Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Watch OVARIAN PSYCOS Tonight

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Watch OVARIAN PSYCOS on PBS’ Independent Lens TONIGHT at 10 p.m.! 

“Riding at night through Eastside Los Angeles, the Ovarian Psycos use their bicycles to confront the violence in their lives [including street harassment]. At the helm of the crew is founder Xela de la X, a single mother and poet M.C. dedicated to recruiting an unapologetic, misfit crew of women of color, yet she struggles to strike a balance between motherhood and activism. Evie, a bright eyed recruit, joins the crew and despite poverty and the concerns of her protective Salvadoran mother, discovers a newfound confidence.  Meanwhile, Andi Xoch, a founding member and street artist who knows the deeply activist legacy from which the Ovas emerge, journeys to become a new leader within the crew.”

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10 Days Until Anti-Street Harassment Week!

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It’s an exciting time! We’re just 10 days out from the seventh annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Our numbers are growing daily and now groups and organizations in 35 countries will participate.

WHAT’S GOING ON
If you’re joining in, we need to know WHAT you’re doing! We post the info on our Events page so people who want to become involved in the Week can see what is happening near them. It also helps us when we pitch media and write articles to be able to report on the range of actions.

So help both you and us out by please completing this short form to let us know your plans! (A big thank you to everyone who has already informed us.)

STOP TELLING WOMEN TO SMILE
We’re excited that for a fourth year, Stop Telling Women to Smile is hosting an International Wheatpasting Night during the Week, April 7. To participate, complete this form.

PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE
Here’s a press release template you can use to announce your events/actions in your community.

GLOBAL TWEETATHON
Please join the Tweetathon on April 4! Tweet about street harassment issues any time that day (any time zone, any language) while using #EndSH in your tweets. Be sure to check out what other twitter events will take place during the week.

BLOGGING!
If you wish to guest blog during the week (or have an entry cross-posted from your blog), please email HollyKearl@yahoo.com and BPurdy@mail.umw.edu, with a short pitch about what the blog would cover and the preferred date or time range you’d like it published.

LOGOS, IMAGES, FLYERS
We have a selection of shareable images and downloadable fliers on our website! Feel free to use them however you would like.

Feel free to reach out anytime with questions, suggestions, or information!

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5 Things to Know for 2017 Anti-Street Harassment Week

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In three weeks, from April 2-8, Stop Street Harassment is organizing the seventh annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Already groups and organizations in more than 25 countries have pledged to participate. The Week is a chance for us to join together in solidarity and amplify each other’s voices so that the world listens, as well as to raise awareness in our local communities.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
    1. Tell Us What You’re Doing!
      If you are participating, we want to know what you’re doing! Please either complete this form, or e-mail me, Holly, with info at hollykearl@yahoo.com. Thank you for your help.
    2. Ideas for Action
      Do you still need ideas for what you can do? Here are several. Also gain ideas from the 2016 wrap-up report and the 2015 wrap-up report.We especially hope to see offline discussions involving diverse community members of all genders and backgrounds. It will take EVERYONE to truly create safer communities.

      But at minimum, any individual can participate through simple acts like telling their street harassment story, writing chalk messages, and sharing information online.

    3. Tools
      We have a selection of shareable images and downloadable fliers on our website and will be adding even more in the next two weeks. If you have ideas or want to offer translation help, please email hollykearl@yahoo.com.
    4. Write a Blog Post
      Afghanistan, India and USA are among the countries represented this year!

      If you’d like to write a blog post for Stop Street Harassment (or have an entry cross-posted from your blog) that would be great! It can be for the week itself, or you can advertise what you’ll be doing for the week and why. Just reach out to Holly, HollyKearl@yahoo.com, with a short pitch about what the blog would cover and the preferred date or time range you’d like it published.

    5. Tweet Chats
      April 4 will be our global tweetathon. Tweet about street harassment using #Endsh throughout the day (from whatever time zone you’re in, using whatever language/s you want). We are in the midst of scheduling the daily tweet chats — If you are planning to host one but haven’t been in touch yet, please reach out and I will add it to the official list.

Feel free to reach out anytime with questions, suggestions, or information!

-Holly

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At Stop Street Harassment, We #StandWithGavin

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We believe that transgender rights are civil rights. Stop Street Harassment works to document and end gender-based public harassment worldwide, and we recognize that this includes the harassment of women and LGBTQ individuals across every race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, age, and socio-economic status.

Gavin Grimm’s case is the case of thousands of transgender people across the country.  “It’s not just about bathrooms,” Gavin said earlier this week. “It’s about the right for trans people to exist in public spaces.” While Gavin’s case focuses on his access to restrooms in the school context under Title IX, it has much broader implications about who belongs in public spaces in the first place.

Our organization has documented thousands of stories from people of all genders around the world who have experienced verbal harassment, and sometimes physical violence, in public spaces simply for existing: Simply for being a woman. Simply for being LGBTQ. Or simply because, no matter who they are or what they are wearing, public harassment is at its core about power. We reject the idea that – across identity categories – women have less of a right to be in public than men, that gay and lesbian individuals have less of a right to be in public than their straight peers, or that transgender people have less of a right to be in public than cisgender people.

We also believe that an attack on any marginalized community is an attack on all of us. We’ll continue to stand with transgender students like Gavin, and all transgender people, who feel like they are not welcome in public spaces simply because of who they are. We’ll continue to fight with and for them, and will never give up on our global efforts to combat gender-based harassment.

Gavin’s fight has been delayed, but it’s far from over. We look forward to the day when all people feel welcome to exist and worthy of existing in public spaces – no matter who they are, what they look like, where they live, or who they love.

Signed,
The Stop Street Harassment Board of Directors

(Special thanks to board member Patrick Ryne McNeil for drafting this statement.)

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