Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Egyptian Street Harasser Murders Woman

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Trigger Warning —

In rare instances, street harassment ends in murder (here are a few examples) and sadly, that is what recently happened in Egypt. The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights just released this press release about it:

“The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) strongly condemns the horrible accident murder of a young lady who is 20 years old in Assuit via an Automatic rifle. The incident began when “Iman Mostafa Mohamed” was walking in the village’s main street with her friend, then she felt that someone touched part of her body that is considered a sexual assault, so she spit on his face and insulted him and said: “I will get my rights back..I will get my rights back against your will.”

Therefore, he pushed her to the ground and kicked her; then he shot her before she rises and she died in a matter of few minutes. This is terrible crime happened within the increase of sexual harassment which is considered a cancer that should be treated as soon as possible.

Based upon ECWR’s close monitoring of the phenomenon and noting the increase in the percentage of sexual harassment crimes, ECWR sent a law draft to President Mohamed Morsy on Monday 27 August 2012 in order for him to adopt the law draft of criminalizing sexual harassment for the year 2012 by amending the No.58 of 1937 and no response was received. Additionally, the law draft was sent several times to the elected councils with no response as well.

It should be noted that the law draft was developed through continuous efforts for three years on behalf of the legal personnel, security personnel, civil society representatives and activists. This law draft was developed based on two studies; the first, “sexual harassment is a social cancer” where the sample of 3000 women mentioned that they were harassed at least once before.

As per the second, “Clouds in Egypt’s Sky” of 50% women and 50% men sample where 83% of the Egyptian women said that they were harassed and 63% of the Egyptian men mentioned that they sexually harassed at least one time before.

This is a serious indicator concerning women’s safety in the streets, as this phenomenon of sexual harassment is leading to murder crimes.

Consequently, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights ECWR demands voluntarily defending the victim and asking the state to take the necessary and strict procedures by:

Fair and quick trial of the murderer, so that the Egypt’s streets shall not turn into a violent environment like street wars.

Passing the suggested law of sexual harassment that was sent before to President Mohamed Morsy in order to adopt it as part of his legislative authorities that were passed to him due to the absence of the legislative council.”

It’s horrible that she was murdered simply for standing up for herself. What a terrible, senseless end to her young life.

Her story shows the seriousness of street harassment and it illustrates how a woman can never be sure what kind of reaction will escalate the situation. Maybe in another situation, her response would have scared or embarrassed the harasser and caused him to leave or apologize. The onus really should not be on women to have to figure out in a split second what will be the “best” response, the one that will keep them from getting spit on, chased, called a “bitch,” assaulted or murdered. (And for those who may say, well her angry response provoked him, first that is victim-blaming and second, other murders by street harassers have occurred when the woman ignored them!) The onus should be on men to not harass and on bystanders and society at large to work on prevention efforts and hold harassers accountable.

Until there is a cultural shift so that street harassment is no longer dismissed, trivialized, or blamed on the harassed person, street harassment will continue. Will a law criminalizing it help spur a cultural shift? Maybe. But Egypt’s political landscape is unstable so it seems unlikely it will be enforced. I would bet that the citizens who are taking it upon themselves to patrol for harassers will have more of an impact right now than an unenforced law.

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Gangnam Style Warning

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Almost 200,000,000 people have watched the Gangnam Style video. It’s weird and funny and has a catchy song, but it includes the sexual objectification of women, as do WAY too many music videos. I just watched the season premiere of Saturday Night Live and one skit included a spoof of the video. Even though it was abbreviated, they were sure to include the “staring at women’s butts” scene.  Disappointing.

This kind of harmful mass messaging helps normalize street harassment and disrespect for women. It’s not okay.

Update: Someone on Facebook shared a link to this article about how the video – including the sexual objectification of women – is satire. But how many of the nearly 200,000,000 people will know that? I’d bet that for most, it’s just one more image that goes into their brain and helps normalize sexual objectification.

Thoughts?

 

 

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We need national data on #streetharassment

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Readers of this blog know that most women worldwide have experienced gender-based street harassment, including unwanted leering, “catcalls,” sexually explicit comments, demands for a smile, groping, stalking, public masturbation, and assault. Some men experience street harassment too, especially in the LGBQT community.

Despite how widespread this problem is, it’s rarely discussed or taken seriously outside of communities like Stop Street Harassment. We need solid national data documenting its prevalence and how it negatively impacts people’s lives before we will see policy changes and cultural attitude adjustments.

I plan to conduct the first-ever nationally representative survey of 2,000 women and men ages 18-30 in the USA to collect the data. I have an advisory team of PhD-level sociologists, demographers, and anti-street harassment activists who will provide feedback on the survey instrument. The acclaimed surveying firm GfK Custom Research LLC has agreed to conduct the nationally representative survey.

I strongly believe without this data, most policy makers, educators, law enforcement and the general public will continue to refuse to take this issue seriously.

If you’re tired of street harassment, please donate $10 (or more) to help make this street harassment study possible.

You can also help spread the word about the study.

Suggested Tweet:
“We need national data on #streetharassment. Pls donate 2 help fund a study that will make this possible http://www.razoo.com/story/National-Street-Harassment-Study #EndSH”

Suggested FaceBook Post:
“[your street harassment story] This is not okay. Please donate to make a national street harassment study possible so no one else has to experience this. http://www.razoo.com/story/National-Street-Harassment-Study”

More about the Study:
Once the survey is complete, I will release a short report with the study findings and recommendations. The report will also include information from discussion groups I am facilitating this fall with under-represented groups, including Native American young adults, sex workers, and transgender individuals. I started these already and flew to South Dakota to conduct two focus groups with Native Americans.

I will use the data and report to create curriculum for schools and colleges, launch targeted awareness-raising campaigns, and work with policy makers to improve the laws that can protect people from street harassment.

Let’s work together to make sure the next generation has safe access to public spaces. Thank you for your help!

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Digest of street harassment stories, news, announcements & tweets: September 16, 2012

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Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past few weeks.

** Sign up to receive a monthly e-newsletter from Stop Street Harassment ***

Street Harassment Stories:

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

Stop Street Harassment Blog

HarassMap in Egypt

Bijoya in Bangladesh

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Name and Shame in Pakistan

Safe Streets in Yemen

Street Harassment in South Africa

Many of the Hollaback sites

Street Harassment In the News, on the Blogs:

* The F Word Blog, “Spanish feminist subjected to harassment campaign“

* Lesoir.be, “Bruxelles punit les sexistes“

* Le Nouvel Observateur, “Harcèlement de rue : les femmes racontent le machisme“

* Women’s Media Center, “Native Americans Speak Out About Street Harassment“

* Torontoist, “New Mobile App “Not Your Baby” Calls Out Sexual Harassment“

* The Guilfordian, “Sexual harassment in Egypt escalates“

* LAist, “Women Share Their Stories Of Sexual Harassment (And Worse) On Public Transportation”

* XO Jane, “I Think We Should Have a Collective Response To Strangers Who Tell Us To Smile”

* Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, “Baghdad Neighborhood Imposes Strict Dress Code On Women“

* Bikyamasr, “Sexual harassment awaits Egyptian girls outside schools“

* Washington Post, “In Egypt, a backlash against harassment“

* Lydia, “TAKE BACK THE DAY: ON BRINGING AN END TO STREET HARASSMENT“

* A Thrift Store, “Midge and I have a Chat About a Streetcar Named Anger“

* Cardboard Sunshine, ““The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot.””

* SocialistAlternative.org, “Fighting back against street harassment“

* xoJane, “Where’s Your Line Between Flirting and Harassment?“

* DelawareOnline.com, “Officials: Man exposed himself at beach restrooms“

* Alternet.org, “Porn Star Stoya Speaks Out on Street Harassment“; Jezebel, “I’m a Porn Star, and if You Harass Me I Will Punch You in the Balls“

* NBCNews.com, “Suspect arrested in rape of 73-year-old birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park“

* Guardian, “Central Park rape sparks debate about social media making women safer”

* College Gloss, “Combating Street Harassment: What You Should Know“

* Sparkwood & 21, “The Story of My Sexual Assault on Muni in San Francisco“

Announcements:

New:

* Harlow Project Seeking Participants For Street Harassment Web Video Series

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

* In San Francisco, there is a new arts-based anti-street harassment initiative called Little Bird SF

* Male allies won prestigious awards for their anti-street harassment initiatives this spring.

* Hollaback Istanbul released a new anti-harassment video featuring male allies

* In Washington, DC, Collective Action for Safe Spaces and Voices of Men acted out an anti-harassment skit on the Metro. You can do this in your city too!

* Talalo, an Afghan graffiti band, fights street harassment by putting messages on street walls.

* Denice Frohman, Poet, performs “Dear Straight People”


Reminders:

* Sign a petition about ending street harassment in Egypt.

* Stop Street Harassment recently incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Please donate so we can conduct a national street harassment study and gather much needed data documenting the problem.

* Contact Bowlmor and the New York City Transit to complain about this offensive subway ad.

* Activists in South Africa launched a website about street harassment

* The anti-sexual harassment public service announcement signs are now up in several Washington, DC metro stations!

* The Stop Street Harassment book is available in paperback for $15.

* Submit art about street harassment for the VoiceTool Product exhibit in San Francisco, CA

* The Adventures of Salwa campaign has a hotline for sexual harassment cases in Lebanon: 76-676862.

* In Bangalore, India, there is a helpline for street harassment 080 – 22943225 / 22864023

* Report #streetharassment in Pakistan at @NameAndShamePk, email nameandshame@ryse.pk, SMS 0314-800-35-68 or online at http://www.nameandshame.pk

10 Tweets from the Week:

1. @harassmap It is time this is escalated, we’re losing our lives to harassers, silence has never been more disgraceful. #endSH #Egypt #Enough

2. @alicexz I usually respond to sexual harassment on the street by 1.) INTENTLY TEXTING A NON-EXISTENT PERSON, or 2.) “No English!”

3.  @Hollaback_DSM Being a male ally isn’t about what you DON’T do (harass) but what you DO do: confront other men. Together we will end #streetharassment

4. @PennyRed Ah, New York street harassment, how I haven’t missed you #hollaback #alwaysabittooscaredtohollaback

5. @mortari If you’ve never been catcalled or followed, then yes, you are missing information which is relevant to discussion of street harassment.

6. @TheCariLand Why do guys feel it’s ok to catcall out a car window or honk at females?

7. ‏@TheFemaleWiz There’s a fine line between charming and creepy.On that note,there’s a place reserved in hell for dudes that catcall on ladies!

8. @AngryWriterGirl I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times more: Don’t believe in #streetharassment? Walk a few steps behind a woman on a sunny day.

9. @nd_kane @anaees Agreed, so not okay. There’s a whole campaign about Street Harassment online that’s worth a look: https://stopstreetharassment.org

10. @MarwaMfarid Who is ready to participate in an experience to document the fact that even Niqab wearing women are sexually harassed #EndSH #Egypt

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“Not Your Baby” App

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If you’re like me and tend to freeze up or draw a blank when you experience harassment, here’s a great resource to help you out, from our partner in Canada, METRAC. (They’re also the organization that also founded community safety audits).

Via their press release:

“On September 10, 2012, METRAC released a free iPhone app, “Not Your Baby”, to help users deal with sexual harassment. Once installed, the app will allow users to input where they are – such as work, school or on the street – and who’s harassing them – such as a boss, coworker or fellow student. A response will be generated “in the moment”, based on the input of 238 people who shared what they’ve done to deal with similar instances of harassment. “Not Your Baby” also includes their stories and tips and allows users to submit their own….

“Not Your Baby” stands as an example of the power of technology to help people take action, including women, young women, LGBTTIQQ2S and other groups most at risk of sexual and gender-based harassment. It is available on iTunes and by visiting METRAC’s website, www.metrac.org.”

What a great idea!

The Torontoist has more:

“METRAC communications director Andrea Gunraj described the app as “another tool that people can use to feel empowered,” rather than a cure-all for sexual harassment. She pointed to work by groups including the White Ribbon Campaign, for encouraging men, who are overwhelmingly the perpetrators of sexual harassment, to talk about the behaviour and its impact. She sees a need for more resources for men, including those “who want to diffuse harassment, who want to say something and don’t know how.”

According to Gunraj, it’s up to communities to initiate the uncomfortable social conversations that can lead to reflection and change. She noted that “the biggest barrier is speaking about it and seeing it as a problem. Too often we accept harassment as a fact of life.””

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