Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Gyms are like tourist spots?

By

I was working out with a friend as a first time guest at the Planet Fitness, Elmwood Park, IL, location. At around 5 p.m. today my friend noticed camera flashes coming from behind us. When we turned around we noticed some old guy taking pictures of us! When my friend went to get a staff member, the offender ran into the men’s bathroom to hide the camera. When he came out, and the staff member spoke to him, he just let him walk away.

When I addressed the staff member, he said that the guy stated that he was ‘taking pictures of us for his family in Greece’ and that he couldn’t take the camera. Worse off, he said that he would only throw him out if he started taking them again. I said that it was definitely a lie and was APPALLED that nothing could be done! Why do I have to be violated twice in order for anything to be done about it?

It was also upsetting that the guy ran away so fast that I couldn’t take a picture, or address him directly…

UGH! Why is it that guys feel like they can treat women however they want??? I wrote on the Planet Fitness Facebook wall AND sent them an EMAIL AND I will be calling on Monday to request a manager to speak with! It’s just horrid that I can’t even go to my friend’s gym in peace! 🙁

– Earth Angel

Location: Elmwood Park, IL

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

Share

16 Days of Activism: My Name is NOT Hey, Girl

By

Here we are at day 14 of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Here’s the fourteenth name that women do NOT want to be called by men they do not know when they’re in public places. (All 16 names were submitted via Twitter or Facebook.)

Ending the social acceptability of men calling women these names takes us one step closer to creating a culture where gender violence doesn’t happen. Read more about the connection between gender violence and the inappropriate and demeaning names that men call women they don’t know.

Don’t let harassers off the hook: respond | report | share your story.

Share

16 Days of Activism: My Name is NOT Damn, Woman

By

Day 13 of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Here’s the thirteenth name that women do NOT want to be called by men they do not know when they’re in public places. (All 16 names were submitted via Twitter or Facebook.)

Ending the social acceptability of men calling women these names takes us one step closer to creating a culture where gender violence doesn’t happen. Read more about the connection between gender violence and the inappropriate and demeaning names that men call women they don’t know.

Don’t let harassers off the hook: respond | report | share your story.

Share

Street harassers in Saudi Arabia will be fined, publicly defamed

By

Image from The Saudi Gazette

“Men who harass women in public will be fined and publicly defamed under a new law being drafted by the Shoura Council. The action is due to huge public demand to end the phenomenon that humiliates women and even leads to traffic jams. Shoura Council member Zain Al-Abideen Bin Barri urged ‘the council to follow the suit of countries like Kuwait and the UAE where similar laws have successfully deterred the unwelcome advances,’ Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported. ‘Besides penalties, we’re going to consider imposing fines. The penalty of public defamation will deter public harassers,’ he said.

“The nuisance is widespread throughout the Kingdom particularly in blackspots such as Al-Elaya Street in Riyadh and Al-Tahliya Street in Jeddah. Many businesses are now losing customers who avoid malls out of fear of harassment.”  ~ From the The Saudi Gazette

You mean there is still street harassment in Saudi Arabia, a country where legal restrictions keep women from being in public freely and dictate that they be veiled when they are in public?

I’m shocked.

Nope, I’m not.

Street harassment is a global problem and as long as women are viewed and treated as second-class citizens and are “othered” from men, street harassment will persist.

I’m interested to see if this law will be enforced and if it will be effective. I didn’t know about the Kuwait and UAE laws, so if those laws truly have been successful at deterring harassment, maybe a law in Saudi Arabia will to.

Regardless of its effectiveness, I’m glad to see an article and a proposed law that place the blame on men (although honestly, there are already so many restrictions on women’s access to public places there, what more can they do to women?). For example, in the past I’ve blogged about clerics who wanted women to wear veils with only one eye showing to reduce harassment because two eyes were too “seductive,” and I’ve blogged about men who justify the law against women drivers by saying if they drove, it would lead to an increase in harassment. At least this article and law place the blame and the attention on the men who harass. That’s some progress.

[Thanks for the news tip, P.J. Aroon, copy chief at Foreign Policy Magazine]

Share

16 Days of Activism: My Name is NOT Mami

By

Day 12 of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Here’s the twelfth name that women do NOT want to be called by men they do not know when they’re in public places. (All 16 names were submitted via Twitter or Facebook.)

Ending the social acceptability of men calling women these names takes us one step closer to creating a culture where gender violence doesn’t happen. Read more about the connection between gender violence and the inappropriate and demeaning names that men call women they don’t know.

Don’t let harassers off the hook: respond | report | share your story.

Share