveys conducted in 143 countries in 2011 show that in every single county, women are considerably more likely than men to say they feel unsafe walking alone at night in their communities. Women in low-income countries and high-income countries reported the same rate: 41% felt unsafe. In the USA, 38 percent of women felt unsafe, compared with 11 percent of men.

I also want to bring up the young age street harassment begins. For my book, I surveyed 811 women from 23 countries and 45 US states and nearly 1 in 4 had been harassed in public by men by age 12. That’s seventh grade. Nearly 90% had been harassed by age 19.

Some women even say that the first time they heard sexual comments from men on the street was the moment when they felt they transitioned from girlhood to womanhood. This is a sad statement about womanhood in our society.

In the USA, Monday is Women’s Equality Day. I argue that the USA – and no other country – will achieve women’s equality until street harassment ends. Until we can travel and study abroad, walk to the corner store, wait for a bus, and go to a park without fearing or experiencing sexual harassment, we are not equal.

What can we do?

If you’ve faced street harassment, share your stories, especially with men in your life. Make visible this too-often invisible problem. If someone shares a story with you, don’t dismiss it, don’t tell them it’s a compliment, don’t tell them it’s their fault because of what they’re wearing or that they shouldn’t have been there or out alone. Instead, believe them, offer them support, and tell them you’re sorry that happened.

If you have children, nieces/nephews, teach or mentor youth, talk to them about sexual harassment, about respect, and about how to get help. Let’s ensure that the next generation can be in public spaces safely.

Most of all, don’t harass others, be respectful. Ask for consent before talking to someone. Never use sexual language on the street with someone you don’t know without permission to do so. Treat people how you would want someone you love to be treated.

Let’s make public places free from sexual harassment.

USA: The Act of Cultural Imposition Through Street Harassment

August 25, 2013 By Correspondent

By Nikoletta Gjoni, Maryland, USA, SSH Correspondent

When I recently read about an American woman’s street harassment experiences in India and the negative impact they had on her, I couldn’t help but think about how a) it vaguely reminded me of stories and experiences from my native country of Albania and b) how unsurprised I felt overall reading about RoseChasm’s experiences in a foreign country. Not to say that sexual harassment and lewd behavior doesn’t occur in the good old U.S. of A, but there’s a distinctly different discomfort and fear that courses through you when it occurs in a new place you are unfamiliar with.

People who think street harassment is a form of a compliment driven by attraction are wrong. Street harassment, not unlike rape, is about control. It’s about men claiming their dominance over women and feeling that essential right to comment on or act upon whatever they want. Because boys will be boys.

This can come across as more muted in countries like the U.S. where it is essentially known that no, you cannot just scream out sexually explicit phrases to a passerby or touch someone without their permission. Though today this is general knowledge (or should be general knowledge) in most places a person may live in or visit, the lines become blurred when a society is historically patriarchal to the core, and while women may be respected, they are also kept at a safe distance from men. Just in case.

My country, Albania is steeped in rich tradition, old history, and vast contradictions. Traditionally a patriarchal society with “the man is the head of the house” cliché, it is a country that both honors its women but can easily shame them. Catcalling and whistling is the norm. Being followed for a few blocks by a gaggle of boys is the norm. Being singled out because of your accent is the norm. Most is harmless and amounts to nothing in the end, but sometimes you get the occasional stranger that makes you pick up your step a little bit.

A good family friend of mine (also Albanian) was visiting a few years ago. Out with her mom, aunts, and cousins, she was ahead of the group with one or two other girls. What essentially started out as the “typical” come on (whatever that is) turned into a more frightening experience with the man threatening to take her around the corner and “really show her what he could do to her.” Why? Because she retaliated when he grabbed her while walking by. His ego was bruised and he was humiliated in public.

Forget her humiliation. Forget the fact that she was minding her own business. Forget the fact that had she even noticed him in the first place or made eye contact, grabbing her would still have been a highly inappropriate way to reach out. Forget the fact that he wasn’t even really interested in her as an individual. Forget everything but the fact that he asserted his dominance over a young woman walking down the street and then became verbally abusive when she reacted negatively instead of just walking on.

Is this experience special to Albania? Of course not. One of the first things my friend told me after sharing the story was: “I wished then I had my pepper spray with me.” She’s Albanian, as am I. But we haven’t been raised there. We didn’t grow up with the casual mentality that “girls ask for it” when they dress a certain way, speak a certain way, or act a certain way. And when they don’t—well—just keep on walking and don’t give the perpetrator ammo.

It was a little jarring to see just how often I would get hassled, for one absurd reason or another. And the fact that I didn’t know just how to respond (or whether to respond at all) was what added to the frustration. I am Albanian by blood, traditions, and rearing, but I was a stranger to the minute details that made someone quintessentially from there. And all I could think about was how this kind of behavior just doesn’t happen in the States—a common misconception about the sleek ‘modern’ world vs. everything else that’s old.

But it does happen in the States and it certainly does happen in Washington, D.C. Maybe not to me, not all the time, but to others it does. What we have going for us here is that there is a cultural awareness slowly growing. There are programs, sites, people, and places one can refer to for help. We are becoming better at practicing bystander intervention. RoseChasm didn’t have that luxury in India and there are still so many places in the world that don’t understand the damage caused by victim blaming.

Albania, too is slowly getting there, though it is stuck in a crevice found between tradition and modernity. For all its collective machismo and testosterone driven decision making, it is a beautiful country with much to learn from. I just hope next time I go there will be one less car slowing down on the street just so heads can come out of the windows to whistle and gawk.

Nikoletta Gjoni graduated from UMBC in 2009 with a B.A. in English Literature. After graduation, she did almost four years of freelance work in a D.C. broadcast station, in addition to having worked as a literacy and linguistics assessor for pre-k classrooms in D.C.’s charter schools. To get to know her better, she can be tracked on both her creative blog and Twitter, @nikigjoni.

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