HKearl, Author at Stop Street Harassment

Late November 2016 News Round-Up

November 30, 2016 By HKearl

November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and groups globally commemorated it with events, marches, and online campaigns.

Plan International Australia and CrowdSpot created a digital campaign “Known as Free to Be” and invited young women aged 15 to 19 to mark public spaces on a map as either “happy”, where they have had good experiences or “sad”, where they have experienced feeling unsafe or unwelcome.

Barbadian women have been using the hashtag #LifeInLeggings to share their personal experiences of street harassment, as well as sexual and other forms of abuse and now women in other Caribbean countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad are using it, too.

Student and faculty at the University of Belize donned orange clothing and marched against street harassment.

In Toronto, Canada, there were 577 reports of sexual assault on the transit company’s property or vehicles between 2011 and 2015.

A new anti-harassment transit campaign launched in Vancouver, Canada, with the posters reading, “Unwanted touching is a crime. Keep your hands to yourself.”

Prajnya Trust is highlighting street harassment by covering a mannequin with stickers (with slogans) in the Chamiers Cafe in Chennai, India.

Four young women have a Youtube channel “Morras” where they post videos in which they talk about street harassment in Mexico and show hidden camera footage of harassers.

A regulation has been proposed in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to make it illegal to “bother others buy jeering or offensive language, gestures, noises or behavior” in public spaces.

Women in New Zealand say no to street harassment.

Thousands of women in Turkey rode bicycles to claim public space.

A new poll of 14,000 students in the UK showed that 95% of women and 61% of men had been groped against their will at a nightclub.

A new bill in Georgia (USA) will outlaw “upskirt” photos and video recordings.

Post-Election Map of Hate, Including Street Harassment

November 30, 2016 By HKearl

The Southern Poverty Law Center released a new report yesterday on the more than 860 post-presidential election hate incidents that have been reported so far in the United States. You can see the breakdown and learn more about the types of incidents they are tracking here:

Here are examples of the Anti-Woman incidents, which they classify as street harassment.

“Since the election, the frequency and tone of street harassment of women seems to have changed. Women — about 5% of the total reports — reported that boys and men around the country are parroting the president-elect’s sexist and vulgar comments from the now-notorious 2005 audio tape.

In Minneapolis, middle-school boys leaned out of a school bus to yell, “Grab her by the pussy!” to a man walking with a female colleague.

A 50 year-old woman from Venice, California, reported that she had not been “catcalled” in over 20 years. The day after the election, three white men in a pickup truck bearing a Trump sticker shouted at her, “Do you want us to grab your pussy?”

In Arlington, Virginia, a woman crossing the street reported that two young white men yelled at her from their car: “You better be ready because with Trump, we can grab you by the pussy even if you don’t want it.”

In New York, a girl on her way to school reported that a man on the subway told her he was “allowed to grab my pussy because it’s legal now.”

A woman in Spokane, Washington, reported that she encountered young men who she described as being “‘liberated’ from normal behavior since the election.” They shouted “We’re going to rape you!” from a Jeep with the word “TRUMP” emblazoned on its side.

And in a Brooklyn, New York, restaurant, a woman who voiced her support for Hillary Clinton was punched in the face by a male patron.”

If you’ve experienced any of these types of harassment (e.g. anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-LGBT, anti-woman), you can report it via this URL or the hashtag #ReportHate.

Related, here is a Ms. Magazine article by Carly Lanning about how Trump is a “trigger” for sexual abuse survivors.

H/T our board member Patrick!

Keep the Street Harassment Hotline “Going and Growing”

November 29, 2016 By HKearl

We would be no where without our generous supporters! Thanks to donations made last year, we were able to launch the first-ever National Street Harassment Hotline and cover the monthly costs of running it since July.

Here’s what one caller shared with us (and she said we could share it here):

“I am very excited to find this program exists. It feels a niche that has needed to be filled for a long time. I spent days searching the Internet before I found this program and it is a beautiful thought. There isn’t much support for people who experience street harassment and even friends can have a difficult time coming up with words to say. I hope the program receives enough funds to keep going and growing forever.”

In its first four months, the National Street Harassment Hotline has served more than 125 people like her, all across the country. It is offered toll-free, 24/7, in English and Spanish, by phone and IM chat.

Today, for #GivingTuesday, please donate to help us keep the hotline going and growing!

All money donated beyond the hotline fundraising goal will help fund the 2017 Safe Public Spaces Mentoring teams and allow us to hire a consultant to update the laws relevant to street harassment that are listed state-by-state in our Know Your Rights Toolkit (which we released in 2013).

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. Everyone who donates at least $15 will receive these stickers! Our work is possible thanks to the generosity of people like you!

You can also make donations by check to:

Stop Street Harassment
P.O. Box 3621
Reston, VA 20195

Cyber Monday!

November 28, 2016 By HKearl

If you’re shopping on Amazon.com for Cyber Monday, be sure to do so via this link and some of what you spend will automatically help fund us!!

Visibly take a stand against street harassment with stickers, buttons, tote bag, a mug or more! Here are designs from our store (profits help fund our work). Take advantage of great Cyber Monday deals! Most items are at least 40% off and some are up to 70% off! Here are my favorites.

Int’l Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2016

November 25, 2016 By HKearl

Today, November 25, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, organized by the UN. The UNiTE campaign “strongly emphasizes the need for sustainable financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls towards the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Why?

“One of the major challenges to efforts to prevent and end violence against women and girls worldwide is the substantial funding shortfall. As a result, resources for initiatives to prevent and end violence against women and girls are severely lacking.”

To that end, we encourage you to consider donations to these organizations that are working to address and end violence against women and girls:

Stop Street Harassment (of course) to help fund our National Street Harassment Hotline in 2017. You can also donate to support our 2017 Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program and an updating of the laws in our Know Your Rights Toolkit, which was produced in 2013.
Collective Action for Safe Spaces (Washington, D.C.)
Girls for Gender Equity (New York City)
A Long Walk Home (Chicago)
End Rape on Campus (national, USA)

*A Long Walk Home Girl/Friends in Chicago*

Today is also the first day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign (being commemorated for its 25th year), coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership.The theme of the 16 Days Campaign is “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All”. According to the 16 Days website,

“This theme recognizes that structural discrimination and inequality is perpetuated in a cycle of violence that does not end even when girls and young women are in the act of gaining an education. Gender-based violence with respect to the right to education is a consistent threat in public spaces, schools, and homes and is a detriment to the universal human right to education and it is our obligation to focus on the precarious situation of education for girls and boys, young women and men this year through the 16 Days Campaign.”

Many girls and women also face violence and harassment simply traveling TO and FROM school and college. This also must be addressed if we want to see girls be able to safely receive an education.

For more information on this specific problem, see the Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s report that includes information on street harassment.

Join the conversations online with #16Days and take a stand against violence against women.

Remember, donate if you can! Our work relies on the generous contributions of people like you.

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