Archives for October 2016

“I am so much more than a person to be honked and hissed at by a stranger”

October 8, 2016 By Contributor

A man has been driving by for the past few weeks and hissing or honking at me. I am adult, it is 7 in the morning as I’m walking to the train in a quiet suburban town. I feel like he thinks it’s OK to engage in this way because women or no more than sexual objects that exist for his pleasure. I am a daughter, a wife, an aunt, a human being. I am so much more than a person to be honked and hissed at by a stranger.

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

Why do people do this? Do they think it makes someone feel good? No, it makes us feel threatened. Is it something taught by their parents/peers? Then raise more awareness and really drive the message home in schools.

– EG

Location: Westchester, NY

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

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

“This feeling of violation and insignificance is commonplace and psychologically damaging”

October 7, 2016 By Contributor

As I left my workplace for lunch today, two men commented on my looks as I walked by. Unfortunately, this is commonplace in the area, so I ignored it as usual. Then, a man I walked past turned to walk with me for a whole block. He said, “You’re cute. You’re not Kim Kardashian or anything, but you have a cute mole,” referring to the birthmark on my face. I asked him to please stop following me, but he kept pace with me and kept making comments, so I turned around to walk the other way and went behind a building and cried. His backhanded compliments were unusual, but that wasn’t what made me cry. The feeling of helplessness as he followed me down the street and the unsolicited comments he made about my body made me feel violated. As if my body is not my own space. I haven’t had an experience yet that would make me exceptionally fearful for my physical safety on the street, but this feeling of violation and insignificance is commonplace and psychologically damaging.

– ALK

Location: Oakland, CA

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

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

Egyptian Activists Use Eggs to Shame Harassers

October 5, 2016 By HKearl

Well, this is a creative, new and in-your-face (on-your-head?) way to raise awareness that street harassment is not okay!

Via Observers:

“Egyptian activists recently took to the streets of Cairo to crack eggs on the heads of men who bragged about inappropriately touching women … They began by just starting casual conversations with men on the street. They chatted with them for a while, to put them at ease. Then, the activists ask a few targeted questions about street harassment. Often, the men they were talking to actually started bragging about touching women. When this happened, that was the activists’ cue to crack an egg on the person’s head.”

Two Hours of Walking as a Woman in Costa Rica

October 4, 2016 By HKearl

Here’s a new video about street harassment from Rene Montiel Bonilla, a Costa Rican filmmaker, who filmed a woman (Laura Leon) walking through San Jose for two hours.

Bonilla explained that 61.7% of the 2.4 million women in Costa Rica have reported being victims of street harassment and that she “decided to make a short documentary to do something about it,” according to QCostaRica.

UK Study Shows Objectification, Street Harassment Affects Girls

October 3, 2016 By HKearl

Each year, Girlguiding, the UK’s leading charity for girls and young women, asks girls what they think through our Girls’ Attitudes Survey. They collect the views of over 1,600 girls and young women aged 7 to 21 across the country.

This year’s report shows that safety in public spaces is a big concern.

So is objectification. Sadly, 36% of seven to 10-year-old girls believe they are rated more on their looks than their abilities.

Overall, Girlguiding says its survey shows girls and young women face “multiple, compound pressures” including exposure to images that objectify women, sexist online abuse and street harassment.

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