Archives for January 2014

If you missed it earlier this month, Amanda Hess’s essay for the Pacific Standard titled “Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet” is an important read. Her thorough article looked at both the harassment that women endure and the toll it takes on them, both mentally and financially.

Amanda Marcotte wrote an excellent response piece for The Daily Beast that connects well to the issue of street harassment. Here is an excerpt:

“If we understand online harassment to be an outgrowth of other forms of abuse of women, from cat-calling to rape and domestic violence, then the pat assertion that it’s a modern, Western phenomenon is much harder to pull off. That’s particularly true when trying to claim sexual liberation somehow causes the harassment. Countries that have a more sexually repressive culture than the U.S. —think Egypt or India—have plenty of sexual harassment and assault problems to go around. The blunt truth is that why some men harass women—or beat women or rape women—is not at all complicated. They do it because it makes them feel powerful. They do it because they want women to be submissive, second-class citizen. They want women to know our place is as servants and sex objects instead of real people, and are willing to resort to violence and harassment to get their way. This is true whether your society is feminist or patriarchal, sexually liberated or repressed.

This is not a matter of speculation. Studies show a strong link between a man’s embrace of traditional gender roles and his propensity for domestic violence. Even just exposing a man to sexist jokes is linked to that man expressing more tolerance for violence against women. Violence and harassment against women is not some inexplicable phenomenon of nature, but an expression of an ideological belief that women should be subservient. The Internet doesn’t create the urge to harass women, and it probably doesn’t even magnify it. What it does is it makes harassment more efficient and personal, all at the same time. A man who likes to abuse and harass women is limited by physical proximity, time restraints, and legal considerations in the real world. There are only so many waitresses whose butts you can pinch in a day, especially without being thrown out of restaurants or even having the police called. You can holler at women on the sidewalk, but they can move along. Online, however, a man who enjoys harassing women can attack dozens in a very short period of time. He can recruit his friends to make the attacks more intense and has a lot more avenues for attack, going through email, Facebook, Twitter, and blog comments. It’s harder for women to just walk away from your cat-calling online; they have to actively block the harasser. (Which in turn is also exciting for the harasser, who can use the blocking as evidence that he successfully got under his victim’s skin.) Following women without getting the cops called on you is much easier online than in public. If a particular woman catches a harasser’s attention in public, odds are low he will be able to figure things like her name and how to find her. But online, you not only have all sorts of details about the object of your obsession’s life, but you have multiple venues to get to her.

While these specifics can and should be addressed through technological and legal means, we also need to understand that none of this online harassment is happening in a vacuum. It’s all just a new way of expressing a very old—indeed, an ancient—sentiment, that a woman’s place is to be silent, submissive, and servile to men and that any women who disagree are to be put down with violence. The long-term solution to the problem is to fight for women’s equality, and keep fighting until the idea that a woman is anything but equal to a man is a relic of the past.”

AGREED!! Street harassment, online harassment, sexual violence and rape are largely symptoms of gender inequality. Any effort we can make to close the equality gap will lead to a decrease in these issues. How will you help?

Suzanne Rothman writes about street harassment in Azerbaijan for Eurasianet Commentary. Excerpt:

“On paper, Azerbajani women enjoy full legal equality with men. Section II of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan states that “men and women possess equal rights and liberties.” In addition, Azerbaijan signed in 1995 the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It’s also true that in some professions, Azerbaijani women have been able to build careers.

But on the streets of Baku, in everyday situations outside the workplace, it’s still clearly a man’s world. I have lived in Baku since September 2013, working as a teacher of English, and I witness on a regular basis men accosting women in a host of degrading manners. My impressions about harassment are buttressed by the stories I hear from my Azerbaijani female friends and acquaintances. The most dehumanizing one my local friends and I have experienced so far is the literal catcall. Men will beckon women with the same set of tongue clicks used to attract the attention of cats. Men here also can be very direct, often inviting women, who are total strangers, into their cars.

Constant street harassment creates an atmosphere of intimidation. Men do not restrain themselves to making comments and sounds, but often follow women around after being ignored. Not too long ago, I walked away from an older man who tried to speak to me, and instead of leaving me alone after his advances were flatly rejected, he followed me down the street until I walked into a shop. This all happened in broad daylight, and it happens a lot according to my Azeri female friends who regularly endure similar experiences.

The problems for women intensify after sundown. A woman walking outside alone at night is often perceived to be a prostitute, regardless of what area she is in, what she is wearing, or her demeanor. Men in vehicles are apt to bluntly approach women and offer them money for sexual services. My friends and I walked in the opposite direction after receiving such a proposal, only to realize the driver backed up in the street to follow us. Such predatory behavior is typical. A local colleague relayed that after returning home late one night a man followed her to her building, asking “how much?”

This pattern of male behavior creates an environment that compels women to stay at home after dusk. Though legally they are free to do as they please, women choose to remain housebound due to the harassment they know they will endure by going out.”

This is not okay.

The good news? Last year, Jake Winn, a Peace Corps volunteer and a youth development facilitator in northern Azerbaijan, worked with male students who made an Anti-Street Harassment video. The title, “Ay Gardash! Kishi Ol!”, can be translated to, ‘Hey man, be a gentleman!” They are distributing the video throughout the country, along with a lesson plan and discussion questions for other volunteers to use with their own students: Street Harassment Lesson Plan (English) | Street Harassment Lesson Plan (Azerbaijani)