Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“I was followed by about six teenage boys”

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While I was still attending high school, I would often walk to meet my mother at her place of work. My mother is a middle school teacher and her school is very close to mine. Walking to her school was hardest when I was alone and the boys would comment about how “fine my body was” or how pretty I was, often in rude and creepy detail. Once I made the mistake of leaving my school late, because I had a club meeting. Consequently, I was followed by about six teenage boys, a posse I suppose. They were cat calling me, and became angry and aggressive when I calmly refused to respond. It wasn’t until I finally saw a security guard still on campus that my body stopped shaking and the fear subsided. The boys saw him as well and walked in the opposite direction. I ran to my mother’s school that day.

– Miramar

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“As if it’s a milestone in a little girl’s life”

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At the age of 9, a man told me I had sexy legs. It caught me off guard and I thought wow, I’ve never been called sexy before. Shortly after men whistled at me and told me I should unzip my sunflower skirt. I lost my innocence.

My teenage years were a time of yearning for acceptance so I wore short skirts and belly shirts just to get attention. It was an awkward time and I thought it was normal to the point that I confused my self-worth based on a guy’s opinion.

My twenties turned dangerous: I would get followed or receive scary threats. Now in my late twenties I get defensive and stick up middle fingers.

I’m still finding ways to handle the situation, that’s why I take this matter seriously. Someday I know I might have to face this again with a little girl when she gets her first catcalled by a grown man and I’m going to explain why it happened. As if it’s a milestone in a little girl’s life, like getting her first period. It’s an unpleasant surprise but eventually you learn to deal with it. How can that be possibly explained to a child? The thought of it disturbs me.

– Maria

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“I was dumbfounded that someone would actually say that”

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My earliest interaction of catcalling came when I was 12 years old. My friend was gorgeous and physically mature for her age, and told me she got catcalled a lot. Once, we were walking downtown together, and a 30-ish man yelled from a car, ʺHey baby, you lookin gooood today,” equipped with kissing noises. My (keep in mind, 12 year old) friend just frowned, looked at her shoes, and sighed. I was dumbfounded that someone would actually say that, and thinking back, it’s quite disgusting.

– Anonymous

Location: Los Angeles, CA

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“Even witnessing such an act is offensive to all around”

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I got catcalled twice today in a total of less than two minutes on the street, in the exact same location. The first man at first greeted me, but then said I was beautiful. When I didn’t respond, he followed me, repeating that I’m beautiful. I told the first man that he should not comment on the physical appearance of random people on the street. He retorted that I can’t say things like that to people, which I found odd after he just objectified me. I was walking a half block from my car to my gym. Then on my way back after my workout, a man in a group of construction workers in the very same spot leered at me and said, ʺI would love to marry you.ʺ I replied, ʺDisgusting,ʺ and received no retort.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

If every woman who got one of these comments could just express her opinion of what it is: disgusting.  If every catcall a man ever dished out was answered with a, “DISGUSTING!” I bet they would stop.  But it has to be every single one.  If I am a bystander to a catcall, I also give my opinion then, but not in an effort to protect the victim, but just to let them know that even witnessing such an act is offensive to all around.

– Emily Wilkinson

Location: 14th & H St NE, Washington, DC, USA

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USA: BikeWalkKC Makes Street Harassment a Priority

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This post is from our Safe Public Spaces Team in Missouri, USA. The SPSM projects are supported by SSH donors. If you would like to donate to support the 2015 mentees, we would greatly appreciate it!

There is a lot BikeWalkKC is thankful for this holiday season.

We are thankful for the Kansas City, Missouri City Council who unanimously voted to pass an anti-harassment ordinance, which would protect vulnerable road users from harassment on the street. We are thankful for the community’s support before and after its passage, especially those who came forward and told their stories.

We are thankful that street harassment has forefront of conversation. With the infamous Hollaback piece, music videos surrounding street harassment, and articles from publications around the world, it’s clear that people are interested in eliminating street harassment. We hope that interest continues both around the world and here in Kansas City.

Following the passage of the anti-harassment ordinance, BikeWalkKC made it an organization-wide goal to continue to to integrate the ordinance into all of our work. For example, we have been developing a crash and safety app for bicyclists and pedestrians where they can report a crash, road hazard, or case of harassment.

We plan to use this data to identify harassment hotspots throughout the city and report these findings to local enforcement and community organizations. In the coming months, we are also planning on doing follow-up for the ordinance to see how people have been impacted by its passage.

We are currently planning anti-harassment workshops in the spring. We have been researching effective methods and connecting with area organizations and individuals with a vested interest in street harassment and protecting pedestrians and bicyclists. We have spoken with Hollaback chapters, social workers, and community organizers to understand best practices for anti-harassment workshops.

In the survey we conducted last fall, we also asked people what they would like to learn at a workshop. The most common responses were how to be an advocate, what to do as a bystander, and what individuals rights and protections are. We plan to address these topics of interest at our future workshops.

BikeWalkKC is excited to continue to work for safer street in Kansas City and use the momentum from the anti-harassment ordinance and the Women Bike KC initiative to empower more women to ride bikes. We also want to thank Holly at Stop Street Harassment for providing invaluable guidance and support. By partnering with organizations like Stop Street Harassment, we are optimistic that we can continue to make progress in making people of all backgrounds feel safe on our streets.

Rachel Krause is BikeWalkKC’s Marketing and Communications Coordinator.

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