Archives for August 2015

Laura Voth, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

One of the most disheartening aspects of being a woman in this world today is the unpredictability of our environments. Even in spaces that we would expect to be more respectful or tolerant than others (for example, an art gallery compared to a city street), we still encounter threatening situations.

Street harassment on college campuses certainly exists, but it manifests itself in quite a different way than in other spaces. During the day at least it involves much more staring and leering than derogatory comments, and even then it isn’t so prevalent as it is on, say, a city street.

At night, and especially on weekends, the mood shifts. Groups of college boys, already slightly drunk from pregaming, hassle any lone women they spot. Like in any situation, it doesn’t matter what the woman is wearing or how she is acting: they harass indiscriminately. They call out whistles and commentary on their target’s appearance, sometimes even following the woman until she ducks into a well-lit building. The perpetrators will slap each other on the back, hooting and laughing, proud to have asserted their dominance in the presence of their peers.

Shockingly, some of the biggest harassers at my school are actually high school students (at least, that’s the word on the street, and they certainly don’t look any older than sixteen or seventeen). They drive around campus and whistle at the college women, only to floor it when their targets notice them.

This summer, a guy has been using a pseudonym on Facebook to send friend requests to women at my college. He sends messages claiming to be a research student in the psychology department (I’m not even sure what he thought he could possibly mean by “research student”) who is performing a study that would involve a free foot massage.

A close friend of mine alerted the psychology department as well as the Dean of Student Affairs, both of whom have reported back to her saying that there is no individual by that name at the school. They are looking into the situation, but I’m still concerned. Incoming first-year students frequently use Facebook to connect to others at my college, regardless of whether they have met the people they’re “friending” in person. They have questions about everything from life at our school to specific classes and have no reason to be suspicious—and they shouldn’t have to be.

Students frequently forget about the realities of the world while we’re in our little college bubble, especially if we are living in a small, remote town. We pay through the nose not only to get an education but also to fund our safety on campus in the form of better lighting and security, but too frequently we find that those have little impact on our experiences. For women, the facts of what the world is like never really disappear.

What street harassment have you experienced in college?

Laura is an emerging adult-slash-college student studying to enter a healthcare profession. In addition to studying and writing, Laura works at her university’s women’s center where she helps design and implement programs on all things lady.