Julka Szymańska, the Netherlands, SSH Blog Correspondent
Hitchhiking: it’s as old as the road itself, but not everyone feels comfortable with the idea of hopping into a stranger’s vehicle for a ride. This may especially be true for women who are warned about the possibility of harassment or assault while hitchhiking. Yet hitchhiking still has its popularity and plenty of women are hitting the road with their thumb or a sign. So who are these women and why are they getting into a car with complete strangers?
Paulina.
Paulina is a brave 21 year old, born in Poland and currently living in Denmark. Two years ago she embarked on her first hitchhiking journey and ever since that first trip she has used most of her time off school to travel, contributing to her 20.000 kilometers on the road with her thumb. She wanted to see more of Europe’s many different cultures, but didn’t have much money, so hitchhiking was the perfect solution for this desire to explore.
Out of many positive experiences, she did encountered one negative situation: while hitchhiking with her friend in Georgia she was groped by a man after accepting his apparent hospitality. Fortunately they could get away by excusing themselves.
“Hitchhiking is more dangerous for women, women aren’t as physically strong and we risk rape too of course”, Paulina explains. “But i have pepper spray to keep myself safe and I use the ring my grandmother gave me as a fake engagement ring to communicate that I’m not looking for sex. ”She takes pride in being a rule breaker and doesn’t think too deeply about harassment: “If I start worrying about this, I could as well just stop hitchhiking and I don’t want that.”
Paulina’s golden tip for hitchhiking as a woman: “Be careful, but don’t stop traveling. Take a friend with you and you’ll gather memories you will never forget.”
Marjan.
Founder of Dutch hitchhiking foundation Nederland Lift, 36 year old Marjan is a mother of two and hitchhikes to work every Wednesday. She writes about these weekly 15-minute trips on her Dutch-language blog LiftGeluk.nl. After 124 rides in one and a half years Marjan is still hopelessly addicted to hitchhiking and the spontaneous, fun, and sometimes touching encounters she has along the way.
Marjan has never personally encountered any harassment during hitchhiking, but attributes this to the time of day and the short drive to her destination. She also acknowledges that there’s a world of difference between a confident 36 year old woman with plenty of experience and –for example– an unprepared 18 year old.
“An interesting aspect of hitchhiking is the anonymous, yet very real contact you make with people who you would otherwise not have a conversation with, this is unique,” Marjan proclaims. “Hitchhiking negates prejudice: you share a car with people of all walks of life. I believe this brings people closer together.”
Marjan speaks out against the bad reputation hitchhiking has due to harassment by explaining that people often blame hitchhiking, but not trains or buses, where it happens too. The harasser is responsible, not the method of transportation.
“Hitchhiking is a lot like life itself: you never know what comes your way, but it sure is beautiful”, is her motto.
Elisa.
Spanish Audio-Visual Communication student, feminist and acting aficionado Elisa just returned from traveling around the USA by finding rides through word of mouth networking and the Internet. This 23 year old, armed with her camera, overcame her insecurity of traveling alone by deciding to ‘just do it’ and isn’t planning on stopping any time soon.
Elisa is very clear in her convictions: “I believe that discouraging women to travel alone for fear of harassment can lead to victim-blaming. We live in a sexist society where women are told that we cannot do the same things a man can do without hearing ‘I told you so’ if something bad happens.” She wants to disprove that point by doing exactly what people say she can’t do: hitchhike and travel alone, regardless of harassment. “We should do something about harassment and empower women to not be stopped by fear, because otherwise it will paralyze us. I think the solution is to put tools (such as feminism) in the hands of both women and men to prevent harassment.”
Harassment happens in your own neighbourhood too, Elisa calls this ‘the enemy at home’, an enemy women are less prepared for when crossing their own street. “Being scared all the time is no way to live, but during hitchhiking it is something you have more control over.” Elisa carefully selects who to accept a ride from and writes down license plates: she’s aware of the risks and has trust in herself and others.
Stay tuned for the second part of this series next month.
Julka is a 25-year-old feminist activist and soon-to-be Cultural Science student with a generous amount of life experiences -including street harassment – and even more passion for social justice.
