Archives for February 2015

Iowa college student in hospital after intervening

February 21, 2015 By HKearl

Our thoughts are with this brave student…

“A group of men were harassing a woman in Ames when bystander Cale Truhlsen of West Des Moines stepped in to try and stop it. Truhlsen was attacked by the group…and he’s still in the hospital after suffering a broken nose, a black eye, and a hole in his intestine that required surgery….

Alan Heisterkamp, Director of Mentors in Violence Prevention Leadership Institute and the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Northern Iowa, says Truhlsen did the right thing by intervening….He says it’s important to know your boundaries and not step in when you don’t think you can make a difference on your own.

‘At the end of the day, why do men harass women, and why do men assault other men who challenge those sexist or disrespectful behaviors? We have to have a conversation with our young men about this. I had three of my daughters go to Iowa State. I would have hoped if something like this had happened to one of them that someone like him would have stepped in.'”

Volunteers Needed for Anti-Street Harassment Week

February 21, 2015 By BPurdy

We need your help! We currently have two opportunities to volunteer with Meet Us On The Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week:

1) Translators – we want to get our message as far around the world as possible, and to do that we need to be able to translate our materials into many different languages. Most translations are short, with some longer opportunities also available. We are in specific need of the following languages:

Tok Pisin
Hiri Motu
Bengali
Hindi
Urdu
Punjabi
Marathi
Egyptian Arabic
Hebrew
Nepalese
Kinyarwanda
Arabic
Vietnamese
Croatian
Mandarin
Japanese
Indonesian
Turkish
Russian
Italian
Portuguese
Shona
Swahili
Romanian
Korean

2) We are also looking for a volunteer who can make a 1-ish minute clip inviting and encouraging people to participate, using images from past years’ events. Something akin to this past video.

If you are able to help in anyway, please email Britnae at bpurdy@stopstreetharassment.org and let her know what opportunity you can assist with (and if it’s a translation, what language/s you speak).

Turkey Marches and Tweets, Los Angeles Prepares for a Transit Campaign

February 20, 2015 By HKearl

TURKEY: Last week, a mini bus driver tried to rape Ozgecan Aslan, a student at Cag University in the southern province of Mersin, when she was the last passenger. He beat and killed her, cut off her hands, burned her body and tossed it into a river. News of her grisly death sparked outrage. Over the weekend, thousands of people marched in black and online, the hashtag #sendeanlat (#tellyourstory) trended as women shared their stories of harassment and abuse.

Via Al Jazeera:

“Women across Turkey used the hashtags to share experiences of public harassment, as well as incidents within the family, from adolescence through to adulthood.

Many said their lives were restricted by harassment and that they had to take precautions to avoid it, such as dressing more conservatively and carrying pepper spray.

Some said they have had to alter their routes on the street and get off public transportation to avoid harassment. Others said they have had to seek refuge in cafes and shops to avoid stalkers..”

USA: Peace Over Violence will be partnering with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on an anti-harassment transit campaign in April! A survey last year showed that 1 in 5 riders has faced unwanted sexual behavior. In the meantime: “Anyone who sees inappropriate behavior can call 911 or the sheriff’s hotline: (888) 950-SAFE (7233).”

Scotland: Sexual Harassment Survey and Poster

February 20, 2015 By HKearl

The Amina: The Muslim Women’s Resource Centre in Scotland “works with mainstream agencies and policy makers, to enhance their understanding of the Muslim community and of barriers that prevent Muslim women from accessing services and participating in society. [They] provide a range of services to Muslim women.” This includes running campaigns against negative stereotypes and violence against women.

One of their current campaigns focuses on street harassment. Sarah Todd, their Administration Officer, told me by e-mail:

“We were concerned that attitudes about women, especially relating to how they dress, were impacting their treatment on the streets, etc. This was an issue which our organisation had come across on several occasions. We did a survey [see below] and then consequently developed the poster. The poster has been well received across social media and has been developed into a workshop that was delivered by an external party to a men’s group. They found the image hard hitting and had a lively debate around it.”

USA: Dear Men of New York

February 19, 2015 By Correspondent

Dr. Dena Simmons, New York City, USA, Blog Correspondent

Dear Men of New York City,

Please let me walk the streets without your sweet-nothings, your unwanted advances. I don’t care for the elaborate details of what you’d like to do to my body.

No, you cannot take a picture of my badankadonk,
lick my thighs,
suck my toes,
ravage me with your hard cock,
join me on my run,
have my number,
bang me silly.
No, no, no!

I am more than my body. I don’t owe you a smile, a thank you, or a hello. I am not a bitch for ignoring you. I don’t deserve your street-abuse just because I don’t give you my attention or affection.

Please, please, please let me walk down the streets without having to map out a route to avoid your verbal daggers. I don’t like the way you devour me with your eyes, the way you make me feel unsafe, the way you strip me of my humanity.

Your disrespect massacres me.

Please leave me alone. Please don’t touch me. Please let me walk in peace.

My body is not yours. I do not exist for your pleasure. I exist for me.

Respectfully,
Dena

Dr. Dena Simmons serves as the Associate Director of Education and Training at Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence. She is a recent graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University, where her research focused on teacher preparedness to address bullying in the middle school setting.

« Previous Page