Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for January 2015

Three new street harassment videos

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Phew, it’s hard to keep up with the number of street harassment videos being made these days! Here are three that were published over the past 24 hours:

1. Through Immediate Justice, teenage girls share their street harassment and sexual harassment in school stories in this video and say, “I am not a cat.”

2. Camonghne Felix performed the spoken word piece “Meat: A Reflection on Street Harassment” at The Strivers Row #BlackLivesMatter Benefit Show.

3. Hollaback! commissioned filmmaker Aden Hakimi to make a video in which Michelle shares her street harassment stories.

A Hollaback! email about the video included this from Aden, the filmmaker:

“After speaking at length with Michelle about her life and her experiences with harassment, I decided to shift the focus from watching her to listening to her. I was struck by the often ignored reality that even when harassment isn’t happening in the moment, the possibility of it, the reminders of it, and the fear of it is ever present. Some have said the video may not go as “viral” as the first and I found that a powerful commentary on its own; that people would be willing to watch a woman get harassed over and over again but then not be interested in listening to her talk about those experiences. We all hope the video continues to open up the dialogue about the various forms of harassment that women, women of color, queer women, and feminine presenting people deal with on a daily basis.”

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From NYC to Nepal: New Transit Campaigns

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As part of the revived anti-harassment subway campaign launched in the fall, New York City has new anti-harassment PSAs.

Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, Nepal, there is a new women-only minibus service that is in part in response to a World Bank survey showing that a quarter of young Nepalese women had experienced sexual harassment on public transport. As I’ve shared on this blog many times (including when I wrote about riding a women-only subway car in Cairo) and discuss in my first book, sex-segregated public transportation is in several cities worldwide but it is a sexist, gender-normative band-aid solution at best and at worst, it simply doesn’t work. You can read Jessica Valenti’s take on it at The Guardian.

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“As if it’s a milestone in a little girl’s life”

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At the age of 9, a man told me I had sexy legs. It caught me off guard and I thought wow, I’ve never been called sexy before. Shortly after men whistled at me and told me I should unzip my sunflower skirt. I lost my innocence.

My teenage years were a time of yearning for acceptance so I wore short skirts and belly shirts just to get attention. It was an awkward time and I thought it was normal to the point that I confused my self-worth based on a guy’s opinion.

My twenties turned dangerous: I would get followed or receive scary threats. Now in my late twenties I get defensive and stick up middle fingers.

I’m still finding ways to handle the situation, that’s why I take this matter seriously. Someday I know I might have to face this again with a little girl when she gets her first catcalled by a grown man and I’m going to explain why it happened. As if it’s a milestone in a little girl’s life, like getting her first period. It’s an unpleasant surprise but eventually you learn to deal with it. How can that be possibly explained to a child? The thought of it disturbs me.

– Maria

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

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India: Report street harassment by ATM

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Really interesting innovation out of India. I’d like to learn more about the process after someone makes the report.

Via CityMetric:

“In the Indian state of Odisha, the state government estimates that around 60 per cent of sexual assaults against women go unreported…

For Joydeep Nayak, the head of the state’s police human rights unit, part of the problem lies in the practical barriers preventing women from reporting assault and harassment…So, spurred on by reports of the gang-rape and death of a Delhi woman in Deceber 2012, Nayak came up with a solution, in the form of what looks like a police-sponsored ATM machine.

The ICLIK, developed by the Odisha government and OCAC, a local computer company, allows women to log a report of assault or harassment while appearing to visit a bank machine. The machine is located inside a Bank of Baroda indoor ATM area in Bhubaneswar, the state capital…

Users start by choosing a category of assault. They then leave further details…by typing on the screen, scanning a written report or recording an oral message. The information is sent directly to the local police control room, for officers to investigate.

The machine’s location in an ATM area means it’s open 24 hours a day, and is under the watchful eye of a security guard. Since its introduction in January 2014, the ICLIK has reportedly received around five reports a day, with harassment being the most commonly reported crime.”

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