Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for December 2013

Help Out on #GivingTuesday

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Queer women of color shared their street harassment stories in New York, July 2013

It’s #GivingTuesday! If you’ve ever been street harassed or if one of your loved ones has been, please consider donating $10 or more to help fund the first-ever national study on street harassment. We need this data to better address the issue. We’re only about $21,000 away from our goal!!!

The study will include a 2,000 person national survey (which is why it costs so much) as well as 10 focus groups with under-represented voices. Already, we’ve done these focus groups with Native Americans in South Dakota, queer women of color in New York, and GBTQ men in Washington, D.C., as well as some regional focus groups in places like Los Angeles and Brooklyn.

There are various perks you’ll get in return for your donation, including a signed copy of the new book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers!

With your donation, you can make a difference in people’s lives, especially the next generation of girls and boys. Everyone deserves to be safe in public spaces but it will take all of us to make that happen.

 

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I Know My Rights

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I work in a branch of psychological research that emphasizes: structural change, policy influence, and empowerment of marginalized groups as they exist within their communities. These are the tools and theories that have guided my work, and similarly, what attracted me to Stop Street Harassment. But what happens when structural change isn’t enough? What happens when the policies change but the culture doesn’t? I had an experience the other day that reminded me of my work—and reminded me that even when the policy and legislature are clear, I have to continue to work to change the culture.

The other day on my way home, having just dedicated hours to working on a section of the “Know Your Rights Toolkit,” I ended up in the transit center for about 30 minutes.

In a mere 30 minutes, mid-day, I was harassed, threatened, and berated by over half a dozen men. I had one man invade my personal space from behind and then simulate beating me with a crutch when I moved away in disgust. I had another pace back and forth staring at me as I was reading alone against a wall. I had one scream at me to smile in a voice that actually sounded annoyed. I was angry and exhausted and for the rest of the day—I actually felt a bit helpless. I knew my rights—and I did nothing. Even more, I was disappointed in the dozens of men who stared on, watched others treat me this way, yet said or did nothing.

When I finally got home, and was able to relax and calm down, I reminded myself that the toolkit was not intended to make victims feel guilty for not reporting—it was created so that we know our rights. And I do.

In the following days, I talked to a mutual acquaintance who is a police officer stationed in the transit center about keeping an eye on the harassment and let him know which areas were the most problematic. I took solace and satisfaction in knowing that my city offers online reporting, and that I can snap a camera phone picture of the particularly heinous offenders in the future. I felt proud of the way I chose to handle those particular harassers in that moment, and I felt grateful for my safety. The experience not only served as a reminder of the challenges in my work, but also reminded me that however I choose to respond that day, is the right way, and that the same remains true for all of you. I hope you all find the toolkit informative and possibly empowering when it releases on December 10. You can join our Tweet chat at 1 p.m. EST that day.

Rickelle Mason is Stop Street Harassment’s fall 2013 intern. She is an undergraduate senior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. With a major in Psychology and a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, she has a passion for feminist psychology, and using community-based participatory research to dismantle gender-based violence. She has worked for several years in the university’s Community Psychology Research Lab, which was recently the recipient of the “Outstanding Training in Community Psychology” International Award.

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“Why are you hiding behind your hair?”

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What about people who get harassed for being ugly? I get laughed out, pointed out and ridiculed by people ranging from kids to old age pensioners. I have also been spat at from a car and had men walk right up into my face to have a good stare at me so they report back to their friends that l am “ugly”.

One of the worst cases of harassment l have experienced was from a car across the road at a roundabout. One of them had its top off as it was summer and he leaned out of the car and began screaming abuse at me. It was totally unprovoked. So was the spitting .

Another time l was walking home in the dark and this group of young men were going into the local train station. Again l was on the other side of the road – One of them stopped and started shouting at me, “Why are you hiding behind your hair? Are you an old hag? Are you an old hag?” He was virtually screaming and again l had done nothing wrong.

I think street harassment also needs to include harassment based on people’s negative reactions to appearances also and equally. My life has been made hell and l know if l tell anyone they won’t believe me.

– LC

Location: Everywhere l walk

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
Check out the new book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers!

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Digest of Street Harassment News: Dec. 2, 2013

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This is a bimonthly digest.

** Sign up to receive a monthly e-newsletter from Stop Street Harassment ***

Street Harassment Stories:

Share your story! You can read street harassment stories on the Web at:

Stop Street Harassment Blog

Bijoya in Bangladesh

Collective Action for Safe Spaces

Everyday Sexism

HarassMap in Egypt

The Hollaback sites

Name and Shame in Pakistan

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Safe City India

Safe Streets in Yemen

Street Harassment in South Africa

Street Harassment In the News, on the Blogs:

* Washington Post, “How should bicyclists handle harassment? D.C. area groups teach empowerment tactics“

* Mother Jones, “Meet the Woman Who Waged an Artistic War Against Her Street Harassers“

* Clutch Magazine, “#FastTailedGirls Hashtag Examines Stereotypes Facing Young Girls“

* Newsworks, “Photographer turns lens on Philadelphia street harassment“

* Women’s News Network, “EGYPT: Bike riders campaign works to stop sexual harassment of women“

 * The Jewish Daily Forward, “Who Harasses Women on the Street“

* PolicyMic, “Burt’s Bees Shouldn’t Joke About Street Harassment“

* The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, “Stand against street harassment“

* I Am Nirbhaya, “Bihar: Woman athlete assaulted for resisting harassment attempts“

* Prospect, “Sexism goes underground“

* Planetizen, “Tools to Protect Cyclists from Street Harassment“

* NYU Local, “Asking For It: NYU Local Explores Street Harassment“

Announcements:

New:

* We’re holding our holiday online auction Dec. 3-8. Check it out tomorrow!

* Our Safe Public Spaces Mentee in Cameroon, held a successful final event on Saturday with more than 20 youth.

* Our Safe Public Spaces Mentee in Chicago taped three dating commercial spoofs on street harassment.

* Holiday Shopping Guide Part 1

* We’re releasing our Know Your Rights Toolkit: Street Harassment and the Laws on Dec. 10 for International Human Rights Day.

* 5 Ways to Take Action during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence that runs Nov. 25 – Dec. 10.

* There’s a new UN report: Study on Ways and Methods to Eliminate Sexual Harassment in Egypt

Reminders:

* Donate to help fund the FIRST EVER national study on street harassment in the USA!

* Save the date — International Anti-Street Harassment Week is March 30 – April 5 in 2014!

* Read about the successful Philadelphia City Council Hearing on Street Harassment on Nov. 7!

* Buy a copy of the new book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers! Here’s how to hold a book club fundraiser for SSH

10 Tweets from the Week

* @Sabali89 I figured out why men making the first move is an automatic turnoff- PTSD from too much street harassment. Sorry fellas. I’ll initiate.

* @CSRA_prsn It’s the first day of the meteorological winter. That means it is prime street harassment season in the South. #endSH

* @mujer_cita_MIA i told a male friend that a man had shouted “lemme lick it” to me in the street & he didn’t believe me #streetharassment

* @msbrandiebrown First experience with #streetharassment as a 9 year old in The Dot, 40 year old dude drives up next to me. Licking his lips #fasttailedgirls

* ‏@DanTresOmi As men we can’t get mad at police when they harass us but give #streetharassment a pass – that’s hypocrisy

* @AwakeBlackWoman You’ve read the stories: 20, 30, 40+ years of dealing with street harassment, abuse, fending off creepers & rapists. But we #FastTailedGirls

* @AwkwardGirlLA Why is it that bc I’m wearing exercise clothes while riding my bike, men think its okay to yell at me from their car? Perv #streetharassment

* @ericadanielle89 Did I ask you if I had a cute ass? Then DON’T COMMENT ON IT. #streetharassment

* ‏@wtsnia nearly every morning these shitheads feel the need to catcall at most of the women who walk by. why. why are you doing this.

* @emmavoight walked back from other side of campus, had four black guys in a car smelling of weed catcall at me on telegraph, feels like home berkeley

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Harassment is a Barrier to Women’s Public Participation

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The new report “‘It’s Dangerous to be the First’: Security Barriers to Women’s Public Participation in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen” includes a portion about street harassment. Here is an excerpt:

“In all three countries, women perceived harassment to be on the rise, becoming both more frequent and more serious….

In the face of growing insecurity – as power continues to be renegotiated throughout the Middle East and North Africa – women activists in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen have established a wide variety of grassroots initiatives to protect themselves and others against threats. Such initiatives have been coupled with powerful outreach and media campaigns at the local, national, and regional level to raise awareness of women’s security concerns.

In Egypt and Yemen a number of initiatives were formed to document accounts of sexual assaults and violence targeting women. Egyptian initiatives such as ‘Harassmap’ and ‘Shoft Taharosh’ (‘I Witnessed Harassment’) are based on the idea that documenting harassment through online and mobile technologies can help raise awareness. Using detailed maps of local incidents of harassment, volunteers talk to people on the streets about sexual harassment, challenge stereotypes and myths, and try to convince communities and the public generally to speak up and act against sexual harassment.

In Yemen several similar initiatives have developed, some of them explicitly modelled on Egyptian approaches, others reacting independently to similar problems. Such initiatives have combined with ‘citizen journalist’ footage of individual instances of harassment and assault. Through film-making and journalistic initiatives they make harassment, sexual violence, and other forms of violence against both men and women visible in novel ways. Mosireen, a video collective, for instance, are documenting violence against male and female protestors on video, acting as an archive and repository for such footage and producing short documentaries.

The combination of visual representations and awareness-raising around the prevalence of harassment with video footage of particularly shocking instances has begun to break down the prevailing attitudes of denial and excuses of harassment as harmless or natural and has been central to raising the profile of this issue and encouraging public debates about it.”

I have so much admiration for the women and men in these countries who are working hard to make sure all women and girls are safe in public places, including safe as they participate in political rallies and events. It takes a lot of bravery.

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