The UK was not the only country to have a new study about street harassment released for International Women’s Day, statistics were released in the Philippines and Israel, too.
Philippines:
In February 2016, SWS surveyed people in barangays Payatas and Bagong Silangan in Quezon City regarding sexual harassment in public spaces.
Prevalence:
88% of women ages 18 to 24 experienced sexual harassment at least once.
1 in 7 of the surveyed women experienced sexual harassment at least once every week in the past year.
Types:
Across all ages, 12 to 55 and above, wolf whistling and catcalling were the most common forms. However, 34% of women experienced the “worst forms” of sexual harassment: flashing, public masturbation, and groping.
Perpetrators:
Seventy percent of women said they were harassed by a “complete stranger,” while others said it was by “someone they see around the neighborhood,” acquaintances, and “someone they are close to.”
3 out of 5 men surveyed confessed to committing a form of sexual harassment at least once in their lifetime, while 1 in 7 admitted to doing it at least daily over the past year.
When:
The majority of the incidents happen in broad daylight. Seventy percent of cases happen during the day, between 6 am and 6 pm, and only 4% of cases were reported occurring at night.
You can read more survey results and learn about the UN Women campaign underway in the city via this Rappler article.
Israel:
The organization NA’AMAT release a survey about youth and sexual harassment, the following is pulled from a Jerusalem Post article about it.
Prevalence:
68% of girls responded that they were harassed by a man they didn’t know on the street at least once, while 45% said this happened more than once.
Perpetrators:
47% of boys admitted that they had shouted out to a woman or girl that they didn’t know on the street and around 34% said they had done this more than once.
Attitudes:
“A little over a third of youth – both boys and girls – said that if a woman acts or dresses provocatively then she shares in the blame of sexual assault. Only 53% of youth felt that only the attacker was to blame in the case of sexual assault.”
I was walking down the street to my car after work, and a guard at a parking garage I pass tells me to smile. I don’t remember the exact comment but it was one of those common ones, something like, “You’d look better with a smile.”