Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Details for two more confirmed events for Anti-Street Harassment Day

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If you’re in these areas, I hope you’ll participate and spread the word!

Delhi, India:

Bol ke , Bas Ab Aur Nahi campaign

“Let’s Unite! Let’s Fight! . ‘BE THE CHANGE’!  Let’s mark the first International Anti-Street Harassment Day on March 20th by saying NO to Street Sexual Harassment. Come join us as we go around the Delhi University north campus protesting and claiming for our space! Further details call 26691219 or write to safedelhi@jagori.org”

Cairo, Egypt:

زيارات التوعية الميدانية الثانية لمتطوعي خريطة التحرش الجنسي

يتزامن ميعادنا لعمل زيارات التوعية الميدانية في شوارع ومناطق مختلفة من مصر لمناهضة التحرش الجنسي، مع اليوم العالمي لمناهضة التحرش الجنسي في الشارع 20 مارس، وهي المبادرة التي تم الإعلان عنها في بداية العام ويمكنكم معرفة المزيد عن اليوم من خلال هذا الرابط:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200134909997177&ref=ts
وعلى خلاف المرة الأولى للتوعية الميدانية، فنحن الآن نعيش ظروف تاريخية عقب ثورة 25 يناير، يجدر بنا الإستفادة منها لع…مل تغيير حقيقي في كل شوارعنا، وأن ندعو للإيجابية وعدم السكوت على مشكلة التحرش الجنسي.
كيفية المشاركة:

– يخرج المتطوعين في هذا اليوم في مجموعات (نساء ورجال معا) لعمل التوعية في المناطق التي ينتمون لها وتعاني من مشكلة التحرش الجنسي
– تكون التوعية مع الأفراد الرئيسيين في الشارع أو المنطقة (أصحاب المحلات، حراس العمارات، أي مجموعات موجودة في الشارع بصورة مستمرة، اللجان الشعبية مثلا، وسائل المواصلات)
– تتم الإستعانة بدليل المتطوعين الذي أعده المتطوعون أنفسهم ويضم معلومات حول: ماذا نقول؟ ما هي الردود والأعذار المعتادة، والرد عليها)
– تتم الإستعانة بنسخة من الخريطة مطبوعة لإقناع الأفراد بخطورة المشكلة وتجنب إنكارها
– تتم الإستعانة بملصقات الخريطة والأماكن التي تبدي تعاونها تضع ملصق (المناطق الآمنة)
– لا تطول مدة الزيارة الميدانية عن ساعتين بحد أقصى
– ضرورة الرجوع لمنسق المتطوعين عقب الإنتهاء من الزيارة بالملاحظات ونتائج اليوم (من تعاون من المحلات مثلا ويمكننا الإعلان عنهم عن طريق موقعنا)
– في حالة إستخدام تويتر لتغطية تفاصيل التوعية الميدانية نرجو إستخدام #antistreetharassmentday مع #harassmap
– يمكنكم إرسال أي صور أو فيديوهات تم تصويرها خلال اليوم وتوثق تجربتكم لنا

يمكن للمتطوعين الحصول على الدليل والملصقات من أماكن سنعلن عنها قبل نهاية الأسبوع.

ملاحظة: يتزامن أيضا 19 مارس مع ميعاد الإستفتاء على التعديلات الدستورية ويوصي فريق العمل الجميع بضرورة المشاركة، ويمكن عمل التوعية في المنطقة المحيطة باللجنة التابع لها.

لتأكيد المشاركة أو لأي أسئلة أو إستفسارات يمكنكم التواصل مع :
أحمد عجور، منسق المتطوعين: 0110602110
info@harassmap.org

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One week to go until Anti-Street Harassment Day!

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Rogers Park Young Women's Action Team

March 20 is International Anti-Street Harassment Day. The stories submitted to my blog this week alone make it very clear week why we need it:

To participate on March 20, all you need to do is agree to share a story or talk about street harassment online or in person with a family member, friend, neighbor, classmate, colleague, or even a complete stranger! Let’s break the silence around this global problem.

  • Here are 10 ideas for action on March 20
  • If you’re on twitter, tweet about street harassment with either of these hashtags: #antistreetharassmentday and #march20
  • If you plan to submit an article for a local or campus newspaper, here are useful statistics to include. Visit the OpEdProject website for tips on writing an opinion editorial and to find the contact information and submission guidelines for more than 100 newspapers. Your stories, your opinions matter!
  • You can request a press release template from me that you can tailor for your local media to announce your Anti-Street Harassment Day involvement. Email stopstreetharassment AT yahoo DOT com.
    • Find inspiration for your activism:
    • Use graphics (in 6 languages, see below), fact sheets & fliers. Download, post & share them widely and/or adapt them to create your own.
    • RSVP on Facebook if you’ll participate and invite your friends to RSVP too.

    Confirmed events:

    • Ten events are listed on CrowdMap
    • Facebook event pages:

    Media coverage from the past week alone!

    I hope you will participate in this historic day and invite your friends and family to as well. Spring is no excuse for street harassment!!

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    Street harassment snapshot: March 13, 2011

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    Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

    Street Harassment Stories:

    I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

    You can read new street harassment stories on the Web from the past week at:

    Street Harassment in the News, on the Blogs:

    Events:

    • March 15: International Approaches to Stopping Street Harassment Talk, Georgia College, Museum Education Room, Milledgeville, GA, 5 p.m.
    • March 16: Street Harassment Workshop, Georgia College, Women’s Resource Center, Milledgeville, GA, 12:30 p.m.
    • March 19: Stop Street Harassment Talk, Old Parish House/Women’s Club
      4711 Knox Road, College Park, MD, 11 a.m.
    • March 19: HarassMap is organizing anti-street harassment activism in Cairo, Egypt!
    • March 20: International Anti-Street Harassment Day – happening all over the world!
    • March 22: HollaBack London meeting, 420 Kingsland Road, unknown time

    International Anti-Street Harassment Day:

    It’s only two weeks away! Participate in the first annual International Anti-Street Harassment Day on March 20!!!

    Announcements:

    New:

    On-going:

    10 Tweets from the Week:

    • HollabackEP Went for a lovely walk with my mom. Yeah, I still got harassed. Doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, or who you’re with. #StreetHarassment
    • bibliofeminista Street harassed on the streets of DC today by a man who yells: “Whoa, legs!” Me: “Yup, I have them.” #gross #streetharassment
    • TingyN #saynoto abuse and harassment in the street making people feel vulnerable in their every day lives
    • FeministInti Feminism isn’t a zero sum game, we can fight against street harassment, for abortion AND to end domestic violence and rape. It all counts.
    • Tweetsbian Creepy mullet dude gave me the turn-catcall-stare on a dark sidewalk. Think my ovaries have shriveled up a bit.
    • KimberlynnAce Nope…was wrong. street harassment is rampant as ever on international women’s day. All this tells me is that we gotta go to work. #iwd2011
    • Dina_T Is there some sort of sexual street harassment quota that Egyptian men are trying to achieve today? Kefaya!
    • equalitynow From FB: Passing some kind of legislation against street harassment. There is no equality while women feel unsafe. #100steps
    • SophiaAlMaria Make street-harassment a relic of pre-revolutionary #Egypt. Support http://www.harassmap.org/ on International Women’s Day.
    • disasterous007 If you ever walk alone to your car without thinking someone might attack you, this isn’t your day. #internationalwomensday
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    Power in storytelling: interview with filmmaker Nuala Cabral

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    When you search for videos about street harassment, Nuala Cabral’s film Walking Home is the second clip that comes up. Since 2009, it’s been viewed more than 23,000 times. I featured it on my blog soon after it went online and had hoped to interview Nuala for my book on street harassment. Things fell through at the time, but thanks to International Anti-Street Harassment Day planning, we’ve reconnected. This week Nuala graciously agreed to answer interview questions for my blog.

    1. Stop Street Harassment (SSH): What’s a three sentence bio for you?

    Nuala Cabral (NC): I’m an educator and filmmaker, currently teaching television production at Temple University, where I recently obtained my Master’s degree in Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media. I’m the co-founder of the cooking blog Cool Cooks and co-founder of FAAN Mail, a media literacy and media activism project based in Philadelphia.

    2. SSH: What inspired you to create your film Walking Home?

    NC: Street harassment is a personal, political and universal issue that is often dismissed and tolerated. This is problematic and I wanted to do something about it. I’m a filmmaker– so I made a film. I like to use video and film to explore my frustrations and questions about the world.

    Walking Home attempts to question and disrupt the acceptance and the pervasive silence around these everyday interactions.

    3. SSH: Wonderful. I love seeing people tap into their talents to bring attention to this issue. How did you decide what to cover during the film?

    NC: Walking Home is for the walkers, the talkers and those who say nothing. And thinking about these audiences shaped my decisions about my approach with this film.

    I wanted to portray a diverse range of people, because street harassment is universal, just like all forms of violence. Including voices of several women explaining their names, signifies universality and solidarity. The smile “command” is something I definitely wanted to include.  Self-entitlement operates in interesting ways and I wanted to open that door for discussion.

    4. SSH: It seems like you have. Since 2009, Walking Home has been viewed more than 23,000 times on YouTube and linked to on numerous websites. What kind of responses have you received from viewers?

    NC: One man mentioned that unfortunately the men who need to see Walking Home will never see it.   But actually some male friends have said that the film has caused them to reconsider the way they approach women. Many of the responses come from women who have experienced street harassment; Walking Home resonates with them.  But there is one response that has stood out  (from someone I have never met). Here’s an excerpt: 

    “ive been that girl (as we all have been, clearly), still am sometimes.  but that is not what this reminded me of right away.  it reminded me of walking down the street with my parents as a child, my mother looking straight ahead, my father hooting and hollering without care or regard for his wife and child, at one of those ‘nameless’ girls passing by. and he continued to do this for many years in front of my sister and i, though he implored us to respect ourselves.  how could we?

    you did not ask for my life story, i do not mean to burden you with it. but your work brought to the forefront of my mind for the first time in many years that hurt, that anger which was never addressed and never healed. it really moved me, exactly what great art does

    … i wanted to thank you for this piece. at this moment my heart is so heavy when i think of him doing this and the years of abuse that followed, but im grateful for it because it has reminded me that there is still a wound there. and now that i can no longer ignore it, i aim to mend it.”

    5. SSH: Wow, that is powerful and something that isn’t often discussed: the pain women feel when they witness men in their lives engaging in street harassment. My next question is related, what benefits do you see in using film to work to end street harassment?

    NC: There is power in storytelling. Film is a form of storytelling and it offers an opportunity to build understanding across differences, among people who may never communicate directly.  The benefit in using film is that when it’s done well, it makes people feel. And when it comes to street harassment, making people feel is a good start to helping them care about making a difference.

    6. SSH: So true and every time I see your video posted, I see it accompanied by comments from people you have prompted to feel and think about this issue. Do you have plans to make any more films or other projects that address street harassment?

    NC: Right now I want to concentrate on using Walking Home to support the movement. I am also excited that Hollaback is opening a chapter in Philadelphia and looking forward to supporting their efforts. We’ll see what else develops.

    SSH: Great, thank you for your time and especially thank you for making such a powerful film!

    If you live in Philadelphia, join Nuala and HollaBack Philly on March 20 for their International Anti-Street Harassment Day activism!

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    “More rights for women, Egypt for all Egyptians”

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    Yesterday in Egypt, activists called for a Million Woman March in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demanding “fair and equal opportunity for all Egyptian citizens — beyond gender, religion or class.”

    I wrote about the planned March with optimism, just as the organizers and participants felt optimism. This morning, reading about what happened makes me feel tired. Tired knowing how much longer Egyptian women (and women all over the world) will have to keep working toward equal rights, including the rights to public spaces free from harassment or assault, in the face of such hateful opposition.

    Via NPR:

    “Hundreds of women — some in headscarves and flowing robes, others in jeans — who marched to the square to celebrate the anniversary, demand equality and an end to sexual harassment were soon outnumbered by men who chased them out.

    “They said that our role was to stay home and raise presidents, not to run for president,” said Farida Helmy, a 24-year-old journalist.”

    Via CNN.com:

    “The turnout appeared to be no more than than 1,000, and the event quickly degenerated into shouting matches between the two sides.

    “Men are men and women are women and that will never change and go home, that’s where you belong,” some of the anti-feminist demonstrators chanted.

    There were men on both sides of the protest.

    Organizers calling for the demonstration said on Facebook they were “not after minority rights. We are not after symbolic political representation.”

    On Aljazeera, Fatma Naib shared her experiences and pictures from being on the square:

    “I arrived in Tahrir around 2pm local time [12GMT] on Tuesday March 8, but was surprised to see the sheer volume of men who outnumbered the women, as if it was International Men’s Day!…

    Many Egyptian and non-Egyptian men came in big numbers in support of the rally.

    And a group of French and Italian expats also turned up in solidarity with the women of Egypt.

    “We came here to show solidarity and support women’s rights in the world wherever they are. In Tahrir even more because women played a huge role in the revolution like the men,” Rafaela from Italy said….

    Women of all ilk, young, old, veiled, unveiled, all decked up at the Tahrir Square. As they stood there peacefully with their signs that read: “more rights for women”, “Egypt for all Egyptians”, a small crowd of men started to gather in front of the women’s rally.

    The anti-women’s day crowd grew as did their loud chants that said:”al shab yoreed esqat al madam“, “the people demand the removal of the lady/women”.

    Some of them directed their aggression towards the men who were supporting the women; others just chanted ‘illegitimate’ while pointing at the pro-women crowd….

    As the anti-women day crowd grew, the atmosphere went from celebratory to hostile. Most of the men and some of the women, that joined them later, had a problem with one of the demands that called for a woman to become a president….

    It was a sad moment to see how a day that was meant to celebrate women all over the world end like this. It was particularly sad to see the faces of some of the women that were visibly shocked at the response and behaviour of the anti-women day protesters.

    The event organiser was shocked at the incident.

    She said, “I am shocked, I didn’t expect this to happen. But these guys are unaware of our plight and it will take time before the awareness is spread.”

    For now the wheel of discussion and creating awareness about women issues and their democratic demands have started, but for now, the idea of a woman president seems unlikely… at least for now…”

    Photo by Fatma Naib

    “Rebel,” an Egyptian man who attended the rally to support the women, shared what happened on his blog, ending with:

    “I was called a faggot defending whores. I was told I wasn’t Egyptian for doing this.

    So now. Some accuse us of being too controversial. Some accuse us of using the wrong time and place to voice our grievances. Until when would we remain silent? And till when we will be too shy to call for women rights? I am not sorry I called for justice. I am just really appalled but what my friends had to go through. We managed to get our voices heard for once, and it won’t be the last time.

    I hope what happened today will shed some light on the unacceptable attitudes towards women. More men need to speak out for women too. This will definitely help our cause.

    The battle is hard. Mubarak’s regime and authoritarianism destroyed people’s sense of diversity. It may take years to actually change attitudes. I think we are up for it though.”

    What happened is very disheartening ,but I know that those who support women’s rights won’t give up!

    Do Something: This coming Saturday, HarassMap and The New Woman Foundation are hosting a discussion about women’s rights and ending sexual harassment in the streets. Saturday, March 12th, at 1:00 pm, at 14 abdel monem sanad st, off Ahmed Orabi, Mohandessin, Giza.

    And on March 20, it’s International Anti-Street Harassment Day. Harassment in the streets is a global problem – people all over the world will speak out and question its social acceptability.

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