Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for April 2015

“He finally decided to slap my butt and bike away”

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Today I was running around a lake by my apartment and a guy kept following me on his bike until he finally decided to slap my butt and bike away. I felt violated, upset, angry, mad, scared, confused, irritated, and shocked. This is not the first time I have been harassed or had my body touched without wanting to. I don’t understand how some people don’t understand it is not okay to touch another person’s body without asking them.

– LA D

Location: St. Louis Park, MN

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

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“I felt strong – like I could take care of myself”

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When I was a college freshman, I lived in a communal dorm. An obnoxious group of guys would always hang out in the lobby and call out sexual slurs at me as I came and left my room. It was humiliating. I found myself trying to run past them before they noticed me, and even covering up my body so as not to draw too much attention to myself.

One day, I just couldn’t take it anymore. They whistled and said ʺdamn!ʺ really loudly. So I turned around, marched right up to them (at least eight of them) and shouted, ʺWhat do you expect to happen from this? Do you really think a girl will turn around and say ‘Oh wow that’s such a compliment, being told my ass is fine by these complete strangers. Do you want to hook up?’ Has it worked for you yet?ʺ By the look on their stunned faces, I answered for them, ʺNo, I didn’t think so. Get a life!ʺ and stormed off. The rush I felt was incomparable to anything else. I felt strong – like I could take care of myself. And while they did continue to harass other girls, they kept their eyes off of me!

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

The obvious one is more police/security presence. People are always on their best behavior in front of uniforms. I think even training jobs like train station attendants or cashiers, public type positions, how to put a stop to harassment that they witness would do wonders. People are typically too embarrassed to get involved. What they don’t seem to realize is that by witnessing street harassment, they are involved already – by not saying anything, they are actually saying it’s okay.

Bryanna

Location: Clarksville, TN

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

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“We both hid at the edge of building and were afraid of facing them”

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It was last September 2014 and my colleagues and I were returning from our school picnic, held in Daman (touristic place of Nepal, known as snowy village), around 10 PM. Two guys were behind us by approximately 1 km. Then there were two drunk men beating a person who was riding bicycle. They tried to rob him but after a huge injury he succeeded in escaping. We both hid at the edge of building and were afraid of facing them. We waited for the arrival of police but no one came.

It means open terror activities are still happening on the night road and there is lack of police patrolling over there. The blame goes to us? That men? The police? A triangle of confusion arises here.

– Abiral Prajapati

Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

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

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Poppy Smart deserves a safe walk to work

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Poppy Smart

UPDATED: Here’s an article inspired by her story, “Five Reasons Why Street Harassment is Serious”

After weeks of trying various tactics for dealing with street harassers along her route to work (this included men purposely blocking her path), Poppy Smart took the matter to the police (see below). Now lots of people are saying she should get a thicker skin, change her route to work, and stop wasting police time. I shouldn’t be surprised by that reaction, but I am. She has the right to go to work without being intimidated by a GROUP of men (so brave of them, a whole lot of them against one of her) and if going to the police helps her feel safer, then why shouldn’t she?

If only the people who are complaining about her would actually talk to young men/men about this issue and speak out against the harassers instead of the victims, then maybe this wouldn’t happen in the first place.

Here’s what Poppy said happened (via BBC):

“Every day I’d walk past and they’d wolf whistle. They’d even come out of the building site to wolf whistle as I’d continue down the road.

“One of the guys got up in my face and all he said was ‘morning love’, but it was in a very aggressive way and the other one sneered.

“They blocked the pavement and I had to walk around them.”

Poppy told Newsbeat she tried to block out the cat calls.

“I started wearing sunglasses so I didn’t have to look at them. I started putting headphones on so I didn’t have to hear them.”

“Eventually it got to the day where I had enough.”

Poppy called the police and reported it.

“It made me feel really uncomfortable and the fact it went on for so long was the main reason I reported it.

“If it had just been an isolated incident – one, two, three, four times – maybe I could probably brush it off because these things happen and you have to kind of accept these people’s ignorance.”

Poppy says she spoke to the owner of the building site. “He just sort of apologised. He obviously can’t control all of his staff all of the time and I appreciated that.

“I just wanted them to realise it is offensive and I wanted it to stop.”

Good for her. Stop Street Harassment supports her in her quest to get to work safely, without facing harassment!

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