Archives for August 2014

I moved to Washington Heights three months ago, optimistic that I would be living in a safe and family-oriented environment.  Our broker, landlord, and several people in the street were very complimentary of the neighborhood.  I had high hopes.  And everyday since I moved in, it’s been a nonstop harassment party for the men that lurk on the street.  They come up to me, get in my face, whisper in my ear, cat call across the street, smooch at me as I walk by.  Who knew “God bless you” could be the worst thing I hear all day?  When it’s dripping with prurience, it’s disgusting and threatening.

I can’t even dress the way I want to (we’re talking nice jeans, nice top) unless I’m with my husband because of the attention it draws.

The worst of it is, their words & advancements are intimidating, weakening, crippling even.  I feel powerless.  Thank you for giving me hope that we can fight this.

To an outsider, this may seem a petty nuisance, but when it affects where you walk in your neighborhood, what you wear, how you carry yourself in the public sphere, it’s impinging on your rights!  It’s an insidious crime.  I hope we can all stop it, at least for the next generation.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

Education, classes & workshops for parents to learn ways to teach their children the respectful, and more effective ways to pursue people they’re interested in.

– Anonymous

Location: 162nd & Broadway Washington Heights, New York, NY

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea

 

I’m only sixteen years old and have been honked, and whistled at, I’ve had sexist, sexually explicit comments, and kissing noises made, as well as yelled at me by men in their late 30s and above, MORE THAN 10 TIMES IN MY LIFETIME. This doesn’t make me feel confident or a lady, this makes me feel disgusted, disrespected, and lowers my confidence. I can’t wear jeans and a crew neck shirt without some guy saying something vulgar to me or constantly eying me as though I’m some trashy object.

– Anonymous

Location: Bus stop and walking home in San Diego, CA

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea

I’ve been street harassed lately. Some guys call me out as “Indian” “farmer” and “thug boy” only because I’m brunette. Women call me out as “looks like a child” “weirdo” and “autistic boy” because I avoid glancing other people in the streets. I feel demoralized and weak. I also feel more uncomfortable in the streets so I’d rather stay at home.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

Posting ads in the buildings rooftops showing common slurs. That’d make people aware of this issue.

– Anonymous

Location: Colombia

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea

One of my earliest harassment experiences was at about 15 years old. My girlfriend & I were walking along the road when one of four lads driving past in a car shouted, “Have you got hair on it yet Love?”

This was the first of too many to document!

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

Educate the perpetrators, as well as the victims, that what they are doing is harming all girls and women.

I think most men who harass women in the street do it “innocently” and genuinely think it is “a bit of fun.” Educate everyone on what harassment looks like, what it feels like.

When I have gently addressed a male’s belittling of harassment by asking them to put themselves in the victims shoes (eg, she is 5′, you are 6’2″ – if a big hairy bloke of 7’2″ put you on his knee & toyed with you like a doll?). They get it then!

Men think we have “taken it the wrong way,” because they don’t understand the culture they perpetuate. It is hard to change behaviour if the perpetrator (and sadly often the victim) sees it as the norm.

Legislate? Harder penalties for harassment? A man in a bar in Singapore grabbed my breasts, but my ex-pat male colleague made light of it, so I didn’t feel able or supported in calling the police. If it is law, it is harder to sweep aside.

– Michele Dougherty

Location: Larne, N. Ireland

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas

“You have a beautiful smile.” I was talking to another person, so the remark didn’t quite register the first time. He said it again, and then a third, insisting that I acknowledge his compliment.

Why he felt that my replying to his compliment was more important than my conversation with another person is beyond me.

It’s not a big thing, in that he wasn’t hollering obscenities at me. But still, we are complete strangers, and I did not owe him my time.

– Anonymous

Location: San Diego, CA

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas