HKearl, Author at Stop Street Harassment

Street Harasser in Los Angeles Shot a Woman at a Bus Stop

March 28, 2016 By HKearl

Last night two teenage girls were at the Pico-Union bus stop when two men pulled up and the driver started “flirting” with the girls (according to My News LA). However, I’m quite certain they were harassing and perhaps even threatening them because one of the girls called her mother. The mother confronted the driver, who shot her twice in the lower abdomen and also shot one of the girls in the leg. They both had stable signs when taken to the hospital and the suspect has not been caught yet.

Street harassment IS serious and the feelings of entitlement that can go along with it are dangerous. This is not flirting (consensual) or a compliment. This is harassment, it’s predatory, and it can escalate quickly.

I wish the woman & teenager a speedy recovery.

H/t Soraya Chemaly

10 Ways Individuals Can Join Anti-Street Harassment Week

March 28, 2016 By HKearl

This is an updated post from 2015, written by Britnae Purdy.

Anyone, anywhere can participate in International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Here are some things you can do as an individual:

1) Learn more – It’s cliché, but true: change starts with you. Are you curious about street harassment, but don’t really understand why it’s a big deal? Do you know your friends would ask questions if you started talking about it? Take a little time to look through our resources and toolkits, and you’ll be prepared to start a conversation wherever you go!

2) Talk about it – This is probably the simplest thing you can do, but always important. Post your thoughts and opinions to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the hashtags #EndSH or #streetharassment. We want to hear from you! Don’t forget to change your profile picture or cover photo with one of our great graphics. You can also participate in one of our many tweetchats and Google hang-outs scheduled throughout the week, including our Global Tweetathon on April 12! Just use #EndSH.

3) Cover your neighborhood – Help yourself to our extensive collection of graphics and posters, in various languages. Print them out, hang them in coffee shops, libraries, telephone poles, or hand them out. Girls Speak has also developed an awesome series of posters and infographics meant for posting in public spaces – post and then share them with @GrlsSpeak and @NoStHarassWeek. Another easy way to get involved is to arm yourself with sidewalk chalk and cover the streets in positive or anti-harassment messages.

4) Write it out – We know you have something important to say. Our movement is dedicated to sharing a wide variety of voices and perspectives – and that includes you! If you’re interested in writing a guest post, send it to Holly Kearl (hkearl @ stopstreetharassment.org). But also, write on your own blog, on social media, for sites like Medium.com. You can also write about street harassment with sidewalk chalk in your own neighborhood! (Here’s an example in Florida.) Let people around you know what happens there and that it’s not okay.

5) Join International Wheat Pasting Night – By now, many of us have seen and fallen in love with artist Tatyana Falalizadeh’s compelling Stop Telling Women to Smile images. On April 15^th, she will be making these posters available to anyone who wants to participate by hanging them in their own towns! Stay tuned for more details on this.

6) Join a local organization – Did you know that over 100 organizations in more than 30 countries are partnering up with us this year? Peruse our list and find someone in your area! Shoot them an email and consider showing up to an event or meeting. Are you a student? Reach out to a like-minded student club (feminist, womanist, LGBTQI+, social justice, etc.) and ask them if they’re involved with Anti-Street Harassment Week. If they’re not, give them some pointers on what they can do! Need help finding a group near you? Email hkearl@stopstreetharassment.org and we’ll help you out.

7) Create art – We think art is one of the most powerful tools in creating social change. Whether you’re painting a mural in the middle of town or sketching something out in your bedroom, we would love it if you shared with us so we can help you inspire others!

Also, do you have a dog? Take a photo of your #HoundsAgainstHarassment!

8) Start your own organization – You’ll be surprised how many people are just looking for someone to start something. Start a campus club, meet with people at a downtown coffee shop, join together other people in your profession – whatever works for you. You know your town best – you’re the best person to make a change! Be sure to refer #2 to find tools that will help you start up.

9) Join us year-round! – We’re a volunteer-driven organization, meaning we’re always in need of enthusiastic volunteers. If April is an especially crazy month for you, check out this list of ways you can get involved with Stop Street Harassment!

10) Donate – This is last on our list for a reason. We aren’t in this to make money – Anti-Street Harassment Week is about action, not dollar bills. However, we know that this is how some people prefer to help out. Your donation will help fund much-needed things like our website update and Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program.

First Lady Michelle Obama Talks About Her Street Harassment Experiences

March 25, 2016 By HKearl

Last week, President Barack Obama talked about street harassment for perhaps the first time publicly… and then this week, it was First Lady Michelle Obama!

Via Huffington Post:

“First lady Michelle Obama spoke about her own experiences with sexism during a speech on the power of education and her “Let Girls Learn“ initiative in Argentina on Wednesday….

‘As I got older, I found that men would whistle at me as I walked down the street, as if my body were their property, as if I were an object to be commented on instead of a full human being with thoughts and feelings of my own,’ Obama said. ‘I began to realize that the hopes I had for myself were in conflict with the messages I was receiving from people around me.’

Obama said the comments made her question herself, telling the crowd she had doubts for years, until one day she grew tired of worrying about what others think.

‘I decided not to listen to the voices of those who doubted or dismissed me. Instead, I decided to listen to my own voice,’ she said.”

Lakers Players Street Harass Advocate

March 23, 2016 By HKearl

On Instagram this week, Alexis Jones posted photos of four men who street harassed her and her 68-year-old mother in Hollywood, California. The men were in a vehicle next to theirs and made “vulgar, sexual gestures”, causing the women fear and her mother to cry. Later they learned that two of the men were Lakers players Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson.

Ironically, Jones works to address sexual abuse in athletics. Lakers spokesman John Black told ESPN that the team takes this matter “very seriously” and she was invited to speak to the players. I applaud Jones for sharing her story publicly and Lakers leadership for their response.

I also see the incident as a teachable moment for people everywhere since the story connects to several important points about street harassment.

For instance, it’s not uncommon for people to tell harassed persons to not go places alone if they don’t want to be harassed. But even when one is not alone — Jones and her mother were together — street harassment can occur. On the extreme end, this month, two Argentinian women, María Coni and Marina Menegazzo, were killed by men while backpacking in Ecuador together. Telling women to travel in pairs or groups is not only often impractical and a far cry from equality, but it won’t necessarily achieve the objective.

Some people may also tell harassed persons, “If you don’t like it, then drive.” It’s true that for those with the means to access a car, driving may reduce the amount of street harassment they face, but clearly from Jones’ story, it does not stop it. As part of the research for a 2014 national study on street harassment, I conducted a focus group in Los Angeles, California, and the participants concurred that street harassment is a problem in car cultures. It happens at red lights, in parking lots, and even while driving down the freeway at 70 miles per hour. No mode of transportation is completely free from harassment.

While street harassment is seen by some as “a minor annoyance” or “no big deal,” a growing body of research proves it is serious. Street harassment negatively impacts women emotionally, just as this incident was upsetting to both Jones and her mother. It can be traumatic for women, especially for survivors of sexual abuse. It restricts women’s mobility, and thus their equality with men, a reality the United Nations recognized in 2013.

Further, “mild” street harassment can escalate into physical harassment without warning. This year there have been two cases where street harassment escalated into death. One incident was in Texas where a man in a vehicle shot into another vehicle, killing one of the woman, after her male friend told the men in the other vehicle to stop harassing his female friends.

As the laughing faces of the men Jones and her mother say harassed them suggest, often men — who are the main street harassers of both women and men — treat street harassment as a game or as a bonding experience. The limited research on street harassers, including in the documentary War Zone, shows that harassers usually are either trying to intimidate or humiliate their targets, or they don’t consider how the persons they harass feel, period.

Fortunately, sexual harassment is learned behavior and so it can be unlearned.

Mumbi Police Tackle Holi Harassment

March 23, 2016 By HKearl

The Mumbai police are taking action to help ensure women can have a safe and enjoyable Holi celebration.

Via Vagabomb:

“If you’re dreading the creeps who use Holi as an excuse to do disgusting things like throwing semen-filled balloons, condoms, eggs, forcibly applying colour on people, or simply groping them, the Mumbai Police has decided to do something very smart this year.

People who throw water balloons or colour at women on the streets can be booked for crimes against women by the Mumbai Police, which will take the strictest action against the perpetrators.

Victims of such assaults can simply take a picture of the location of the assault, and if possible, the perpetrator, and upload them to the Mumbai Police’s Twitter handle, @MumbaiPolice. They should also mention their own names. When the complaint is received, the police will deploy personnel to the location and book the person accused…

The police is afraid of people misusing the initiative and lodging false complaints, which is why they will be verifying the authenticity of each complaint, and the victim will be required to go to the police station.

This is a terrific initiative, and we request everyone in Mumbai not to misuse it. At the same time, please do not hesitate to lodge a complaint if you actually feel harassed. “Bura na maano Holi hai” is a regressive excuse to get away with harassing people.”

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