Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“You should look where your walking or you might fall.”

By

I was walking with a girlfriend of mine and she was not showing any cleavage whatsoever. This man turns the corner and without being discreet starts staring at her boobs. The way he was staring was so blatantly obvious, like a hungry dog. As he walks pasts us, I say really loud, “You should look where your walking or you might fall.”

He looked back and I was staring and motioned to him in a funny way like, “Look where your walking,” and my girlfriend started laughing out loud. We both could tell he felt embarrassed.

– EM

Location: Dover, New Jersey

Share

Harassed in Oak Park, IL

By

I am not even free from harassment in my own home. Teenagers in my neighborhood scream, “Brothel,” at all hours of the day and night.

– Laura Rizzardini

Location: Oak Park, Illinois

Share your street harassment story today.

Share

“He started stalking me down the street”

By

I was walking down back to my friend’s house with my friend after buying a few things and eating out. When we were just 2 streets away from her house, a guy stopped in front of us and lowered his window. We crossed the street because we didn’t want trouble. He lowered the other window and shouted to me, “You’re looking hot.”

I ignored him and carried on walking and he started stalking me down the street and stopped in front of us again he said, “Do you want it?” and he winked.

I said, “What?’

And he said, “I’ll give you it good for free, want it?”

I said, “No!” angrily and started walking quicker.

He stalked us part-way down the street and then turned.

– A

Location: Oldbury, West Midlands, UK

Share your street harassment story today.

Share

After #EndSHWeek, What Do We Do Now?

By

Hawaii

By: Talia Weisberg, SSH Correspondent

Earlier this month, women and men across the globe commemorated International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Whether it was through tweetchats, webinars, self-defense classes, sidewalk chalking, leaflet campaigns, or numerous other activities, Anti-Street Harassment Week marked the raising of the world’s consciousness against street harassment, an insidious form of sexism that is too often ignored by society.

Now that Anti-Street Harassment Week is over, those of us who understand the negative implications of street harassment and want to eradicate it for good face a dilemma: what do we do now? What can and should we do to keep up awareness and fight against this social phenomenon during the rest of the year?

I believe that it is imperative not to lose the momentum that we gained during Anti-Street Harassment Week. We can’t just throw out our leftover leaflets and stop going to those self-defense classes we signed up for. Everything we did and all the gains we made will have all been for nothing if we let activism fall to the wayside and ignore the pressing need for eliminating street harassment.

We also have to continue to schedule events like sidewalk chalkings and Take Back the Nights. Although it’s certainly easier to encourage attendance and participation during a week dedicated to awareness of street harassment, it’s imperative that we organize them anyway. After all, street harassment happens every day, and its victims are just as horrified by it during Anti-Street Harassment Week as during the rest of the year.

Another thing that we, as activists, must do is to talk about street harassment and share our stories about it. The most effective way to raise awareness on any issue is to speak with our best friends and grandfathers and third cousins and hairdressers and people we see once in a while in the dog park about it. That way, we spread knowledge of this issue as far and wide as we can. Many people who have experienced street harassment don’t even know that it has a name, and are therefore incapable of recognizing the extent of how problematic it is. Once we’ve raised the consciousness of those who have suffered at the hands of street harassment, we’ve got ourselves a veritable army of women and men who want to make the streets a safe place for every individual.

I truly cannot wait until this day arrives.

Talia Weisberg is a Harvard-bound feminist hoping to concentrate in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her work has appeared in over 40 publications and she runs the blog Star of Davida blog (starofdavida.blogspot.com).

Share

Penn State Stands Up Against Street Harassment

By

Street harassment is often overlooked here at Penn State, where the lure of a Nittany Lion football game–or even a typical Friday night–often leaves the streets amassed with partiers. Too often, Penn State students use alcohol as an excuse to say or shout crude comments to women on the street.

As part of this year’s International Anti-Street Harassment Week and Penn State’s Sexual Violence Awareness Week, student feminists invited their peers to share street harassment stories with the public. They shared the images in a Facebook album, which you can view here. Check out their stories below:

Julie Mastrine is an activist, feminist, and writer working in the PR industry. She holds a B.A. in Public Relations from Penn State University, and is a social media volunteer for Stop Street Harassment. You can follow Julie on Twitter.

Share