Archives for November 2015

UK: Venues Must Help Make Gigs Safer

November 30, 2015 By Correspondent

Tracey Wise, London, UK, SSH Blog Correspondent

Since establishing Safe Gigs for Women, one of its core aims has been to get venues and festivals on board. Whilst it is clear venues themselves cannot be fully held accountable for the actions of individuals, there are many actions they can take to ensure a better experience for all their customers, male and female alike, and make it clear that such behaviour is not acceptable in their establishment.

Firstly, having been on the receiving end of unwanted attention by a festival security guard, it should go without saying that staff at such events and venues should be the first line in preventing harassment in the first place. They should also be taking reports of harassment seriously and doing everything they reasonably can to assist the complainant. Venues in Boston, USA provide a safe refuge for anyone in trouble at a gig, and this seems like a fairly simple approach. Dedicated members of staff can then engage with anyone with any concerns or needs. This seems a very practical, low cost approach towards safety.

I understand the music industry, live music in particular, cannot exist without the support of alcohol companies. However, isn’t it time this was reframed? Whilst there has been a campaign in the UK to ‘drink responsibly’ and be drink aware, with so much attention surrounding alcohol and its role in sexual assault, is it perhaps not time that am alcohol company came out to state it will be taking proactive action against this? Actually take the initiative and be the first to challenge this head on? And whilst we’re at it… Soft drinks companies, how about lowering the price of your products in venues, in order to contribute towards greater safety and the enjoyment of others? And venues can reinforce this with greater provision of free water, available at any time, to those who need it. Better use of cooling systems in venues would also reduce the instances of people getting drunk and improve safety all round.

Quite early on from establishing safe Gigs for Women, I was approached by a local authority in London, Camden Council, an area well known for its musical history and links to alternative cultures. To enact the above changes we will need support from local authorities, those ultimately responsible for licensing venues. We’ve been lucky to have Camden on our side. But what about venues and authorities not in favour of projects like this?

Then consider this. I am a self-declared music obsessive person. In working with Camden Council, I did some tough sums, and estimated that with the gigs I have attended in Camden alone this year, the cost of tickets, food and drink that I have spent in their local economy is somewhere between £1500 – £1800. When women who have experienced harassment at gigs state that their experiences now stop them going to gigs, venues should consider the effect on them, economically.

Safe Gigs for Women welcomes any venue that wishes to work with us — and thanks Camden Council for its support.

Born and raised in London, Tracey is a graduate of City University. She has spent the best part of her life at gigs and festivals and obsessing about music and created the “Safe Gigs for Women” project.

“Keep standing up for your rights, friends”

November 30, 2015 By Contributor

I had just pulled up to a red light at an intersection, alone in my car, with one couple in their car behind me. A car pulled up to my left, waiting to turn left. I saw from the corner of my eye that a young-ish white man with dark hair and facial hair was gesturing at me and saying things through the window of the car he was a passenger in. He kept doing this for over a minute, and I completely ignored him, looking at the lights and waiting for them to change to green.

I saw out of the corner of my eye that he seemed to be giving up, and he seemed to turn away for a moment to say something to the driver of the car he was in. At that moment, the lights started changing and I slowly pulled forward to go straight, as they pulled forward to turn left; at that moment, I flicked the middle finger at this person and looked over to make sure the disgusting individual saw this; he did, and he seemed very happy with this sudden attention being payed to his pathetic and disrespectful behaviour.

This individual’s behavior made me disappointed, and made me feel insulted; it is unfortunate that this person chose to try to foist an uninvited interaction upon another, and also that this person did not demonstrate respect. I find that although this individual is obviously a symptom of a larger societal problem with treating women properly, the individual themselves is also entirely responsible for their pathetic and unbecoming actions.

I think my response was great, because I 1) ignored the fool for the entire minute because that behaviour is pathetic and useless, and 2) responded with a calm, cool, collected, strong, brief, and self-confident rejection of the person, while remaining in my car. I kept driving straight and that car turned left, driving off.

I do hope I do not see that person again, as my mother upon hearing this story, got very worried that it could escalate into a fight or something. (I also considered photographing the individual, but did not try because I don’t have room on my phone for pics at the moment.)

Guess what? That kid is lucky I had somewhere to be and couldn’t spend more time than I did; otherwise I would have been tempted to turn my car off, get out, and knock on that car’s window to ask what was the matter, and if nothing was wrong then to encourage him to cease the disrespectful gesturing.

As a side note, I have been taught (mostly by my mother) that women cannot defend themselves. I have seen, however, thankfully that this is not true; women are oppressed, of course, but we can stand up for ourselves and every instance in which our allies do the same, I do think will bring us all closer to a world we can be proud of, and a society we don’t have to be embarrassed to bequeath to our children. Keep standing up for your rights, friends.

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

This is a very good question, how we can make public places safe– I do not know how we can make intersections at night safe for everyone. It really would be great to figure out a way; I think there’s even a traffic video-camera mounted on one of the traffic lights, but I’m not sure it would catch this. In any event, video can only deter so much, and then all it becomes is evidence once the harm is done; so that’s not really ideal. I’ll keep thinking; anyone reading this, please keep brainstorming, as well!

– Anonymous

Location: Illinois, street intersection while in my car.

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

#16Days of Activism: Street Demonstration (Day 6)

November 30, 2015 By HKearl

Nov. 25 – Dec. 10 are the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. To commemorate the week, we are featuring 1 activism idea per day. This information is excerpted from my new book Stop Global Street Harassment: Growing Activism Around the World (Praeger 2015).

Initiating a street demonstration by holding signs with anti-harassment messages, asking people to write their own messages, and facilitating impromptu conversations are additional tactics growing in popularity among people wishing to challenge street harassment in their community. These types of actions have taken place in many countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Chile, India, and the United States.

Human chain in Jordan. Image via Al Bawaba — *Human chain in Jordan. Image via Al Bawab*a

In June 2012, more than 200 people in Amman, Jordan, formed a “human chain” from Al Hussein Sports City to the Interior Ministry Circle to protest various gender-based crimes, including street harassment, the practice of forcing rape survivors to marry their rapists, and honor killings. Women and men of all ages stood in a row, each holding signs that condemned these acts and called for behavioral changes and changes to laws. Weeks later in Egypt, the Nefsi (I Hope) anti-sexual harassment campaign also organized scores of people into a human chain along a busy road in Cairo. Some of the participants’ signs read “I wish I could ride a bike without anyone bothering me” and “I wish you would respect me as I respect you.”

In 2014, Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero en Chile held an open outdoor meeting at a plaza where more than two dozen women and men of all ages discussed street harassment, passed out pamphlets to passersby, and wrote anti-street harassment messages on signs like “Mi cuerpo no es un objeto” (“My body is not an object”) and “Yo me visto para mi no para ti” (“I dress for me not for you”). They held the signs for passersby to see and then attached them to strings hung around the plaza. They also attached small ribbons on which they had written their street harassment experiences, and people walking by stopped to read them.

In Bangalore, India, members of the volunteer group Jhatkaa spent a day in 2014 walking around the streets of the city with a whiteboard and asking women to write down their experiences with street harassment. People were eager to participate and wrote statements like, “Lots of times men have pinched my breasts and made passes at me on the buses,” “Been whistled and stared at wearing a pair of jeans,” and “The creepy stare.” The organizers wrote in a summary of their event: “Many women thanked us for doing it and told us they felt lighter after speaking about it and participating in fighting against it. On seeing photos of other women and their experiences-they also felt good knowing that they weren’t the only ones. We shared these photos on Facebook and Twitter and received positive comments for the work.”

Since 2011, Philadelphia-based groups like FAAN Mail and Feminist Public Works have held a demonstration in the spring. It includes drumming, chalking, and posting flyers and signs and discussing street harassment with passersby. In 2014, they framed it as reclaiming public space at LOVE Park and hosted chalking, street theater, music, art making, and double Dutch jump rope. People could write their answers to complete the phrase “A Safe Street is …,” and several chose to publicly share their street harassment stories while standing on a “soap box.” Around 50 people participated. “This year’s action in Philadelphia was our most dynamic action yet,” wrote FAAN Mail co-founder Nuala Cabral in a report of the event. We offered several activities that enabled people to reclaim public space and address this problem in creative ways. Children were a part of the event. Male allies stood with us. It was a beautiful day.”

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“I wish good people would stop being afraid”

November 29, 2015 By Contributor

I was on my way home, walking in a very crowded boulevard, than I turned into my street, which was more empty and dark. A guy walked in the opposite direction from me, but then he stopped and started following me, saying a lot of stuff I could not really understand. All I could get is that his friends were having a party. He sounded drunk or drugged. I tried walking into a parking lot to make him go away, but he followed me in so I went out again. I started heading back to the boulevard and he caught up to me and grabbed my ass while asking something about tickles. I crossed the street and he stayed there while I passed two other men, but after that he came to me again and started telling me how he could help me relax and have a good time. By then I got to a shop and I went in. I stayed for a while and then he was gone.

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

The more people out on the streets, the better. As hard as it is, I wish good people would stop being afraid and just go out, regardless of the time.

– Anonymous

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

#16Days of Activism: Painting Murals (Day 5)

November 29, 2015 By HKearl

Painting murals and spray-painting graffiti against street harassment is a type of political art and communication that has been used in many cultures since ancient times.

*Circle of Hell mural in Egypt. Via the Art Newspaper*

During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, graffiti art and murals were used to voice political opinions. Some women used these to speak out against the sexual harassment and violence many women protesters faced. Artist El Zeft nad Mira Shihadeh, for example, painted a mural called Circle of Hell depicting dozens of leering men surrounding one woman like a pack of wolves surrounding its prey.

One graffiti stencil from that time period was a blue bra accompanied by the caption “No to the stripping of people” and below it was the outline of a foot that said, “Long live the revolution.” It references a 2011 videotaped beating of a female protester by police during which all of her clothes were stripped off, which revealed her blue bra. Some messages were defiant. One graffiti stencil created by Hend Kheera featured a woman with the caption, “Warning! Don’t touch or castration awaits you!” A stencil created by Mira Shihadeh (featured on the book’s cover) showed a woman standing tall and holding a spray can to spray away tiny men. The caption read “No to sexual harassment.”

Egyptian anti-street harassment activists with the group HarassMap have also used graffiti to bring attention to sexual harassment in public spaces. In 2013, for example, a team of mostly male volunteers in Giza wrote messages on walls like “Be a man; protect her from harassment instead of harassing her” and “No to harassment” while a team in Alexandria covered up sexist graffiti that promoted violent harassment by painting a mural that said, “LOVE.”

Anti-street harassment activists in Nepal and the United States painted murals in 2014. In Kathmandu, ten young women and men from the group Astitwa painted a huge mural with a street, a “stop” hand and their logo. The main message in green block lettering was “We Are against Street Harassment,” and each person placed her or his hands in red paint and added their hand-print below it.

On their U.S. mural, People’s Justice League (formerly Hollaback! Appalachian Ohio) wrote the messages “Bobcats against cat-calls” and “YOU have the power to end street harassment” (with their logo) and drew a map of uptown Athens with red and green dots showing where people had reported being harassed (red) and where they reported intervening in harassment situations (green).

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