Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

India: Blank Noise is making a difference

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By Pallavi Kamat, Mumbai, India, SSH Correspondent

All of us at some point in time have faced street harassment in one form or the other. But most of us choose to remain silent and bear it. At times, we may discuss it amongst our group of friends and curse the eve-teasing that we are subject to.

But not Jasmeen Patheja. She initiated a community/public art project called Blank Noise in August 2003 in Bangalore which seeks to confront street harassment.

Blank Noise asks women to be active ‘Action Heroes’ and reclaim the streets which they seek to make safe. At the same time, it also asks men to get involved in their events and activities. Jasmeen believes that making cities safer for women is not a woman’s responsibility alone.

The project is run almost entirely by volunteers who are keen to make a difference. It works on the premise that while individually we may face harassment, collectively, as a group, we can stand up to it; we can share our experiences and resolve it.

Some of Blank Noise’s campaigns include ‘I Never Ask For It’ [the typical response when a woman is assaulted on the street is that she probably asked for it – by staying out late, by dressing in a particular way, by taking an unsafe street, etc.], ‘Safe City Pledge’ and ‘Talk To Me’.

One of their experiments involved women standing on the zebra crossing at a traffic signal in a bid to assert themselves and reclaim the streets from lecherous glances and other unpleasant experiences. Each of the volunteers had a letter pasted on the front of their clothes – collecting the letters read ‘Y R U LOOKING AT ME?’ Some passers-by even questioned the volunteers about the same.

Another experiment (‘Talk To Me’) involved putting up a couple of tables in Bangalore’s infamous Rapist Lane where volunteers invited complete strangers to stop and talk with them. At the end of the conversation, the volunteer offered a rose to the stranger.

The ‘Safe City Pledge’ initiative, which was launched following the gruesome rape in Delhi in December-2012 focuses on building safe cities and identifying an individual’s role in making his or her city safe.

Blank Noise can be contacted at http://blog.blanknoise.org/ or on Twitter at @BLANK_NOISE.

Pallavi is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Commerce Graduate from the University of Mumbai, India, with around 12 years of experience working in the corporate sector. Follow her on Twitter, @pallavisms.

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USA: Teen Dating Violence and Street Harassment

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Heather Frederick, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

The month of February in the United States is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Before making the link to street harassment, let’s start with a little education about the issue from LoveIsRespect.org:

* One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
* One in 10 high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend.
* Approximately 70% of college students say they have been sexually coerced.
* Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence — almost triple the national average.
* Violent behavior typically begins between the ages of 12 and 18.
* Violent relationships in adolescence can have serious ramifications by putting the victims at higher risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual behavior and further domestic violence.
* Being physically or sexually abused makes teen girls six times more likely to become pregnant and twice as likely to get a STI.
* Only 33% of teens who were in a violent relationship ever told anyone about the abuse.
* Eighty one percent of parents believe teen dating violence is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it’s an issue.
* A teen’s confusion about the law and their desire for confidentiality are two of the most significant barriers stopping young victims of abuse from seeking help.

As you can see from these shocking numbers, dating violence has a huge impact on youth culture in America.

The link between street harassment and intimate partner violence couldn’t be more glaring. Early on children are subjected to bullying, street harassment, and domestic violence. Even if they are not the ones being directly hurt by the words or actions, they are affected too.

Children can hear catcalls and see lewd gestures as easily as any other bystander, and for some women their personal experiences of being harassed in the streets start when they are still children. When kids of all genders grow up seeing and hearing such behaviors they become normalized and acceptable. Boys pull girls hair to show they like them and then we collectively wonder why grown women don’t feel they can go to the police when they are harassed, assaulted or abused.

We each have control over our own words and actions, so there is no excuse for violence. Whether in the form of street harassment or dating abuse, violence is always a choice.

Sometimes though things you experience aren’t so black and white, and it becomes difficult for people to distinguish whether or not something is abuse or harassment. The easiest rule for harassment is that if it makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably harassment. As for abuse, if it’s about power and control, it is abuse.

One thing that can help put a stop to this cultural cycle of violence is to teach children from a very early age about setting boundaries they are comfortable with, and teaching them that their bodies are their own, just as their friend’s body is his. Teaching every individual that if their boundaries are violated they have a right to seek help will not only empower those individuals to speak up for themselves, but will help all of us heal knowing that we’re in this together for a better future.

Want to get involved? There are so many fun things you can do to get involved in #TeenDVMonth! Are you wearing #Orange4Love? Post your pics on Twitter (@loveisrespect) and Instagram (@loveisrespectofficial) with #TeenDVMonth and #RespectWeek2014 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/loveisrespectpage. You can also participate in the National Respect Announcement Thunderclap on Valentine’s Day, February 14th!

If you or someone you know is experiencing dating violence you can contact Love Is Respect 24/7 at 1-866-331-9474, by chatting at loveisrespect.org, or by texting “loveis” to 22522. No one ever deserves any kind of abuse.

Heather Frederick works a Supervisor for The National Dating Abuse Helpline, www.loveisrespect.org. Her passions include intersectional feminism, reproductive justice, languages, travel, blogging at www.FeministActivism.com (@FeministSNVA) and bringing an end to human rights abuses.

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USA: Does a “Safe Passage” Exist When it Comes to Street Harassment?

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Sandria Washington, Chicago, IL, SSH Blog Correspondent

Via NBC Chicago

One week before Christmas, a 15-year-old Chicago girl was beaten and sexually assaulted while walking to school. Her body was found in the backyard of a northwest side resident, where she lay bleeding in the snow for nearly two hours.

The attack happened in the early morning around 6 a.m. when it was still dark as night and before any Safe Passage guards were on duty.

With the story making national headlines and sparking more fear in parents locally, the city’s Safe Passage program came under scrutiny. Could having more eyes and ears on the streets truly protect our children from violence?

I wonder.

The program was created in response to the horrific 2009 beating (and subsequent death) of 16-year-old Fenger High School student Derrion Albert. Trained Safe Passage workers stand guard along designated routes throughout the city during peak hours before and after school in an effort to provide additional safety to students commuting in high-risk areas.

Beatings, drive-by shootings, gang violence and sexual assault are just a few of the possible gauntlets children are required to maneuver through on their way to schools that are meant to be safe havens. Yet, I wonder if street harassment is equally seen as a threat along Safe Passage routes.

Although the full circumstances surrounding the assault of the 15-year-old student still remain unknown, it’s possible the attack could have started as harassment. The stories of street harassment escalating into assault and sometimes death don’t always go viral, but they are no less real. In a September 2013 Huffington Post article, writer Soraya Chemaly recounts the story of a 14-year-old Florida girl who was attacked and run over after refusing sex from a stranger driving by.

As a young girl, even before entering high school, I regularly walked alone and took public transportation to get to school. My mother, like many parents, was unable to escort me and I’m sure her heart was up in the air each day until I returned home.

I have countless stories of being harassed by male peers and male adults while walking or waiting at bus stops. Crossing guards were sometimes nearby, but their focus was of course monitoring traffic and getting children safely across the street. A car circling the block or someone getting too verbally aggressive simply blended into the background noise.

Even with adults standing watch in the full hustle and bustle of the school day, street harassment can be another obstacle in the fight to get to and from school. In general, street harassment is likely to go unchecked by bystanders, as in the case of the Florida girl, because they may not know how or if to intervene.

Unfortunately, more eyes and ears on the street may not do much when it comes to street harassment. It’s a form of violence that’s hiding in plain sight.

Sandria Washington is a writer, health/wellness ambassador and community activist. Read her ChicagoNow blog and follow her on Twitter @SandriaWrites.

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USA: Street Harassment and the Murder of Andy Lopez

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Jeanette R, California, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Andy Lopez via CBC SF

Street harassment is most commonly discussed as the sexual harassment of women in public spaces by men. However, that is only one way to begin to think about this issue. It is important to bear in mind that street harassment is often complicated by things like race, sexual orientation, gender, ability status and class, among other things. This post focuses on the experience of men of color and street harassment through racial profiling.

The case of Andy Lopez is a recent example of the experience of men of color with street harassment. Lopez, 13, of Santa Rosa, California, was walking to a friend’s house holding an airsoft gun that closely resembled an AK-47. He was shot eight times by a police officer after allegedly failing to drop the toy gun, and the injuries were fatal.

While some may argue that Lopez should not have been walking around with a toy gun, or that he should have dropped it when law enforcement asked, I think it is important to consider a few things. First, many children and teens in the US have at some point played with toy guns. That in and of itself is not exactly uncommon, and not something a child should be killed over. Second, I think it is very important to think about how Lopez may have felt as he was approached by the police. Being approached by an officer or followed by a police car is not exactly a pleasant experience. As a woman, I will probably never experience heightened surveillance from police that lots of men and boys of color have become accustomed to. But many of us have had the experience of driving near a police car, or even being pulled over while driving. It can be a nerve-wracking experience, for no one wants to be in trouble with the law. I can imagine that at only thirteen being approached by the police can be very confusing and frightening.

I remember my first experience with street harassment. I was only eleven, and I remember feeling so scared, confused, and shaken. I had no idea what to make of that, it was something that my young mind could not fully understand at that point. I only knew how it made me feel, and those feelings were not something I completely understood either.  Perhaps the tragic events on the day that Lopez was killed were his first encounters with police. Maybe he failed to drop the toy weapon because he too felt afraid and confused. Maybe he froze out of panic. Maybe he could not understand exactly what was happening.

Lopez was shot at eight times, with seven of those shots hitting him, an excessive use of force, especially against a thirteen-year-old child. The officer who fired the shots claims he mistook the toy gun for a real one (according to KTVU, there are allegations that Sonoma County knew the officer suffered from vision problems and had a history of using excessive force), but if he did consider Lopez a threat, would it not have made more sense to perhaps tazer him or subdue him in some other non-fatal way? Which leads to the next question: could Lopez have been racially profiled?

It is no secret that African-American, Latino-American, Native American, Muslim and/or Arab-American) men (and in some cases women too), are sometimes subjects of racial profiling from law enforcement, airport officials, and sometimes even by everyday folks. This then leads to the public harassment and heightened surveillance of these groups from authorities and the public. Perhaps the officer who shot Lopez immediately assumed he was planning to commit a crime, to endanger the safety of the public, instead of perhaps considering that he may just be a kid looking to do what kids do all the time: have a good time with friends. Now I am not saying that the officer is a blatant, out and proud bigot who specifically targeted a Latino kid. Prejudice can take many forms, from very overt to very subtle, so subtle that many are often unaware of their own internalized biases.

For women of color, the experience with street harassment is different from that of men of color and white women. We have not only sexualized street harassment to unfortunately deal with, but racism as well, and sometimes these converge. If a person is queer, transgender, gender nonconforming, disabled, poor, or a combination of these things, there are other sets of –isms to deal with. Sometimes these –isms come to light simultaneously when we are harassed in the street or public places. In part II of this post later this month, I will discuss how street harassment can vary depending on our intersectional positionality.

Jeanette R. is a recent university graduate with a lifelong passion for social justice and change. She is particularly interested in issues of gender, human rights, race, equality, and immigration. She has had a lifelong love affair with writing as not only a creative medium, but also as a powerful tool for socially transformative change and advocacy.

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USA: Male Privilege of Not Knowing

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Joe Samalin, New York City, NY, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

During a sexual violence prevention training with 40 enlisted air force men (‘airmen’), one young white man stood up and said that he had never thought about this issue before, until early one morning during a deployment overseas a few years ago. As he awoke and poked his head out of his tent he happened to see a friend, a female airman (females are ‘airmen’ too), walking by at a fast clip, her head down. He wished her good morning, but she ignored him. He called out louder, and a third time, with no response. He then ran out of his tent and caught up to her, asking why she hadn’t responded.

She seemed startled and he asked her if everything was ok. She told him that she was on her way to the chow hall for breakfast, and she hated the walk. It was a long one from her tent, and she got through it by keeping her head down and muscling through as best she could. He was 110% stumped about what she meant. Rather than explain, she told him to walk with her, and he agreed.

As he described that walk to the chow hall you could see he was viscerally reliving the experience. He said he didn’t know what to expect, what the issue was. And yet as they walked, he became aware of a strange sensation. At first he couldn’t put his finger on it but it grew, and eventually he knew exactly what it was. It was the feeling of being watched. As they walked, every single tent they passed opened. Men’s eyes were on them. Throughout the entire walk.

“Well, not on us,” he explained to us. “On her”.

Although the men were not looking at him, he said he physically felt their gaze and it was overwhelming. The men didn’t say anything during the walk. Didn’t catcall, didn’t threaten. But he said they didn’t need to. By the time they got to the chow hall he was physically shaken. He had never known that this was her experience every single day going to breakfast.

It was that walk to breakfast that led him to eventually become an Air Force Victim Advocate for survivors of sexual assault on his base.

To this day the memory that airman shared remains one of the most powerful examples of a man coming to the realization of how we as men are expected, trained, taught, raised, socialized, bullied, threatened and beaten into not seeing the epidemic levels of violence against women and girls all around us, let alone doing anything about it. It illustrated how powerful a look can be, how the public harassment of girls and women does not even have to be verbal to cause harm. How blind we as men allow ourselves and each other to get away with being.

And yet even though we are socialized and taught as such, it is still our choice as men to engage in the harassment of women and girls. Or to not. It is our choice and our privilege as men to ignore that street harassment exists, and its effect on the women and girls in our lives and countless others we will never meet (and who deserve every bit of respect and safety as do our mothers, partners, daughters, and sisters.)

In March 2012, right before International Anti-Street Harassment Week, I was working with a friend, my partner Bix, and others on a video modeling how men can challenge street harassment. As we filmed “Shit Men Say To Men Who Say Shit To Women On The Street” I had my own moment of truth. My partner was harassed during the shooting of the video – and none of the men involved, myself included, even noticed. This is the inherent injustice: my male privilege allows me to choose to ignore the reality of street harassment and other forms of gender-based violence, simply because I can.

Helping men reach their own moment of recognition of the true scope, scale, and impact of street harassment is one of the most important first steps to engaging men to challenge it when they see it and to change the culture that allows it. And I hope to explore different strategies and tools for doing just that in my next post!

Joe Samalin has been addressing gender-based violence for over 15 years, including as the Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator for Men Can Stop Rape. He is currently the Outreach and Training Manager for the Disaster Distress Helpline and is examining among other things gender-based violence in the aftermath of disasters. Follow him on Twitter, @joesamalin.

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