USA: Make Your Voice Matter

Hope Herten, IL, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Warning: This is cheesy! 🙂

If you have been keeping up with my posts throughout the summer, I hope that you were able to relate to my message and learn a little bit about who I am and what it’s like being a young woman in Chicago.  Unfortunately though, my own personal experience and the experiences I have shared from my friends are barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to street harassment and the other obstacles women, people of color, and trans people face trying to live independently  in the US today.  There are people all over the spectrum of marginalized groups that face different kinds, and an array of severity, of harassment.

Despite my limited experience, it is always my hope that my voice will be heard and will open a door so that those less privileged than me can have a chance to live in a world where their lives are valued more; that their safety and prosperity is prioritized. The topic of street harassment and other feminist movements have helped all kinds of women come together, recognize intersectionalities, and fight for causes that improve the lives of all.

I am using this final post as a platform to call out anyone who reads this and ask them to do one thing this week to make their voice heard and fight back against street harassment. Help out that woman you see on the street or on the bus facing harassment, stop passive aggressively tweeting about sexist colleagues and TAG THEM, say something in your group chat about offensive jokes, anything. The conversation has already been started. Use links to inform your message and utilize hashtags to contribute to the larger conversation. Thanks to social media more than ever voices can be heard. So make yours matter.

Side note: The Slut Walk is a great way to show your support and fight street harassment. Dress however you’d like and bring your friends! If you live in or near Chicago, it’s on August 20th! See you there!

Hope is a full-time undergraduate student studying public health and Spanish in Chicago, IL.  If you want to keep up with Hope you can follow her on Twitter @hope_lucille or check out her public health blog.