Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Delhi: 95% of women and girls feel unsafe in public spaces

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Via UN Women:

“A just released household survey conducted by UN Women and the International Center for Research on Women from October to November 2012 reveals that at that time, only 5 per cent of women and girls ranked public spaces in Delhi as ‘safe’ from sexual violence.

The data was collected as part of the baseline survey of the Safer Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls Initiative by UN Women in partnership with the Government of Delhi and the NGO JAGORI. The programme in New Delhi is one of the initial pilots in five cities: Cairo (Egypt), Kigali (Rwanda), New Delhi (India), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) and Quito (Ecuador). It is part of the larger Global Safe Cities Initiative which aims to empower women and their communities in diverse settings.

The household survey in India was conducted among a representative sample of 2001 women and girls and 1003 men and boys in the age group of 16-49 years of age in Delhi. The data was collected from all over New Delhi: Malviya Nagar, Badarpur, Molarband, Zakir Nagar, Hari Nagar, Shahpurjat and Mayur Vihar Phase-I.

Providing a stark picture of the daily realities faced by women and girls, 51 per cent of men reported that they had themselves perpetrated sexual harassment or violence against women and girls in public spaces in Delhi. In the study, 25 per cent said they had done so in the last six months.

In cases of sexual violence, many men blamed women for their behaviour. In the study, three out of four agreed with the statement ‘Women provoke men by the way they dress’ and two men out of five fully or partially agreed with that ‘Women moving around at night deserve to be sexually harassed’.

Nearly 73 per cent of women said they do not feel safe in their own surroundings as well, and reported feeling unsafe all the time.”

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Feb. 19 Day of Action: Safer Transit System in Washington, DC

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Note: This is the report submitted to the Huairou Commission. This meeting was part of a global day of action called Delhi and Beyond: Concrete Actions for Safer Cities, a chance for grassroots women and women’s organizations to partner with government authorities and concretely build safer cities. Fifty cities participated. The day was organized by the Huairou Commission, Women in Cities International, Women and Habitat Network Latin America, Jagori, GROOTS International, ICWIF and FEMUM-ALC.

The actions taken during the day will be presented during the UN Commission on the Status of Women on March 8, 2013.

Attendees of the meeting at WMATA’s offices in Washington, DC

Report: This morning, Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) staff member Renee Davidson and board member Ben Merrion and Stop Street Harassment founder Holly Kearl met with the following key staff at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA): Deputy Chief Campbell, Zina Gowan, employee communications, and Caroline Lucas, who heads the task force on addressing sexual harassment.

In February 2012, CASS organized individuals to testify about sexual harassment on the WMATA system during the performance oversight hearing of the transit authority before the DC City Council.

Out of those testimonies – and the many stories members of the public submitted to WMATA agreeing that this is a problem – WMATA formed a task force in early March 2012 to address sexual harassment on the system.

This meeting was to touch base nearly a year later to see what has been achieved and to discuss what we can do during the second year to continue to address the issue.

Main achievements this year and goals for next year:

Achievements:

1. New online form for reporting incidents

2. Starting to track all forms of sexual harassment (previously they only tracked harassment that was criminal)

3. A transit-wide PSA campaign

4. An internal awareness campaign among WMATA staff

5. A new law to make it easier to report/prosecute indecent exposure in DC

6. 126 reports of harassment

Goals:

1. An improved online form that can lead to better reporting

2. A second phase of the PSA campaign this summer or fall

3. Training for all WMATA employees

4. More efforts to spread the word about how to report and the importance of reporting.

5. Working with Virginia legislators to pass the same law that passed in DC to make it easier to prosecute indecent exposure. Maryland already had this law before DC.

We are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting and with the continued commitment of WMATA to making the Washington, DC-area public transportation system free from harassment for all its riders.

Stay tuned for more information about the meeting and what DC-area transit riders can do to improve reporting.

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Digest of Street Harassment News: Feb. 17, 2013

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Street Harassment Stories:

Share your story! You can read street harassment stories on the Web at:

Stop Street Harassment Blog

Collective Action for Safe Spaces

HarassMap in Egypt

Bijoya in Bangladesh

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Name and Shame in Pakistan

Safe City India

Safe Streets in Yemen

Street Harassment in South Africa

Many of the Hollaback sites

Everyday Sexism

Street Harassment In the News, on the Blogs:

* Huffington Post, “Could Mobile Technology Combat Sexual Harassment?“

* Dissident Voice, “Sexual Harassment of Women is State Sponsored Say Egyptian Women“

* PressTV, “Egyptian women denounce sexual harassment against female protesters“

* Daily News Egypt, “Women take to the streets to protest sexual harassment and assault“

* TrustLaw, “Protesters worldwide denounce sexual harassment in Egypt“

* Global Times, “Sexual harassment gets worse in post-uprising Egypt“

 * Guardian, “The courage of the vigilante feminists is contagious“

* Jezebel, “‘Anti-Flirt’ Movement Once Put Street Harassers in the Clink“

* Fem2pt0, “International Feminism: Battling Street Harassment“

* Deccan Herald, “Eve teasing: Teenage girl stabbed by youth“

* Flyover Feminism, “Practical Feminism with Nihal Saad Zaghloul“

* Metro, “Perverts in public: Sexual harassment on the MBTA in the spotlight, advocates push for speaking up“

* The New Indian Express, “TN: Bus conductor arrested on charges of eve teasing“

* Erin Matson, “Quick Update On My Street Harassment Story“

* Mommyish, “I Never Thought I Would Have To Deal With Street Harassment In Front Of My Daughter“

* Front Page Mag, “The ‘Epidemic’ of Sexual Harassment—and Rape—in Morsi’s Egypt“

* Jezebel, “How to Talk to a Woman Without Being a Creep“

* WJLA/ABC 7, “Metro sexual harassment: Only one arrest out of 99 complaints“

* Dailybhaskar.com, “Cops launch drive to check eve-teasing on buses, autos in G Noida“

* College Tribune, “‘Are ya well?’“

* Release the Feminist Kraken, “An Open Letter to Men Who Yell at Me From Your Car“

* Feimineach.com, “International Feminism: Battling Street Harassment“

* Women’s Web, “‘Rising’ with Karate – Interview with Amrita Mohan“

Announcements:

New:

* Stop Street Harassment supported the protests of the sexual violence against women outside the Egyptian Embassies worldwide on Feb. 12

* Stop Street Harassment joined thousands of groups in more than 200 countries on Feb. 14 to take action against gender violence during One Billion Rising.

* On Feb. 19, Stop Street Harassment will participate in a global day of action when groups in more than 40 cities will meet with government officials about strategies for making cities safer. Learn how you can participate, too.

Reminders:

* METRAC released a free “Not Your Baby App” to provide responses you can use when experiencing harassment

15Tweets from the Week:

1. @jdschulman My response to hearing street harassment tonight was to say, “Aw, that’s not appropriate. That’s just not kind.” The dudes had no response.

2. @Krissssyyyy93 Have some class don’t drive by me and honk and catcall you pigs

3. @leloveluck Level of harassment in downtown Cairo absolutely maddening today. One guy decided to follow me then put his hand around my neck. #EndSH #ugh

4. @juliemastrine Excited to start planning some anti-#streetharassment actions in State College this spring! Let me know if you want to be involved

5. قوة ضد التحرش ‏@OpAntiSH “Your Right to Live” Watch #EgyWomen respond to #EndSH during#GlobalProtestFeb12 in #Cairo http://bit.ly/UjRM5c  (w/Eng subs) #VAW #Egypt

6. @sydmosley such a good day! many thanks to the #wgso12 organizers @penn_state. so fantastic to continue to start conversations around #streetharassment

7. @iyad_elbaghdadi  I come from a place of the world where love scenes in films are censored, but abuse of women is on the streets for all to see. #EndSH #Egypt

8. @KateRoseBee Takes some nerve to catcall a woman while doing court-ordered litter pickup. “Hey baby I make some real good decisions…”

9. ‏@YWCAGREENBAY A great discussion yesterday on gender-based harassment! @hkearl pic.twitter.com/omJIK26j

10. @seventeenSA Tell us how you deal with street harassment – follow the hashtag #17SaysNo

11. @karishma31 I just had a guy pull down his window while I was crossing the street to wink and tell me ‘hey baby’. Talk about sexual harassment #Mumbai

12. ‏@UNC_GAC Stop by the pit and share your story of street harassment with @UNCBetas! 10-2 TODAY!

13. @lesellele That I’m at SIGNIFICANTLY more risk of street harassment, physical violence and rape than any man in my same neighborhood. That’s unfair

14. @EvrydayFeminism My short skirt and everything under is in mine mine mine! #streetharassment pic.twitter.com/CSLhWgSz

15. @aaboulenein Female protestors chanting against sexual harassment and #Morsi. #GlobalprotestFeb12 #endSH

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A Rising & a Poem for Survivors

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Holly Kearl of SSH and Renee Davidson of Collective Action for Safe Spaces

One billion people have been sexually assaulted or raped, an astonishing and shameful number. Yesterday, a goal of one billion people rose to protest this violence through dance, rallies, and other actions through Eve Ensler’s One Billion Rising effort. Stop Street Harassment was a participating group and I attended a rally at Farragut Square in Washington, DC, and happily met up with activists from several groups, including Feminist Peace Network, Fem2pt0, and Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

(Note: If you want to carry on the momentum from your One Billion Rising event, be sure to take part in a day of action on Feb. 19 to meet with local government officials to discuss ways to make our cities safer.)

Yesterday, I also had the opportunity to participate in an amazing guerrilla art project organized by the Baltimore-based group FORCE.  I thought I was just going to be observing and then suddenly I was part of it, hoisting up the word “one.” I love the project and the message and think the words “I can’t forget what happened but no one else remembers” speaks well to many instances of street harassment that may remain with us for the rest of our lives, but no one else knew about or remembers.

Via their website:

“Giant styrofoam letters state “I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS” in the national reflecting pool.  The poem, written by a survivor, highlights the isolating and silencing experience of rape in the United States.  The action is a call to create a permanent memorial to survivors of rape and abuse.

FORCE, the group behind the action states, “We want to build a national memorial to survivors, because we want to live in a country that holds public and supportive space for survivors to heal.  We want to build a national memorial to survivors because we want to live in a country that believes rape can and must end.

The call to build the permanent memorial started on a warm February day with about 20 volunteers unloading enormous letters from a rented U-HAUL van.  The red letters were strapped together to create a giant raft.  After gathering for a photo on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the group pushed the poem into the reflecting pool among cheers, cameras, and a crowd of curious tourists.”
Image by FORCE: upsetting rape culture
Image by FORCE: upsetting rape culture

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Global Protest at Egyptian Embassies TODAY

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Image via @MahaIghbaria on Twitter

After the mass sexual assault attacks on women protesters at Tahrir Square, anti-harassment activists have organized a day of outcry worldwide and invite people to gather outside Egyptian Embassies worldwide at 6 p.m. their time. Stop Street Harassment is a proud supporting group of this effort and stands in solidarity with everyone speaking out, marching, and demanding safe streets, a safe world, for women.

Learn more via their Facebook event page (on that page, you can find a list of participating countries & their event information).

“We, citizens of all nationalities all around the world, will not watch in silence the spreading epidemic of sexual terrorism. We want to show our support, solidarity and admiration for the assaulted who paid the price of the ongoing Egyptian revolution with their own flesh, and to the heroic volunteers who are risking their lives for a safe Tahrir.

Therefore on Tuesday February 12, 2013, at 6:00 pm local time, we will gather in front of the Egyptian embassy in our city/country.”

Follow the hashtag #GlobalProtestFeb12 on Twitter.

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