Archives for October 2013

Passenger stops air marshall from taking upskirt photos

October 21, 2013 By HKearl

Federal air marshal Adam J. Bartsch is accused of using his cell phone to take pictures underneath women’s dresses as they boarded a flight Thursday morning at Nashville International Airport. He was on official duty and he was thwarted by a fellow passenger!

Via WSMV:

Passenger Rey Collazo “was sitting next to Bartsch when he noticed the alleged actions of the federal air marshal.

“He did it at least three or four times,” Collazo said. “After that, that’s when I looked at him. I says, ‘Man, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.'”

Collazo alerted the flight crew, and in the midst of the confrontation, grabbed Bartsch’s cell phone to keep him from deleting the pictures.

“He was trying to combat me, but I grabbed the phone and crimped on it. Twisted his wrists,” Collazo said.

Bartsch escaped and soon ran from the plane, right into police.

The flight was delayed by about an hour as officers investigated, and Bartsch was then booked into the Metro Jail downtown on a charge of disorderly conduct.

The man who confronted him seems to just wonder how long it had been happening.

“I have a wife. I have a daughter, and I have a granddaughter. And I have zero tolerance for disrespect to any lady,” Collazo said.

“Taking pictures of ladies without them even knowing that you’re doing that? That’s bad,” Collazo said. “I mean, he’s a law enforcement officer. C’mon!”

Bartsch posted bond Thursday evening and remains out of jail. He lives in Maryland but will return to Nashville to face his disorderly conduct charge next month.”

Way to go, Rey! Thanks for speaking out and stopping harassment.

UK: Our Reality Isn’t Your Fantasy

October 21, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Tilly Grove, London, UK, SSH Correspondent

I was nervous enough about having to use the underpass in the early evening wearing my new dress, so when the men walking past decided to wolf-whistle at me, I was a little shaken. My immediate response in these circumstances is to contact someone, to make me feel less vulnerable; I chose to message a close male friend. Instead of the sympathy I had been hoping for, he replied, wistfully: “I’ve never been whistled at.”

It is a sentiment I have heard often from straight men; no matter how distressed street harassment evidently makes women, they’re positive that the inverse is something that they’d quite like. They like the idea that a woman might come up to them and grab their backside, or make comments that implied (or outright stated) sexual attraction. Some of them might even like the idea of another man doing these things to them. They think that when a stranger catcalls, wolf-whistles, or gropes you, they are merely revealing their attraction to you, and that this would be an incredibly flattering thing to happen.

It may be that this thinking is so flawed through lack of experience, but regardless, it is hardly surprising that street harassment is so prevalent when men feel this way. Even if these men would never themselves holler at women on the street or touch them without consent, the fact that they think the act is inherently complimentary means that they help perpetuate the behaviour. It means they’re less likely to challenge it.

But they are basing their opinion on what street harassment is like from a fantasy. Many men really can only dream of what it’s like. The fact is, it’s not someone coming up to you every now and then to tell you that you look good, or to ask you out. It’s not someone hot pinching your butt in a flirty way, or making their sexual attraction to you known. It is strange men who have no reason other than their evident belief of their entitlement over women to think that you want to hear their opinions or intentions, shouting explicit things at you from across the road or pawing at you without warning or invitation, every time you leave the house. We are sick of men objectifying us whenever we walk by, sick of men intimidating us whenever we go outside. It will never be a compliment in this context.

So, if men actually want to compliment women they see on the street, they should politely get their attention and talk to them. They should keep their hands to themselves, not shout, and not make inappropriate comments or noises. These things are not complimentary; they are disrespectful, and when they come from men who we are acutely aware could easily stalk or overpower us, they become terrifying. We know that the vast majority of men perpetrating street harassment are not doing it to flatter, because it is these methods which they employ most of all. We need men as a whole to acknowledge this, whether they choose to partake in it or not, if we have any hope of seeing an end to it.

Tilly is studying for a BA in War Studies at King’s College London, where she is writing her dissertation on the effect that perceptions of gender have on the roles which women adopt in conflict. You can follow her on Tumblr and Twitter, @tillyjean_.

India: Commodification of Women

October 21, 2013 By Correspondent

By Pallavi Kamat, Mumbai, India, SSH Correspondent

In India, as all over the world, the commodification of women in the media is a very common thing. The women are either shown as docile homemakers at the beck and call of their husbands or they are shown as sex symbols trying to convince the public at large to buy the product. The latter reflects in products as varied and unrelated as cement and residential buildings being sold by skimpily clad women.

How is this related to street harassment you wonder? Walking down the street, women and men are exposed to these advertisements. If a woman ever raises her voice in public over an issue, she is asked to not express her opinion and behave like the calm housewife. Posters of skimpily clad women have been reported to result in violence against women.

Apparently, the general public is unable to distinguish between the advertisement models and the women they see in the social sphere. Or they believe that since the models are unattainable, they can take out their feelings on these women. Either ways, it is the women who have to bear the brunt of such portrayals.

I believe organizations have a certain responsibility in this. At the cost of making profits, they are ignoring their social obligation. After all, they are just as much a part of this society. It is unfair that they use women to sell anything from a soft drink to a tile.

Other than media, the daily soaps and cinema has an equal role to play. In the soaps, women are either meek wives or villainous vamps. Either case, they send our wrong signals. A wrong portrayal of women in the domestic sphere affects the lives of married couples. They expect their wives to be like the ones in the soaps – waiting on their every requirement. The incessant bickering between mothers-in-law & daughters-in-law is responsible for marital discord in many households. And the clichéd stereotyping is not helping at all.

And the Indian cinema industry (Bollywood) only adds fuel to the fire. With the recent spate of movies featuring item songs whose sole purpose is to commodify women & titillate the men, they are not helping the cause. The movie-makers that claim this is the demand of society and reel only replicates the real. However, that is only shirking their responsibility.

However, all is not lost. If the media and the cinema decide to be a little more responsible in their portrayal of women and showcase them in a positive & realistic light, there would not be such ripple effects in society. Sure, at the end of the day, they need to make profits. But earning them at the cost of objectifying women (which ultimately hurts the women) means they will never sleep with a clear conscience. And that is a huge price to bear!

Pallavi is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Commerce Graduate from the University of Mumbai, India, with around 12 years of experience working in the corporate sector. Follow her on Twitter, @pallavisms.

“Annoying immature pricks file”

October 20, 2013 By Contributor

I was with my son, aged 7 at the time, during this summer and we were at a local beauty spot only a few minutes walk from where we live. My son was down a small embankment next to a stream and I was standing at the top on the pathway watching him play and talking to him. There was a man, woman and small child sitting on a bench about 200 yards away to my right. I heard people talking to my left and glanced up. I registered 3 young guys aged about 25ish walking down the towards me with cans of beer in their hands. I registered them but truly this was all the attention my brain gave them and I turned back to my son to hear one of them say in a kinda sing-song voice…and I’m quoting, “Oh look they’re drinking and there’s children about, won’t stop me putting my dick in her mouth!” to which his mates started laughing.

I retorted by saying to him “Obviously no-one allows you to put your dick anywhere mate if you have to say that to random strangers.”

His mates then started the predictable “Woohoo.” My son by this point starting looking worried and asking me what they were saying as he could see I looked angry but I managed to calm down and the guys walked past. This was around 2 p.m. in the afternoon and we had already altered our walk because there was another group of young guys drinking at a particular spot, no doubt their friends. I felt angry, humiliated and vulnerable.

Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?

To be honest, at the time it happened and immediately thereafter, if I had had a baseball bat I would have set about the guy. That is how angry and outraged I was at the time, however, I’m not a violent person in any away and I basically just filed the incident away in my ‘annoying immature pricks’ file. Definitely something that could be addressed in schools more as I know our schools in Scotland promote as part of their curriculum, kids growing and becoming more responsible citizens. With regard to dealing with the here and now, it should fall under the umbrella of something like breach of the peace or even harassment or stalking law. Teaching kids how to act socially also begins at home and I’ll certainly be bringing my son up accordingly.

– Anne Clifford

Location: The Saltings, Old Kilpatrick, West Dunbartonshire, 60, Scotland

Share your street harassment story for the blog.

USA: New Yorkers Share Their #Harassmentis Stories

October 20, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Maggie Freleng, NYC, USA, SSH Correspondent

“#Harassmentis being called a terrorist because I wear a Hijab,” one slogan said.

This was just one of dozens written in chalk on the pavement in Washington Square Park in New York for the #Harassmentis chalk walk hosted by Hollaback!, an international organization to end street harassment.

In an effort to raise awareness of how different people are affected by street harassment, Hollaback! launched their newest publication “#HarassmentIs: An exploration of identity and street harassment.”

Proceeding the launch, Hollaback! also hosted a tweetup on Twitter, encouraging people to share their experiences with street harassment.

In addition, the chalk walk was also meant to inspire people to join the conversation around street harassment.

“Chalk walking is a way for people to get together to express their views in public spaces and engage with community,” Debjani Roy, deputy director of Hollaback! said.

She said the chalk walk was a way to promote the #harassmentis guide while engaging the community in the conversation and raising awareness about street harassment publically.

The #Harrassmentis guide is a way to further explore how harassment affects different people. The guide is a way to make stories that already existed on the Hollaback! blog accessible and presentable to everyone.

“We wanted to put the stories in terms that everyone can understand globally,” Roy said, who also noted they were particularly trying to reach a younger generation. .

About 30-35 people showed up on Friday to participate in the chalk walk. However, Roy said she was most impressed with how many bystanders joined in.

Most people were excited to join in after reading the statements and asking questions about what was going on.

Harassment is something many people can relate to no matter who you are: race, religion, gender, etc.

“#Harassmentis trying to walk like a man for fear of assault,” another slogan said.

The chalk walk was a success and on that beautiful day in a New York park, intersectionality, harassment and the consequences of harassment were shared with the world.

“It was very interactive,” Roy said. “People showed a lot of interest.”

If you weren’t in New York and want to share your experience, hashtag “Harassmentis” on Twitter and keep the conversation going.

Maggie is a Brooklyn based freelance writer and photographer focusing on social justice and women’s issues. She currently writes for Vitamin W. Maggie graduated with a B.A in Journalism and English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2011, concentrating on dystopian literature. You can read more of her writing on her blog or follow her on Twitter, @dixiy89.

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