Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“I’m proud that I didn’t just look away and walk past.”

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As a teenage girl I am used to street harassment on a small scale; catcalls, whistles, even sleazy chat-up lines. But last night I experienced something I never thought I’d have to deal with. I was walking along a dark road with two friends on the way to a club, we were walking arm in arm, chatting. This road has a short, wide tunnel and as we entered it a man walked into the other end. Being wary of anyone at that time of night I kept an eye on him. As soon as he noticed us he unbuckled his belt, dropped his trousers and started masturbating. I was really creeped out, but also angry. As we passed him on the pavement I looked him in the eye and said, ‘Seriously? You are ridiculous.’

He didn’t reply, but kept walking.

As my friends hadn’t noticed what had been going on I then proceeded to take the opportunity to tell them how pathetic (and also illegal) that is as we walked away. I emphasized each word so that it would echo in the tunnel.

I can’t believe anyone would do something like that. Being a regular reader of this site I know that many women have had much worse experiences, but one of my friends was quite disturbed by it. Something about the way the man acted was really sinister. I’m proud that I didn’t just look away and walk past. He deserved to know that what he was doing was disgusting.

– FT

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

 

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London candidate for mayor proposes campaign against street harassment!

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Via Ken Livingstone's campaign page

On May 3, 2012, there will be an election for Mayor of London. This is the fourth election since the office of Mayor of London was created in 2000. Ken Livingstone is the candidate for the Labour party and he is seeking a third, non-consecutive term.

Last week he released a series of plans he hopes to implement if he’s elected that he thinks will make London safer. I’m excited to see that addressing street harassment is part of his plan!

“Ken will lead a campaign against sexual harassment in London’s public places to send a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.”

This is not the first time he’s mentioned street harassment. In September 2010, the UK Anti-Street Harassment Campaign sent a letter to him about street harassment and he has agreed to add street harassment to his campaign agenda. He wrote,

“I am concerned about street harassment of women and believe there is far more we need to do to tackle this problem.

I believe we should consider tougher deterrents and punishments to tackle this crime. We also need to provide far greater support for the victims of street harassment and other crimes.

This is an issue that needs to be taken more seriously, not just by the police but our schools, parents and the wider community.

It is essential that we send a clear message that street harassment of women is wrong and will not be tolerated.”

It’s pretty exciting to see a viable candidate for mayor of a major international city like London acknowledge that street harassment is a problem and one that warrants attention! Thanks, Ken, and best of luck on May 3.

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Snapshot of street harassment stories, news, announcements & tweets: April 8, 2012

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Via The Hindu

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

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Safe Streets in Yemen

Many of the Hollaback sites

In the News, on the Blogs:

* Amnesty International, “Maldives must investigate sexual harassment of detained women protesters;” Minivan News, “Amnesty calls on government to investigate allegations of sexual harassment of female detainees by police“

* Washington Post, “Metro anti-sexual harassment campaign goes live; ” CBS DC, “Metro Goes Digital To Crack Down On Sexual Harassment;” Fox 5, “Metro Launches Anti-Sexual Harassment Campaign;” DCist, “Metro to Kick Off Anti-Sexual Harassment Campaign in April;” Washington Post, “D.C. hosts first annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week;” WTOP, “Metro tackles sexual harassment on the transit system;” ABC 7, “Metro sexual harassment: WMATA upping efforts to combat incidents;” The Examiner, “Metro to fight sexual misconduct on system;” Washington Post, “Metro sets up sexual harassment Web site for riders“

* UN Dispatch, “Making India a Safer Place for Women“

* Ebony, “Interrupt Street Harassment“

* Ahram Online, “Sexual harassment in Egypt after the revolution“

* Women’s Law Project Blog, “Street harassment: A bigger problem than you may think“

* The Cathartist, “Street Harassment: My Experience“

* Today’s Zaman, “Expat starts Hollaback! İstanbul to tackle street harassment“

* Time, “Ladies First: Czech Railways Rolls Out Female-Priority Compartments“

* The Marquette Tribune, “GAMBLE: Catcalls are not compliments“

* Navabharat.com, “Female Passengers Beat Up Bus Driver For Eve Teasing“

* Deccan Herald, “Eve teasers photos to be made public“

* Citizen Matters, “Bengaluru’s young working women living in fear“

* Daily Bhaskar, “Security concerns drive city women to ‘Candle March’”

* Take Two, “How Your Video Can Go Viral“

* Online News, “Ladies harassment incidents on rise on overhead bridge“

* I’m not your sassy Latina, “Street harassment in Providence“

* Feminist Teacher, “Create an Anti-Street Harassment PSA With Your Students“

* The Frisky, “How Do You Respond To Street Harassment?“

* The Indian Express, “CN & heard: Female cops face eve-teasing“

* India Today, “Crime against women on rise in trains“

* The Brink of Something Else, “Street Harassment and HollaBack“

* The Eastern Echo, “Feminists of color fight for equality“

* Huffington Post, “Street Harassment Shouldn’t be Part of the Female Experience“

* PreventConnect, “International Anti-Street Harassment Week Recap“

* Yemen Times, “Anti-Street Harassment Week“

* The Hindu, “Snap your fear!”

* Ms. Blog, “Sh*t Men Say To Men About Street Harassment“

* University of Toledo, “UT addresses street harassment during awareness week;” The Independent Collegian, “‘Stop Street Harassment’“

* Philly Now, “Gearing Up for International Anti-Street Harassment Day“

* Reston Patch, “Reston Woman’s Goal: Stopping Harassment“

Activism Announcements:

New:

* If you’re in the New York City area, take this survey about harassment on public transportation.

* Gay and bisexual men, take this survey about street harassment.

* Read the March e-newsletter from Stop Street Harassment recounting 12 activism initiatives that occurred globally.

* In Washington, DC, the transit authority officially launched their campaign against sexual harassment.

Reminders:

* 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

15 Tweets from the Week:

1. @‏smokenfog “When dad suggested me to wear burqa to save myself from street harassment, I shouted, why should I wear burqa? Y punishment for me?” Veena

2. ‏ @grayshonnn Writing up my street harassment diary for my documentary. The way females are treated on nights out is distrubing. #streetharassment

3. @meadowgirl @FatGirlvsWorld uh, that’s a good thing! street harassment ain’t sexy even if YOU are!

4. @JennNiff Woop, Saturday night! Or as it shall now be known, street harassment night.

5. @arieswym Out and about all day in Center City and North Philly with no street harassment. #win

6. @niabentall Fighting street harassment, telling off one ten year old little stinker at a time

7. @Feminist_Dating Struggling to stay calm about the street harassment I’m experiencing today.

8. @Miami_Chica So this week was “International Anti-Street Harassment Week”. Lord knows this is something I support!

9. @ToolPackinMama Man…. “street harassment”… story of my life. For 40+ years of my life, I couldn’t walk ANYWHERE without getting yelled/screamed at FACT

10. @emmaclairekd street harassment should be illegal tbh

11. @heathr I feel like they perform street harassment to create some idea of masculinity and they do it for other men, not us. #fb

12. @sitcomofmylife I dread the coming of Summer. It’s street harassment season. There should be a Stand Your Ground law letting me punch them in the face.

13. lisaaglass Fed up with street harassment? Have yr say at the ONLY hustings on women’s safety in London. 12 April. http://alturl.com/w42po

14. @Amavijolie11 I don’t fuck with harassment… How u gonna see a girl on a street and then wait for her at a parking lot wtf old man gtf

15. @rapeSAsurvivors Society must remember that street harassment and sexual violence does not just affect heterosexual women.

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New York City transit rider survey

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New Yorkers for Safe Transit has a packed schedule of activism coming up, starting with surveying transit riders to document cases of gender-based harassment and violence on the mass transit system. They hope the results will help mobilize communities to join with them and take action.

The survey is anonymous and available online.

Tomorrow will be the first of several days when they will conduct off-line surveys. At 1 p.m. tomorrow, they will meet at the 36th Street subway station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, to survey neighborhood residents. They need more volunteers to help conduct the surveys. Please contact them if you are interested in helping tomorrow or in future.

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Two new brochures and fliers you can use

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Activists hand out fliers in San Francisco, CA

Need a handy brochure or flier to pass out or post about street harassment? Here are two!

1 – Gaz Black, a paramedic and self defense instructor who runs The Best Defense Program in Winnipeg, Canada, created a brochure about street harassment. He says he and his son hand it out to men while his daughters hand it out to women. You can download and print it and hand it out too!

2 – During International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2012, activists in San Francisco, California, organized by Sarah Harper, founder of VoiceTool Productions, handed out fliers during evening rush hour. The fliers detail what street harassment is and how to resist it so that people can learn more about identifying harassment behaviors and how to stop harassment in the moment. The flier is in English and Spanish – download and print copies and then you can pass them out too!

Sarah just let me know that the University of Georgia’s Women’s Studies Student Organization is addressing street harassment in Athens, Georgia, by handing out copies of the flier and will do so during the campus Take Back the Night on April 12 in Athens.

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