Word about International Anti-Street Harassment Week is spreading! Here are four articles from today:
“The issue of street harassment is directly connected with the issue of rape culture. “Street harassment is about exerting power over someone, treating them with disrespect, and it’s often about sexually objectifying someone without their consent. The same can be said about sexual violence and rape. Street harassment is on the same spectrum of violence as rape and it can sometime escalate into rape. For rape survivors, it can be re-triggering.
“The acceptance of street harassment, the portrayal of it as a compliment or a joke, creates a culture where it is normal to disrespect someone or to comment on them or to touch them without their consent. That culture helps make rape okay and lets rapists get away with their crime.”
“Public places are less safe for women and girls worldwide; street harassment and the fear of sexual violence negatively impact our mobility and our access to public spaces. Yet too often, street harassment is dismissed as being no big deal or a compliment.
To bring attention to the harms of street harassment, Stop Street Harassment organized the second annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Anyone anywhere can participate by sharing stories, having dialogue –especially with men – about street harassment issues, and visibly reclaiming public spaces and engaging community members.”
“On Monday, Hollaback! Baltimore lead a Twitter chat about street harassment experienced by LGBTQ and gender-non-conforming people, pointing out that though walking with your partner usually makes you safer if you`re a straight, cisgender woman, being in public with your partner if you`re queer or trans* often increases the chances that you`ll experience harassment. You can check out a Storify recap here.
Yesterday, Men Stopping Violence led another online discussion, this time about bystander responsibility and what men can to do unlearn the culture of silence and non-engagement surrounding street harassment. Check out a recap of what happened here.
These Twitter chats will continue throughout the week, and include discussions about how the objectification of women in the media relates to street harassment, the segregation of public spaces, and street harassment experienced on public transportation. The full schedule can be found here….
Erika Nicole Kendall has a powerful editorial on her blog about her history with street harassment, young motherhood, and reclaiming her safety as a black woman.
Over at the New York Times, Ginia Bellafante reports on police harassment experienced by trans* New Yorkers on the street.
Courtney Baxter’s grassroots street photography initiative is showcasing people’s experiences being queer in public to dismantle the culture of fear surrounding harassment and homophobia in public spaces.”
“Street harassment is most commonly thought of as a problem for women, but it doesn’t confine itself to one group, said Paridise Valentino, who works for the Trans Youth Support Network.
Valentino is a transgender woman and said she and others in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community experience street harassment frequently.
When riding the bus, a man once yelled discriminatory comments about Valentino’s gender after she asked him why he was looking at her strangely.
“A lot of times when the LGBT community goes out and express themselves, it kind of brings a panic to society because they think we’re trying to rebel,” she said.
More than half of all transgender and gender non-conforming respondents reported being “verbally harassed or disrespected” in public in a 2011 National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force report.
Because street harassment is common for members in the LGBT community, they’re not able to be themselves in public, Valentino said.
Katie Eichele, director of the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, said harassers often oppress people who are LGBT because they see them as a target to dehumanize.”
