Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
Last month, groups and organizations in 36 countries and 18 US states (and DC) took part in International Anti-Street Harassment Week!! Here is the wrap-up report featuring highlights from the week. View more photos here. THANK YOU everyone who took part!
By Shahida Arabi, New York, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent
I grew up in neighborhoods where street harassment was an all-pervasive part of living, breathing and communicating. This is not to say any area is exempt from the threat of street harassment – this form of harassment takes place all over the world and across all cultures. In my own country of origin, Bangladesh, street harassment is incredibly common, along with sexual harassment, and this form of “eve teasing” has even led to the suicides of young girls. I found that my experiences with street harassment in the USA did not differ as drastically as one might think from my experiences in Bangladesh.
Starting from the age of fifteen, I was routinely objectified by older male strangers on the street as a part of my everyday commute in New York. I have been followed, stalked, harassed, asked whether I was “eighteen yet,” told that putting my earphones on were against the law, cursed at for not being responsive, bashed for being sassy and talking back in a way that was not to their liking, and at one point, almost assaulted on a train by a man who followed me from train car to train car until two other men intervened.
These experiences were triggering enough without any prior history of sexual assault, but after I also experienced my first sexual assault on the streets in Bangladesh and then a later, more severe sexual assault in the U.S., street harassment became something even more darker and foreboding – it became a constant trigger that reminded me that my body was not considered my own in this society. Women are constantly reminded – through lingering stares, covert and overt sexual remarks and even touches – that their bodies are the property of the men who desire them and that their consent does not matter.
It began occurring to me that although street harassment has and always will be incredibly traumatizing for all women navigating public spaces, it will also be incredibly re-traumatizing for women whose spirits, minds and bodies have also been violated by assault, rape or physical and/or emotional violence. Those with histories of chronic trauma, who may have PTSD or Complex PTSD, will be even further debilitated by this form of harassment every day as a barrier to a peaceful, safe commute because their brain is already on high alert, scanning the environment for potential threats. As a result, these victims will are likely to experience even more anxiety, rage and depression after an incident of harassment.
RAINN estimates that there is 1 sexual assault every 107 seconds in America and an average of 293,066 victims (age 12 and older) each year. With numbers like these, along the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence, I can only imagine that there are many survivors of abuse and trauma who are being subjected to a dual traumatization on their daily commutes that are leaving them feeling further revictimized. It doesn’t help that street harassment in itself is in fact a very real threat, and many have experienced sexual assault when encountering this form of harassment regardless of their trauma history.
Street harassment also has a strong verbal component which can be psychologically retriggering for survivors of verbal and emotional abuse who may have suffered childhood abuse or long-term abuse in an intimate relationship. Being name-called on the streets as a form of retaliation after rejection as well as in the private space of your home by a spouse, partner or family member can be incredibly jolting. It can reinforce and instill a pervasive sense of helplessness and worthlessness that already exists in other facets of a victim’s life and his or her trauma history.
That is why I call street harassment the “global” trigger – it not only has the capacity to affect every country, it also has the potential to trigger every other trauma experienced in one’s life. It’s an assault and a violation on a woman’s right to navigate public spaces without having her body being considered public space.
Those who trivialize street harassment as a “compliment” are not only ignorant about the deep-seated issues of this patriarchal entitlement to women’s bodies and rape culture, they are also ignorant about the effects of trauma. According to Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score (2014), trauma lives in our bodies and rewires our brains. Incidents of trauma add onto each other and make the brain more and more hypervigilant to threat. When we are traumatized, we can “regress” back to the original trauma through visual flashbacks or ones that have a high emotional component; these are what therapist Pete Walker calls emotional flashbacks.
The people who leer, touch, degrade, objectify women and later rationalize their heinous boundary-breaking behavior with a narcissistic sense of entitlement are essentially prioritizing their selfish desires over the very real needs, boundaries and desires of the victim. Like many other forms of abuse, street harassment is not about sexual desire or flirting – it is about power, control, coercion, devaluation, objectification and manipulation.
Unfortunately, every incident of street harassment builds upon pre-existing trauma and societal stereotypes about women. This cumulative effect traumatizes and continues to re-traumatize victims in an endless cycle of sexual violence against women, especially for those who reside in neighborhoods where street harassment is a pervasive problem.
It’s time that society heed the wake-up call. Street harassment is a serious issue that is part of the larger problems of gender violence and rape culture. It is this everyday microaggression, this global trigger, that has the potential to traumatize and even re-traumatize victims, all over the world.
Shahida is a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University graduate school and is the author of four books, including The Smart Girl’s Guide to Self-Care and Becoming the Narcissist’s Nightmare, a #1 Amazon Best Seller. As a passionate advocate for survivors of abuse, sexual assault and trauma, her writing has been featured on many sites. You can follow Shahida on Twitter, her blog Self-Care Haven and join her Facebook community.
Meet our newest blog correspondents! They will write monthly posts from May to August 2016.
Shahida Arabi, NY, USA
Shahida is a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University graduate school and is the author of four books, including The Smart Girl’s Guide to Self-Care and Becoming the Narcissist’s Nightmare, a #1 Amazon Best Seller. As a passionate advocate for survivors of abuse, sexual assault and trauma, her writing has been featured on sites like The National Domestic Violence Hotline website, Elephant Journal, Dollhouse Magazine, Thought Catalog, and the Feministing Community blog. She studied English Literature and Psychology at NYU, where she graduated summa cum laude and was President of its National Organization for Women (NOW) chapter. Her blog, Self-Care Haven, has over 1.8 million views and has been shared worldwide in all 196 countries. Her work on emotional and psychological abuse has been shared by numerous clinical psychologists, mental health practitioners, bestselling authors, and award-winning bloggers. You can follow Shahida on Twitter and join her Facebook community.
Tharunya Balan, Bangalore, India
Tharunya is an urban planner and architect with a passion for issues of social, environmental and spatial justice, including the gendered ways in which urban spaces are designed and function. As a middle-class well-educated Indian woman in a large cosmopolitan city in the subcontinent, she constantly works to expand her understanding of gender, privilege, discrimination, and systemic oppression in her country and environment. She has a particular interest in including men in conversations around women’s issues and the ideas of safety, respect, and consent. She has a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she will be returning to obtain a degree in Geographic Infomations Systems Technology later this year.
Mariel DiDato, NJ, USA
Mariel is a recent college graduate, feminist, and women’s rights activist. Although she received her degree in Nutritional Sciences, she plans to pursue graduate degrees in the fields of Public Policy and Women’s Studies to turn her volunteer activism into a career. She began her activism as a confidential crisis advocate for sexual and domestic violence survivors for Rutgers University’s Office of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance. Since her training, she has become completely immersed into the field of women’s health and rights. Currently, she volunteers for a number of different organizations, including the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. She is passionate about ending sexual violence, and is determined to see the elimination of rape culture in her lifetime. You can follow her on Twitter at @marieldidato or check out her personal blog, Fully Concentrated Feminism.
Deborah D’Orazi, NY, USA
Deborah is a recent MSW graduate who also received certification from American University’s Women and Politics Institute and Rutgers’ Center on Violence Against Women and Children. In addition to social work, Deborah is looking to pursue an MPP/MPA in order to help create policies that empower many different members of society, particularly those who are dealing with trauma. Deborah hopes to use her passion and skills to continue advocating and writing for human rights, gender and racial equity, trauma, HIV and AIDS, reproductive health and maternal care, LGBTQ issues, and economic inequality. In addition to social justice issues, Deborah is also extremely passionate about the arts (theater, writing, film, television, fine art, poetry, performance art), history, and Hamilton.
Hope Herten, IL, USA
Hope is a full-time undergraduate student studying public health and Spanish in Chicago, IL. After graduation in Spring 2017, Hope wants to return to her hometown of Cleveland, OH, and help work on outreach programs to improve the overall health of the community by focusing on minorities and high risk populations. Street harassment is intimately linked to the health of women, and as such is a serious public health issue. During her time in Chicago, Hope has participated in many protests and events trying to call awareness to women’s issues on campus and in the broader Chicago community. Her role model is Michelle Obama, a powerful woman who has devoted her life to many great causes like children’s health equity, the advancement of young women, and gender equality. If you want to keep up with Hope you can follow her on Twitter @hope_lucille or check out her public health blog.
Minying Huang, Amman, Jordan
Minying is a 19-year-old British-born Chinese student from Cambridge, England. She is studying for a BA in Spanish and Arabic at Oxford University and is currently on her Year Abroad in Amman, Jordan, where she spends far too much time gorging herself on syrupy cheese pastries, drinking copious amounts of mint tea, and trying to figure out how best to deal with street harassers. She is particularly interested in transcultural dialogue and intersectional approaches to activism, exploring the ways in which overlapping identities shape both individual and collective experiences of oppression and marginalisation. Outside of study, she likes to read, write, and draw; she has written for Your Middle East, and her poems and illustrations have been published in a number of student publications including feminist and LGBTQ+ zines. You can follow her on Twitter @minyingh.
Manish Madan, Ph.D., NJ, USA
Manish is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Stockton University where his research focuses on examining sexual harassment, gender empowerment, spousal abuse and policing issues. It is grounded in policy, international and comparative research. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate students. His research has appeared in International Criminal Justice Review, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Asian Journal of Criminology, and Journal of Criminal Justice and Security, and in many prominent media outlets including NY Times, India Today and The Economic Times. He was recognized with President’s Outstanding New Scholar Award by the Western Social Science Association in 2015. He frequently consults organizations on sexual harassment and gender issues. Manish earned his doctorate at Michigan State University and has Masters in Statistics, from India (Delhi) and Canada (Newfoundland). You can follow him @Prof_Madan or reach out to him at www.manishmadan.com.
Ginger Skinner, NY, USA
Ginger is a full-time reporter and long-time New Yorker with over 10 years of experience writing about health and wellness. Ginger is also a member of Brooklyn Movement Center’s No Disrespect anti-street harassment team, and is dedicated to deepening the conversations surrounding the causes of gender-based harassment and violence, and the intersections of race. She’s also a poet and essayist, currently working on a collection of poems on the impact of colorism on Black women and girls. She holds a BA from Howard University. Ginger enjoys drinking strong coffee, wearing shoes, listening to podcasts, and biking, and has an irrational fear of small talk and flying insects. Follow Ginger on Twitter at @ginger_skinner.
Turquoise A. Thomas, KS, USA
Turquoise is a 26-year-old freelance journalist, program manager at the Wichita Women’s Initiative Network, and a junior at Wichita State University. Upon graduating she plans to attend a joint Juris Doctor/Masters of Social Work Program. A California native, with a background in youth development and law enforcement, her current work focuses primarily on women, children and gender. In Fall 2015 she expanded her fieldwork and academic studies outward from California to the Midwest with the intention of expanding women’s services in underserved states such as Kansas. Turquoise is an avid public educator and presents regularly as the founder of SHERO Coalition (SHERO Co). Feel free to follow her on twitter @anthroisms or join her growing coalition SHERO on Facebook!
I think it’s pretty sad how street harassment is something I’m used to at this point.
I love going on walks, they’re relaxing, but at the same time, I feel uncomfortable because of the amount of men staring at me every single time. And over half the time I walk around town, in the middle of the day, I experience cat calling, disgusting comments, whistles, and/or people honking at me. But there are some moments that stand out to me.
The first incident was in 7th grade. I was walking home from school, on the main road I always walked on. As I’m walking, a guy who looked around 20 years old turns the corner and is walking quite a distance in front of me. Pretty normal I guess, no need to be worried. But I found it a bit odd that he kept looking back at me, more than most people. Once I was getting kind of close to him, I crossed the street, and he also crossed. I’m pretty sure I crossed the same street 2 or 3 times and yet he still was crossing when I crossed. At this point I’m in front of him by a bit. I was freaked out, but luckily there was a crossing guard near waiting for the bus of another school to arrive. I thought that I would just wait there for a bit with the crossing guard, but even more luckily, my dad happened to be driving by and picked me up. I just think that this is so creepy. I was 12 and being followed by some guy quite a bit older than me. People shouldn’t have to deal with this whatsoever, especially when you’re just a kid.
And a more recent one: I was walking around town in the day. But I got this pink wig that I loved, so I decided to wear it on my walk. I got honked at twice, whistled at once, and was told to smile. That pissed me off. I just wanted to go on a walk feeling confident. And I wasn’t even wearing anything revealing. I was completely covered, it being the middle of winter. And when I was a few blocks away from my house, on a not so busy road, a guy stopped his vehicle. He was probably around 30 and asked me if I wanted a ride. That was f*cking terrifying to me. I replied with a no thanks. He asked me if I was sure and how far I needed to go. I told him not too far and that I was positive. He said okay then and drove off. I was 16 at the time, and a stranger approached me asking if I wanted to get in his car. I was scared and glad that he didn’t try to pressure me anymore. I bet you that if I was a guy, he wouldn’t have even stopped.
Street harassment is scary and is my biggest fear when leaving the house. By the way, I live in a town that doesn’t even have 20,000 people.
– Anonymous
Location: Town
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.
I was at the park with my dad and a (female) friend of ours. We were there doing Acro yoga and minding our own business when these three young guys came and got in the water. At first it was fine then I started hearing what they were saying. I am thirteen years old and they couldn’t have been two years older than me. They were calling each other n****** and were saying very crude sexist things. More than pissing me off it made me sad that they were raised in an environment where they found that they could get attention by doing things like that.
I ignored them as I didn’t want to give them the pleasure of gaining my attention. I felt like going over there and slapping or punching them but I refrained. I also felt like saying, “Hey assholes, stop making racist and crude sexist remarks before I call the police for harassment and they can tell you to stop,” but I refrained. Now I feel bad that I let them get away with it but I know that I did the right thing.
– Claire
Location: Round Rock, Texas
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.