Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for August 2014

“Women live in two worlds”

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Last night I was out to dinner with my boyfriend. I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and the guys who had been sitting next to us at the bar happened to be out front smoking a cigarette as well. I was looking at my phone but couldn’t help but hear one of the men say “watch this” as he began to approach me. I did not look up from my phone, did not acknowledge them at all, just walked to the other side of the front door so I was behind a sign.

The guys who were “supposed to watch this” we’re saying things like “ouch” to their friend. A couple moments pass and the man who seemingly tried to approach me starts yelling “and that bitch hiding behind the sign is OFFENSIVE! F***ING OFFENSIVE!” I did not acknowledge them one iota and walked back inside to continue my nice evening with my boyfriend.

Women live in two worlds. When I was beside my boyfriend at the bar I was his property. But 50 feet away, on the side walk alone I was just some bitch to be pursued.

– Hannah

Location: San Diego, CA

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea

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“Street harassment could have seriously injured or even killed my unborn child”

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I wanted to share with you how street harassment could have seriously injured or even killed my unborn child. The other night on my way out from picking up my food, I went to take a left out of the shopping center. I live in a fairly quiet suburban town. Especially late at night. So of course as I held my food in the seat next to me as this left turn happens to be very sharp, I did not expect to hear a loud man’s voice scream “Hey Sexy” The loud, unexpected voice took me off guard and I jumped unable in the fear of the moment to be able to determine where the voice came from.

For a split second I feared it came from inside the car. I lost control of the wheel and nearly ran into a cement road block. Thankfully I regained control in time. I had to pull over, angry at this man and crying at the thought of what could have happened. I hope this man saw me lose control of my vehicle because of his unnecessary remark.

I hope he thinks twice before ever being so disrespectful to a woman in such a manner.

– Amanda

Location: Cinnaminson, New Jersey, USA

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

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“You’re not that pretty anyway”

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I was near my appointment time for an interview at CoStar, located at 1331 L St. NW, Washington, DC. A block away from the location, I walked in the wrong direction going north on 14th St NW. Unknown to me I passed a group of men in various work uniforms. One was a FedEx uniform. As I passed, I heard them mumbling in low tones and remarking that “I was pretty” and some laughter followed. I ignored them in order to stay focused on my interview.

I turned around when I realized I had gone in the wrong direction, and as I passed the group of men again I heard someone say, “Ma’am, do you need directions?” in a tone that echoed sexually harassing comments I had heard before. I kept walking. Then someone from the group said, “You’re not that pretty anyway.”

I then turned to the group and flipped my middle finger at them. They backed off and I went to my interview at CoStar. This interview came through an employment agency. Despite the harassing incident, I had a good interview with CoStar. I reported my interview experience to the employment agency and the agency found me to be a favorable candidate for this position. About an hour later, I received a call from the employment agency telling me that I was removed from consideration of this position because CoStar’s FedEx delivery person saw me at the interview. He reported that I flipped him off in response to his offensive remarks. I was told by the agency that although I would not be hired for the position I interviewed for, I would still be considered for other positions after checking the comfort level of her employees, though she implied that that comfort level would be low, leading me to believe that I would not receive future work from this agency.

– LMC

Location: 1331 L St. NW, Washington, DC

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

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FOX News is wrong about street harassment

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Via Media Matters

Funny… I just finished writing an article about street harassment and the media in which I made the case that mainstream media is largely shifting its coverage of street harassment from saying it’s a compliment to portraying it as a serious issue. Well, FOX News just made itself an outlier.

Via Media Matters:

“Fox News hosts defended the practice of catcalling, insisting women should “let men be men” and downplaying the harmful impact widespread street harassment has on women.

On the August 28 edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered, hosts highlighted a New York Post opinion article that suggested women “deal with” “flattering” catcalls. Co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle defended street harassment saying, “let men be men,” and, “look, men are going to be that way. What can you do?” Guest host and Fox contributor Arthur Aidala reenacted his personal signature “move” — aiming a slow round of applause at women on the street, which one host said she’d find flattering.”

I know FOX is kind of a ridiculous “news” source, but they do have a large viewership, so this disturbs me.

I feel like a broken record explaining why FOX is wrong. So I’ll just say this much:

1 – Street harassment is not a compliment or flattering. It’s disrespectful, it’s objectifying, it’s someone speaking about you without your consent in a public space.

2 – It’s also often scary or unsettling. Almost half of all women have experienced some kind of physically aggressive form of street harassment in public places in the USA and that can make seemingly “harmless” catcalls feel scary too… we don’t know when someone will escalate into something worse.

3 – Street harassment is not just men saying “hey baby” to a pretty woman. Street harassment is the manifestation of systems of oppression, be it sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ablism, racism, classism, etc. Anyone who is discriminated against in other arenas of life has probably been harassed on the street.

4 – Street harassment begins for most people when they’re teenagers. By adult harassers. How creepy is that?

5 – Sexual harassment/street harassment is NOT “natural” for men. It’s learned behavior. One obvious piece of proof is that many — maybe even most — men do NOT street harass.

It’s NOT a compliment.

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Help More People in the UK and Ireland Enjoy a Good Night Out!

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From Hollaback! London:

“Since March 2014, we’ve been working with pubs, clubs, bars and venues across London to prevent harassment and create safer nights out. The response has been overwhelming. Now, organisers across the UK and Ireland want to bring Good Night Out to their towns and cities. We’re fundraising £5000 to make this happen – watch our crowd funding campaign video and find out more.

Good Night Out is a pioneering new campaign designed to transform the way pubs, clubs and bars handle harassment and assault at their establishments. We’ve designed a pledge which we invite venues to sign up to, which reads:

‘If something or someone makes you feel uncomfortable, no matter how minor it seems, you can report it to any member of our staff and they will work with you to make sure it doesn’t have to ruin your night.”

Upon signing up to our campaign, all participating businesses

  • display our pledge posters informing customers what to expect
  • fully brief staff on the new addition to the workplace policy
  • have access to our special training workshops for staff
  • are named and linked to on the Good Night Out website
  • feedback regularly to us for advice and support about dealing with harassers

Since March this year, we’ve worked with venues, pubs bars in clubs ranging from local bars, to 1000+ capacity venues to improve their safety policy. We’ve had 100% positive feedback from the venues we’ve worked with so farwho include Village Underground, Dalston Superstore and Fabric. Since launching, we’ve been inundated with enquiries from organisations and activists across the country who want to see Good Night Out in their area, so we’re working with them to make this happen!

Here are some of the venues we’ve already worked with across London.

We’re now organising with groups around the UK and Ireland from Sheffield to Galway, Glasgow to Kent, Limerick to Oxford, Brighton, Bristol, Norwich, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Coventry and more to get the message out and ensure we have a real impact on the way the nighttime economy deals with harassment, whatever form it takes.”

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