Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for February 2016

“He still looked at me as an object to be had”

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Some inadequate in a hoodie wolf whistled at me on the street. I tried to steer away from him but I still heard it.

I didn’t help my case — when I was about 50 feet away from him, I yelled that he was never going to get a girl like that. Never!

Now I fear that I’m going to run into that piece of dirt again and that he’ll prove to me that he’ll forcefully get a girl like that.

I felt like nothing. The dirtbag didn’t know me. He didn’t know how smart or how strong or how opinionated I was. Yet he still looked at me as an object to be had. I felt like I wasn’t a human being, just an object.

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

Make sure boys aren’t raised to be surly predators.

– Tamsin Parker

Location: Winton

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

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“If I didn’t like it I should wear a cape”

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I was walking my dog, and a man was staring at me like he hadn’t seen a woman before. He said some things harassing me and frankly I’m fed up with the behavior of men in my city.

When I confronted that man, he said that if I didn’t like it I should wear a cape and he kept yelling things and laughing at me.

– LO

Location: Pasto/Nariño/Colombia

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

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Portugal’s Law Against Street Harassment

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Via Equal Times:
“In 2015 Portugal’s Social Democratic Party made verbal sexual abuse a crime, carrying a prison sentence of up to a year.
 
“Whoever harasses another person, practising before her acts exhibitionist in character, formulating proposals of a sexual tenor or embarrassing her with contact of a sexual nature, is punished with a penalty of imprisonment of a year, or a penalty fine of up to 120 euros if a more serious penalty is not applicable under any other legal provision,” reads the new wording of Article 170 of the penal code.
 
Ferreira Leite co-authored a report after Portugal became the first country to ratify the Istanbul Convention– by which the Council of Europe sets out standards to protect victims of gender-based violence – in 2013. She was also involved in advocating for amendments to Article 170.
 
“Before, sexual contact was included but it was restrictive. You had to touch the victim, so we decided to include threatening and intrusive comments,” says Ferreira Leite.
 
She says she has been surprised by some of the reactions to the amendments.
 
“Some men think that [harassment] means freedom of speech. That it is a compliment and that they shouldn’t have to walk around silent.”
 
But the amended law has its limits, Leite explains. “Not every comment is a crime; it has to have sexual context or a pornographic reference. Saying that someone is pretty doesn’t count….

The necessity for a measure to combat verbal abuse toward women was first proposed by the non-profit organisation UMAR (Union of Women for Alternatives and Answers), which received funding in 2010 from the Dutch government to travel around the country and raise awareness of the issue.

“We found that most women had been verbally assaulted on the street and also that both men and women confused sexual assault with seduction or praise,” says UMAR head Maria Jose Magalhaes. “They didn’t know what assault was. There was an idea that it wasn’t serious because sexism is so ingrained in our culture.”

The radical Left Bloc party – which was founded by four feminists and whose leader, Catarina Martins, is the only woman leader amongst Portugal’s major parties – took the discussion of verbal assault to parliament in 2014.

Left Bloc MP and sociologist Sandra Cunha says the law was necessary to show that sexual assault is unacceptable.”

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NYC Male Focus Group Opportunity

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4inRinOc_400x400SAFER: NYC is a social enterprise founded by Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs graduate students, dedicated to engaging men in ending street harassment in New York City.

SAFER: NYC is currently working on a large-scale research project within the issue of street harassment in order to deepen our understanding of what solutions will have the most impact in making our streets safer for everyone.

As part of this research, they are conducting focus group conversations with small groups of adult men across NYC’s boroughs. These are 30-minute conversation with you and 5-8 of your male peers. They can provide some compensation to all participants as well as refreshments during the session. Furthermore, all participants will remain completely anonymous.

If you are interested or want more information, contact them at safernewyorkcity@gmail.com.

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“Shouldn’t a compliment feel reassuring and not threatening?”

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I was taking the subway in the afternoon and everything was going well until I got off the wagon. I took the stairs and a man going in the opposite direction said to me, “Hey, chiquita!”

I was 17 and he was probably three times my age. That time was my first experience of harassment ever. I had seen other women harassed, I knew there was an issue, but it had never been directed at me.

At first, I thought he was talking to someone else. It couldn’t be me, I was way too young for that. But there was nobody else around me. I then went through several stages.

At first, I felt disgusted that a old man would make a sexual comment about me.

Then, I felt scared and ashamed. What if he followed me or worse?

When I arrived home, I began to feel angry. I was angry that he had made me feel ashamed of becoming a woman, I was angry that he had made me feel scared when I shouldn’t feel threatened, even when I am alone.

I was furious that with one small comment, he had succeeded in a way: I was changed.

I think the worst part in this sad, yet enlightening story, is that most people around me told me that it was nothing, that men are men, that nothing could be done and even, that I should have taken it as a compliment towards my femininity.

Maybe I’m wrong, but shouldn’t a compliment feel reassuring and not threatening?

– Romane

Location: Subway

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

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