HKearl, Author at Stop Street Harassment

"Let me tell you how to talk to me"

May 14, 2009 By HKearl

“Let Me Tell You How to Talk to Me” (inspired by Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back”) was written by the Girls’ Leadership Council (“HOTGIRLS Street Team”) in partnership with the FIREGRL Club program at the Harland Boys & Girls Club in Southwest Atlanta to raise awareness about street harassment and to advocate for the respectful treatment of young women and girls.

Listen to the song & here are the lyrics:

Verse 1
Imma give you yo number back (Amber)
(yep) (Sesyli)
cause I don’t like you and yo game is whack
(yep)
You see these boys just don’t know how to act
(yep)
I try to walk away but they talk smack
(yep)
Take it to the streets

Verse 2 (Jazzmyn)
Dirty boy (uh huh)
You try to play with me like I’m a toy (uh huh)
You must not know boy I’m the real ma-coy (uh huh)
Some things you say just keep me real annoyed (Uh huh)
Take it to the streets

Chorus
Come here boy (Jakia)
-let me tell you how to talk to me- (HOTGIRLS Street Team)
don’t be lame
-let me tell you how to talk to me-
ask my name
-let me tell you how to talk to me-
don’t spit game
-let me tell you how to talk to me-
let me see where your mind is at
-let me tell you how to talk to me-
don’t be whack
-let me tell you how to talk to me-
don’t need no hint
-let me tell you how to talk to me-
we represent
HOTGIRLS STREET TEAM!! (call and response 4x)

They also wrote another song about street harassment:

“I Need Respect”
Lyrics by Stephy a.k.a. “Boston” (inspired by “I Need Love” by LL Cool J )

Sometimes I’m alone on the streets or hangin’ out with some friends
And then I meet a boy who don’t comprehend
Tellin’ me I look good, askin’ when he gonna hit [have sex]
I tell him I know, and he ain’t getting none of this
Every time I walk past, they be looking at my back
I know I look good but don’t act like that
I’m a respectable young lady
You don’t have to act crazy
Blowing your horn and callin’ me your lady
The way some of them approach me gets me upset
I wish that I could turn them off like a television set
You just come to my face and don’t ask for a name
Say I look good, tryna spit some game

I need respect
I need respect

Respect is what I need and it’s something I should have
It’s not something you throw away when it goes bad
There’s more to me than just a beautiful face
I’m not the one to mess with I can put you in your place
You’re like a homeless dog, who needs a home
I said I’m not interested, leave me alone
I know you’re not a crack addict, stop acting like a jay
Learn how to talk and approach me the right way
I’m not a piece of meat, stop licking your lips
I know your moms taught you manners, stop staring at my hips

I need respect
I need respect

Helping Our Teen Girls, Inc., a volunteer-led, nonprofit organization devoted to improving the health and lives of black young women and girls by providing health education, youth development, media literacy, and technology programming.

Visit Stop Street Harassment for more resources.

“Let me tell you how to talk to me”

May 14, 2009 By HKearl

Listen to the song & here are the lyrics:

They also wrote another song about street harassment:

“I Need Respect”
Lyrics by Stephy a.k.a. “Boston” (inspired by “I Need Love” by LL Cool J )

I need respect
I need respect

Visit Stop Street Harassment for more resources.

Extreme Street Harassment in Vancouver, West Redding

May 13, 2009 By HKearl

Here are two recent news stories about extreme street harassment in Vancouver, Canada, and West Redding, UK.

In Vancouver, “a woman was walking home from a pub in the area of 98th Ave & the King George Highway just before 2 a.m. when she noticed she was being followed along 104th Avenue. Police say the man grabbed her, pushed her against a wall, pointed a gun at her and began to sexually assault her. The woman called for help and the man ran away towards the Surrey Central Bus Loop area, but using the woman’s description of the attacker, police later arrested a man on a bus.”

In West Redding: At 8:30 p.m. a 41-year old father Mark Fricker sat next to a group of young teenage girls on the upper level of a public bus. He flirted with them and said he had a son their age, and then his conversation became sexual. He began rubbing the thigh of one of the girls and kissed her on the cheek. The girls alerted the bus driver who contacted the police. In court, he admitted to sexual assault. The judge gave him a 36 month supervision order and has required that he sign the sex offenders’ register.

Thankfully the young women are all okay and the men are being or have been prosecuted.

The judgment in the first case has not been determined.

How do you feel about the ruling in the second case? From what I gather, a supervision order means the man will have to go through trainings or meetings to help him do what is necessary to stop offending in order to better keep the public safe. That seems productive. What about the registry as a sex offender? Is it too harsh for his actions? Not harsh enough? Do you think it could deter other potential sexual harassment offenders?

Man in Disguise Gropes Woman on Mexico Subway

May 13, 2009 By HKearl

In Mexico City there are women-only subway cars (and buses) due to men harassing women — listen to this story twist!

A woman was riding in a women-only subway car when she felt someone touch her “backside,” but she said she did not react when she saw what she thought was a woman standing behind her. But when the person grabbed her and groped her, she pulled the metro car’s alarm.

The attacker was arrested by police and soon after it was discovered that the person was actually a man in his mid-40s who was wearing a wig, dress, and a padded bra so he could gain access on the women-only cars. Which may have been fine (what, after all defines one as a woman?) except for the slight problem of groping.

The author of the Latin American Herald Tribune notes at the end of the article:

“For several years, the capital metro has had cars specifically for women, who frequently complain about attacks of this kind in the cars that can be used by both sexes.”

As I’ve mentioned several times online & certainly will address in my book, women-only forms of public transportation are somewhat problematic because they don’t address the main issue — men need to stop harassing and groping women!! This story illustrates the lack of a real solution women-only cars provide because apparently men are still groping women on the mixed-sex cars and men, like the one arrested, can dress up like women and get on women-only cars and still grope women (though I’d be surprised if this happens very much).

I acknowledge that women-only cars could be a relief in the short-term for women who need a break from the harassment, but what if instead there were anti-groping training programs and harsher penalties for gropers?

Egyptian Street Harassment Activists Video Clip

May 11, 2009 By HKearl

As a follow up to the post “Hear from Egyptian Activists,” which linked to an audio clip on the BBC website about Egyptian women fighting street harassment, the BBC recently posted this video on the same topic. In fact, as far as I can tell the text is identical, but the visuals make it worth hearing again.

[note: I’ve tried unsuccessfully to embed the video clip, so please follow the link to see it]

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