Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for April 2015

#EndSHWeek Wrap-Up: Day 5

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So many events today! Read about four examples of actions in the past 24 hours. See the updated photo album. Here is our media coverage (more than 50 media hits) so far.

Studies and Campaign:

* A study released today in France found that 100% of more than 600 women surveyed across the country had faced sexual harassment on the transit system. I spoke with staff at the deputy minister for women’s rights, Pascale Boistard, today by phone and they plan to roll out a comprehensive anti-harassment campaign on transit systems across France in about a month. This would include trains, buses and subways in every city. To my knowledge, this will be the first country-wide campaign!

* The Los Angeles transit authority launched an “It’s Off Limits” anti-harassment campaign on their system!

* Cornell University and Hollaback! released findings from an opt-in survey conducted through their localized sites at the end of 2014. More than 4,000 women under 40 years old took it. While it is not nationally representative nor does it look at men’s experiences or factors like race or sexual orientation (as our 2014 GfK study does), it does provide more insight into the impact street harassment has on harassed persons, which is valuable information.

Virtual Efforts:

* @INBreakthrough, @FemIndProject and @PixelProject co-hosted a Tweet chat about cultural differences in harassment and reactions, #EndSH2015

* Latin American countries are super active this year. Today alone, NGOs in Chile, Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay took photos with anti-harassment, pro-respect messages and posted them on social media. Gracias!

* In France, after a business woman tweeted that getting whistled at is nice, thousands of people shared their street harassment stories using the hashtag #plutotsympa. The hashtag trended for part of the day.

* Today was the 3rd anniversary of the UK-based international group Everyday Sexism. Founder Laura Bates said that today alone, 45,000 people tweeted about sexism, including street harassment, using the hashtag #everydaysexism.

Articles:

* Iranian women’s street harassment stories.

* Kenya: Because I Speak Out I Feel Safer

* An Afghan woman writes about how words matter

* Rhett Butler is a Jerk

* Activists Put Up “No Catcall Zone” Street Signs in NYC and Philly (my article for Feministing). More than one dozen outlets covered the catcall signs too, and cited Anti-Street Harassment Week

Video:

* Our board member Maliyka Muhammad spoke on Fox news in NYC!

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Four Examples of #EndSHWeek Efforts

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There are so many amazing efforts and campaigns happening for International Anti-Street Harassment Week! Here are four examples….

Nepal:

Activista Nepal held a street demonstration demanding safe public toilets at Sundhara, Kathmandu. Yesterday they held a youth workshop on street harassment.

The Netherlands, via Den Haag FM:

“Dozens of men were this afternoon on the square shouted at by a group of women. These women are part of the action group Citizens Street Harassment wants to bring this behavior to the attention and wants to fining.

Anti street “What we do can not make it, but the men who do that to us can not make it. I am a random person who never asks, just as they are. How strange is it that someone in an unpleasant way interfere with you? “Said Jessica van der Pluijm, one of the protesters.

The ladies have collected signatures to eventually submit a citizens’ initiative to criminalize street harassment. MP Ahmed Marcouch (PvdA) has pledged to get started with the criminalization of street harassment.”

Italy:

NO Molestie Di Strada is posting stickers against harassment across Italy!

India, via I am in DNA of India:

“I am in dna of India, iamin.in, a hyperlocal news platform and Safe City, an NGO that provides a platform for people to share their personal stories of sexual harassment and abuse in public spaces have teamed up to bring you local and concerned voices pained by everyday street harassment.

In our research to find most unsafe zones for women in Delhi, South Delhi’s Lal Kuan area topped the list. It was not just street harassment that we found rampant there, it was a whole lot of issues surrounding it that prompted us to amplify the voices of victimized locals and bring to you their concerns through a dedicated page.“

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Afghanistan: Words Matter

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In our society, if a woman is known as being promiscuously or immoral, it is nearly impossible for her to free herself of that label.

Guest Blog Post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2015

When I speak about street harassment, I notice the ears of men go red. I wish it was out of shame or fear of it. Women face many different kinds of harassment and abuse in our society: physical, sexual and or mental.

I have often thought about how mental abuse and harassment can be one of the worse methods of marginalizing women. This kind of harassment cannot be seen and pointed to, but it can leave a lasting impact on people’s emotional and mental health. Unfortunately, I have also noticed that most women tolerate this kind of abuse in silence for many difference reasons. One of the reasons may be that they feel standing up to defend themselves is not effective. Especially in Afghanistan where religion and traditions have been mixed and hard to distinguish from one another, it is hard to prove to men that their behavior and the harassment they perpetuate is unjustified. In addition, these men have access to many different weapons to justify their behavior and silence anyone who objects. When it comes to shutting women up, the most efficient weapon has been character assassination.

Opinionated and educated women are more likely to be hunted down by this weapon because they are viewed as a threat to patriarchy. The men who attack these women know very well that if a woman is known as being promiscuously or immoral, it is nearly impossible for her to free herself of that label. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that usually women are attacked when they disobey the laws of our patriarchal society and stop bowing their head to misogynistic systems and structures. When women don’t submit to men’s power and desires, take ownership of their own bodies, view themselves as more than commodities and things or speak up using logic, their character is immediately assassinated.

The literature of this form of terror is simple, but specific. It is enough to call a woman certain things over and over at different settings and venues in order for her to be delegitimized. These words include but are not limited to promiscuous, immoral, prostitute, whore, infidel, man-hatter, angry, bitch…. Isn’t it fascinating that there are no male equivalents for the words bitch, whore, slut…?

If one tries to fight harassment by talking to misogynists as two fully developed human beings who are deserving of equal rights, if one decides to respect oneself and not give into this myth of female inferiority, one is immediately labeled shameless. If one uses logic, she is called infidel. If one points out to inappropriate behavior by men, she is called a man-hater.

Standing strong despite the devastating effects of these words is not easy, especially if a woman wants to have some public approval and impact. These words cause long term emotional and mental issues. They destroy women’s confidence and exhaust them. They break women’s spirits and tear them to pieces. Perhaps that is why one should learn how to gather one’s pieces and stand against the angry wave of misogyny.

By Farima Nawabi, cross-posted from the Dukhtarane Rabia (Daughters of Rabia): A blog on social justice in Afghanistan

Poster text: In our society, if a woman is known as being promiscuously or immoral, it is nearly impossible for her to free herself of that label.

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Los Angeles Metro Commits To Fighting Sexual Harassment

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(Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)

Great news out of Los Angeles! The LA Metro has launched a new campaign called “Its Off Limits” to dissuade harassment on trains and buses and encourage victims to report.

The campaign follows a recent survey that found that while approximately 20% of LA Metro’s 22,604 riders have experienced sexual harassment during their commute, only 99 people reported this behavior in the past year.

With the new campaign, victims can report harassment either using a special hotline or a phone app.

The campaign officially launches tomorrow with a press release at 11am at Union Station, though the posters are up today!

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Study: All Women In France have been Harassed on Public Transit

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More soon, but quickly wanted to share that the first report on gender harassment and sexual violence on public transport across France was released today.  It found that ALL of the more than 600 women surveyed had experienced it at least once in their life on public transportation. In half of the cases, the victims were minors when it first occurred.

Via English RFI:

“You ask a woman, ‘Have you been a victim of harassment or violence in public transportation?’ And she will say, ‘No, not at all’,” explains Elisabeth Moiron-Braud. “But then you ask, ‘Has a man ever pressed up against you or put his hand on your bottom?’ And she will say, ‘Yes!’”

Moiron-Braud is a lawyer who worked on the report for the High Council on Equality between Men and Women (HCEfh) which was presented to the deputy minister for women’s rights, Pascale Boistard.

It is aimed at tackling the range of sexual harassment and assault on public transportation, from catcalls at bus stops, to groping in the metro, to rape in train cars.

The report calls these behaviours “manifestations of sexism” which affect women’s rights to feeling secure, and which limit their use of public space and their ability to move around.

The challenge is identifying the problem. Catcalls can be considered by women and men as flirtation; groping is seen as so common as to not warrant a complaint.

“Women are used to it,” says Laure Salmona, of the Association Mémoire Traumatique et Victimologie, a victims’ rights advocacy group.”

High Council for equality between women and men plans to launch a comprehensive national campaign around harassment on buses, subways and trains next month. To my knowledge, France would be the first country to do this across the whole country!!

H/T Dan Moshenberg

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