HKearl, Author at Stop Street Harassment

“Don’t shy away – speak out!”

April 27, 2010 By HKearl

Lebanon activists — Lebanese activists work on anti-harassment campaign, image Via Google

“Don’t shy away – speak out” is an anti-sexual harassment campaign launched by activists in Lebanon to address the problem in public places and the workplace.

“Raghida Ghamlouch, a social worker with the non-governmental Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women, said Lebanon’s social fabric does not encourage victims to speak out.

‘Lebanese society is still macho and systematically places the blame on the woman,’ Ghamlouch told AFP.

‘Women are told it is their fault if they hitch a cab off the street, if they are dressed a certain way, if they come home late, and so forth,’ she added.

‘And for women who are adults, it is even worse: They are accused of having deliberately provoked the man.’

Another factor that silences victims are Lebanon’s unjust laws, which do not explicitly consider harassment a crime.

And a convicted rapist in Lebanon is let off the hook if he consents to marry his victim.

‘Even police mock women who come in to their station to file complaints of harassment or domestic violence,’ Hashem said….

‘If the complaints increase, perhaps then the authorities cannot discount it,’ Hashem said. ‘Perhaps then they will see it is a real problem.'”

So clearly the activists have their work cut out for them and their work is very much needed!

It’s crazy how world-wide victim-blaming for gender-based violence is, huh? From Egypt to India to the UK to the US of A and now Lebanon…I am tired of hearing that women are to blame!

Anyway, bravo to the Lebanese activists and may they help break down the culture of victim-blaming and empower women to come forward against harassers.

Malaysia is launching “ladies-only” cars on the KTM Komuter train for the Sentul-Port Klang route. Naturally there are pink stickers and banners to designate the cars as ones that are “Ladies only at all times.” And unsurprisingly, this new initiative is in response to men sexually harassing women on the train.

Segregation on public transportation is not a novel idea. In fact it’s becoming a worn out one. Let’s place the blame and the action on the perpetrators, not the women who are the targets! So here are some novel ideas, brought to you by me, off of the top of my head:

Bar men who harass women from riding the trains.
Give men who harass women citations and make them sit in men-wh0-harass-women cars.
Give all women who ride the train mace to use on men who harass them.

In all seriousness though, check out the subway anti-sexual harassment campaigns occurring in Chicago, NYC, and Boston, which do not place the blame or the onus to avoid harassment on women. Let’s have more of that!

HollaBack PSA

April 19, 2010 By HKearl

Watch the new HollaBack NYC PSA and learn about where they’re going with mobile technology and ending street harassment!

Weekly Round Up April 18, 2010

April 19, 2010 By HKearl

Stories:

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

On this blog, a woman declares she is not “walking sex” and decries street harassment, a man chased a woman on the subway platform in Hollywood, CA, a man treated a woman waiting at a bus stop in Dublin as if she were a prostitute, a woman shares her views on street harassment and declares no woman deserves such behavior, a Japanese man dry humped a woman on a train in Japan, a man yells at a woman in DC about her dog, a taxi driver and man on the street harassed another woman in the DC area, a man in Boston harassed a woman as she was getting ready to ride her bicycle, and a 13 year old girl in the UK says how upset she is that men harass her all the time.
On HollaBackNYC a guy harassed a woman from his SUV,
On HollaBack DC! a woman shares how HollaBack DC! helped her feel empowered to fight back against a street harasser, another sees a crotch grabber on the metro, and a man treats a woman like a dog with the way he whistled at her.

In the News:

What does eve-teasing have to do with clothes?
NYC Tracks reports on the rise in subway harassment.

Announcements:

HollaBack NYC is looking for summer interns
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Here are 10 activism ideas for how you can raise awareness about this widespread problem and/or help raise funds for preventative programs and resources for survivors.
Take two street harassment surveys and help researchers studying this problem.
The submission deadline for an anthology on Queering Sexual Violence is extended until May 1, 2010.
If you’re interested in becoming a RightRides driving team volunteer, email volunteer@rightrides.org – orientations will be occurring throughout April.

Events:

If you’re in DC, attend Speak Up, Speak Out! on April 29.
Sign up for Washington, DC, based Defend Yourself’s annual class on dealing with street harassers, being held on May 22.

Resource of the Week:

The recently updated harassment map

What has eve-teasing got to do with clothes?

April 15, 2010 By HKearl

The Indian Express has a good article featuring Blank Noise‘s efforts to raise awareness in India about the problem of street harassment by collecting clothing women were wearing while being harassed. Here’s an excerpt:

“We are told that the onus lies on us to prevent its occurrence. We are told to dress appropriately, to come back home on time, to not attract attention to ourselves. And the worst of all, we are expected to accept sexual harassment or forms of eve-teasing as a part and parcel of our societal culture,” says Mariya Salim, a Calcutta University student of human rights who is participating in the drive.

Besides acting as testimonies of eve-teasing all voluntarily donated garments exhibited at public places in Kolkata since last month, also serve as a sort of an outlet for the victims to purge their pent-up feelings.

Jasmeen Patheja, founder member of ‘Blank Noise’, a Bangalore-based volunteer led community arts collective, says it is a violation of a girl’s liberty when she has to think twice before going out of her house alone.

“Isn’t the perpetrator responsible for his own action irrespective of what time we go out on the roads wearing the kind of attire we want to,” she said.

Very true. Women who are harassed are not to blame, the men who harass them are! Learn more about the work Blank Noise is doing.

Blank Noise clothing drive — Via Blank Noise

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