Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for November 2018

16 Days – Day 3: UK Government Inquiry

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Each day across the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we will highlight a 2018 activism effort undertaken to stop street harassment or a personal story about stopping harassers!

Day 3: UK Government Inquiry

A nine-month inquiry into street harassment led by the Women and Equalities Committee caused some MPs to call for the government to address street harassment.

Via BBC:

“Committee chairwoman Maria Miller said: ‘Women feel the onus is put on them to avoid ‘risky’ situations – all of this keeps women and girls unequal.’

The report concluded that social attitudes underpinned sexual harassment, and the normalisation of it contributed to a ‘wider negative cultural effect on society.’

And while the government has pledged to eliminate sexual harassment of women and girls by 2030, the committee said there was ‘no evidence of any programme to achieve this.’

The report outlined seven key recommendations to tackle street harassment:

1. Force train and bus operators to take tougher action against sexual harassment and block the viewing of pornography on public transport.

2. Ban all non-consensual sharing of intimate images

3. Publish a new “Violence Against Women and Girls” strategy

4. Create a public campaign to change attitudes

5. Take an evidence-based approach to addressing the harms of pornography, along the lines of road safety or anti-smoking campaigns

6. Tougher laws to ensure pub landlords take action on sexual harassment – and make local authorities consult women’s groups before licensing strip clubs

7. Make it a legal obligation for universities to have policies outlawing sexual harassment.”

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Donate for Giving Tuesday, 2018!

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Where did you first experience sexual harassment?

If I had to guess, I’d say it was when you were in a public space, like a street, store, bus, restaurant, swimming pool, or park.

Our 2018 national survey, funded in large part by our 2017 Giving Tuesday campaign, shows that public spaces are where people were most likely to first experience this type of violation… often as a teenager or younger! Public spaces also are the most common place to experience sexual harassment, period.

This is not okay and we need YOUR help to change this.

Indeed, we work hard every day to change this reality:

  • We run a website for people to share their stories and find resources (nearly 2 million people have visited).
  • We fund the only national hotline where people can find support, run by staff at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
  • We conduct research that informs policy. In 2019, we hope to conduct a five-year update to our 2014 ground-breaking study on street harassment.
  • We mobilize community action globally each spring through International Anti-Street Harassment Week.
  • We work on local efforts, like the anti-harassment transit campaign in Washington, D.C.

This year, we commemorated 10 years of action. Across that time, we have seen a lot of positive change, including more people recognizing that this is a human rights violation and more people and entities taking action to stop it.

With your support, we can continue our important work in 2019, including running the national street harassment hotline, Anti-SH Week, and doing new research.

Most of our funds come from individual donors. With a small nonprofit like ours, your funds literally make the difference between us being able to do programming and not.  Please, take this opportunity to invest in a future where everyone is safe in public spaces!

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16 Days – Day 2: Speaking Out in France

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Each day across the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we will highlight a 2018 activism effort undertaken to stop street harassment or a personal story about stopping harassers!

Day #2: Speaking Out in France

A man punched Marie Laguerre in the face in Paris, France, after he verbally sexually harassed her and she told him to shut up. She collected witness testimonies, got the surveillance video from a café near where it happened and filed a police report. He was later arrested and she started a website where women can share their stories. Her publicized experience garnered international attention and outcry, bringing more attention to the pervasive problem of street harassment.

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16 Days – Day 1: Research on Girls’ Safety

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From sexual harassment and violence in homes to the streets, from schools to workplaces, women’s and girls’ equality and right to be safe is impeded every day by gender-based violence. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as designated by the United Nations to recognize this human rights violation and to say ENOUGH. Everyone deserves a life that is safe and free from violence.

What will you do to speak out against men’s violence against women and girls, including street harassment?

Today also marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. It will conclude on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.

Each day across the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we will highlight a 2018 activism effort undertaken to stop street harassment or a personal story about stopping harassers!

Day #1: Research on Girls’ Safety

Plan International released a report, based on interviews with 21,000 girls in Delhi, Kampala, Lima, Madrid and Sydney, that says street harassment is a pervasive problem for them. One researcher said, “The level of danger girls are facing in cities is shocking and we all have a role to play in ensuring everybody feels safe in our cities — whether they are on the street, on public transport or in parks. Individuals, communities, governments and authorities should all be spurred to act.”

Plan International Australia suggests that girls should be involved in planning cities to reduced gender-based exclusion and street harassment. They also recommend “behavior change programs that target toxic masculinity, tackle social norms and address the root causes of gender-based street harassment.”

“We have to have this conversation now. Good men, there are a lot of them, they’re a majority, they have to start speaking up and speaking out and they have to start calling out this behaviour because enough is enough. It shouldn’t be on girls to fix this problem,” said Plan International Australia CEO Susanne Legena.

In another report by Plan International, titled “Girls’ Safety in Cities across the World“, almost 400 experts in 22 cities across six continents discussed the safety risks that girls and young women face. It found that Lima is the world’s most dangerous city for girls to go out alone, while Stockholm is the safest city for sexual harassment and for girls to leave the house alone. “The poll is the first of its kind to highlight the universality of the dangers girls and young women face in cities and public spaces across different societies and cultures, which it says affects the lives of millions and yet remains ignored.”

Lastly, research conducted by Plan International UK found that one in three girls in the UK have been street harassed while wearing their school uniform and 66% have faced some kind of street harassment overall. They found that many girls feel street harassment is “all part of growing up.”

The organization has made several recommendations, including:

  • Public awareness campaigns to spread the message that street harassment “is not OK”
  • Offer training for bystanders on how to safely intervene
  • Support boys and men to change their attitudes and challenge harassment
  • Provide relationship and sex education to young people
  • Training for workers in public places (shop staff, bus drivers) on spotting harassment and reporting it
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Holiday Shopping and Black Friday Deals

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This holiday season, you can support us by selecting us as your nonprofit of choice when you shop via Amazon Smile! 

STREET HARASSMENT BOOKS
If you want to buy a book that addresses street harassment here are a few: 

SSH SWAG:
If you want any Stop Street Harassment swag, check out the Black Friday deals on Zazzle (a portion of the proceeds go to SSH).

Lastly, our Giving Tuesday page is live if you want to get a head start on your charitable giving. Our big goal is $32,000, but if we can at least raise $10,000, we will be operational next year. 

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