Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

#StandWithMonica and #FreeEisha

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Via ACLU

Transgender women of color face some of the highest rates of street harassment and violence of any demographic. Here are two of these women who need our help:

Via ACLU:

“When Monica Jones left her house on the evening of May 17, 2013, she expected to hang out at a local bar and restaurant and meet up with some friends. But for transgender women of color, just walking down the street can be a criminal act.

Especially in Phoenix, Arizona, where literally “any bodily gesture” can be sufficient evidence that you are intending to engage in prostitution.

When an undercover officer saw Monica Jones, a black transgender woman, walking down the street just a few blocks from her house, in an area that the officer described as being “known for prostitution,” that was enough to convince him that she intended to engage in prostitution. It was on that basis that he approached and stopped her.

In April of this year, Monica was convicted of violating this overbroad and vague law. Today she appeals that conviction, and the ACLU, along with other advocacy and civil rights organizations, filed a brief in support of her appeal.

We #StandWithMonica because transgender women of color should be able to walk down the street in their neighborhoods without being arrested, or worse, for simply being themselves.”

Via GLAAD:

“A trans woman of color, Eisha Love, is currently facing attempted murder charges after she was attacked by two men outside a gas station on Chicago’s West Side. According to a Change.org petition calling for Love’s release from prison with over 2,000 signatures at this time, she was with a friend when two men began harassing them with slurs and epithets, and Love was struck in the face.

As Love and her friend rushed to escape the attack in their car, one of their attackers standing near the vehicle was permanently injured. Later, Love turned herself in for the injury and was charged with 1st degree attempted murder. If convicted, she faces 10 years in prison….You can read more about Eisha’s story and support her by signing and sharing this Change.org petition, and by using hashtag #FreeEisha on social media”

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Playboy’s Consent Flow Chart

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A key reason why street harassment IS harassment is that we haven’t given our consent to be commented on, yelled at, followed, touched etc. This concept is difficult for some to comprehend and so Playboy (of all outlets!) is helping to educate the (mostly male) masses about consent on the streets with this flowchart.

I am not a fan of Playboy and the way they sexually objectify women, contributing to a society where women are valued more for their looks than for their intellect and (non-sexual) talents, but presumably all of the women featured in their magazine gave consent to be there, so hopefully they do understand the concept of consent.

And I am glad to see an outlet that I NEVER would have expected to talk about street harassment in this way do so. Maybe some of their mainly male readership will absorb the information on the chart and think before the harass…

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Wendy’s “Nice Buns” Ad

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Do you know what makes it harder to end #streetharassment? Companies like Wendy’s telling us that sexually harassing a stranger is A-OK. It’s not!!

Feel free to tell them so via social media, emails and phone calls.

Check out our list of companies that trivialize or support street harassment here.

H/T Hollaback!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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New Android Phone App: No Kitty!

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“I’m part of a organization that strives to equality for women and members of the LGBTQ community. Recently, we’ve been focused on the issue of street harassment.

We’ve developed an Android application called “No Kitty!“, which empowers people to confront their brothers, fathers, husbands, boyfriends, sons, and friends who they believe may be street harassers.”

— Passing this along, from Rebecca Hall —

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Meet our 2014 Safe Public Spaces Mentees!

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I am thrilled to see our Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program grow so much this year. Last year, for the pilot we received 5 applications and took on 3 sites. This year, we received 15 really great applications from all over the world. Thanks to donations from our supporters, we have been able to accept six of them! They are in six countries and four continents. GLOBAL!

Through December 15, we will hold weekly check-ins, offer advice, materials and a small monetary stipend for the projects they proposed. Each team will write at least two blog posts about their projects (mid-way and at the conclusion) so you all will have a chance to hear from them directly.

These are the mentees and their projects!

1. Schools of Equality in Chennai, India, will create toolkits, in both English and Tamil, to educate and raise awareness about street harassment among teens in schools. The toolkit will also contain resources for schools to conduct their own campaigns around ending street harassment along with ways to brainstorm culturally appropriate responses to street harassment.

2. In Kenya, the Teen Watch Centre will address the rampant problem of harassment on their local ferry system, which 5,000 people ride each day, through a five day awareness campaign on the boarding ramps and a sticker and poster campaign.

3. Women LEAD Nepal will recruit 10 volunteers in Kathmandu and train them to lead theater forums on street harassment. Then the volunteers will go into schools, universities and public spaces to perform the theater and a workshop to allow people to learn about the topic and have a safe space to discuss it.

4. In Managua, Nicaragua, the new group Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero Nicaragua (OCAC NIC) will conduct surveys about street harassment at six of the busiest buses stations. They hope to survey at least 2,000 people and have volunteers ready to analyze the data. Then they will do outreach to media outlets to publicize the findings and bring more attention to the issue.

5. In Nis, Serbia, the informal youth group Generation Y will conduct a street harassment survey among high school and college students. Then, they will use the information they collect to design informational flyers about street harassment and they will do flyering and outreach at places found to be high-risk for harassment based on the survey results.

6. In Kansas City, MO, USA, the BikeWalkKC team will work to pass a cyclist anti-harassment ordinance and hold workshops on street harassment and bicycling.

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