This post is from our Safe Public Spaces Team in Missouri, USA. The SPSM projects are supported by SSH donors. If you would like to donate to support the 2015 mentees, we would greatly appreciate it!
There is a lot BikeWalkKC is thankful for this holiday season.
We are thankful for the Kansas City, Missouri City Council who unanimously voted to pass an anti-harassment ordinance, which would protect vulnerable road users from harassment on the street. We are thankful for the community’s support before and after its passage, especially those who came forward and told their stories.
We are thankful that street harassment has forefront of conversation. With the infamous Hollaback piece, music videos surrounding street harassment, and articles from publications around the world, it’s clear that people are interested in eliminating street harassment. We hope that interest continues both around the world and here in Kansas City.
Following the passage of the anti-harassment ordinance, BikeWalkKC made it an organization-wide goal to continue to to integrate the ordinance into all of our work. For example, we have been developing a crash and safety app for bicyclists and pedestrians where they can report a crash, road hazard, or case of harassment.
We plan to use this data to identify harassment hotspots throughout the city and report these findings to local enforcement and community organizations. In the coming months, we are also planning on doing follow-up for the ordinance to see how people have been impacted by its passage.
We are currently planning anti-harassment workshops in the spring. We have been researching effective methods and connecting with area organizations and individuals with a vested interest in street harassment and protecting pedestrians and bicyclists. We have spoken with Hollaback chapters, social workers, and community organizers to understand best practices for anti-harassment workshops.
In the survey we conducted last fall, we also asked people what they would like to learn at a workshop. The most common responses were how to be an advocate, what to do as a bystander, and what individuals rights and protections are. We plan to address these topics of interest at our future workshops.
BikeWalkKC is excited to continue to work for safer street in Kansas City and use the momentum from the anti-harassment ordinance and the Women Bike KC initiative to empower more women to ride bikes. We also want to thank Holly at Stop Street Harassment for providing invaluable guidance and support. By partnering with organizations like Stop Street Harassment, we are optimistic that we can continue to make progress in making people of all backgrounds feel safe on our streets.
Rachel Krause is BikeWalkKC’s Marketing and Communications Coordinator.
