Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

January 2019 Street Harassment News

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Nigerian market protest against harassment

Here is a sampling of news that caught my eye relating to street harassment:

Global: An ActionAid study of 2,560 young people aged 14-21 in the UK, India, Brazil and Kenya found that 65% of girls had faced sexual harassment in the last six months and 20% worry about sexual harassment every single day.

Australia: The country has a long ways to go to stop sexism and street harassment.

Egypt: The country’s #MeToo Movement targets street harassment.

Egypt: A man was stabbed to death while standing up to street harassers.

France: A new film was released called “Prey,” or “La Proie.”

France: Sexism in humor remains a problem in society

India: A documentary about our partners Safecity.

India: Women are taking on sexual harassment.

Kenya: A study of a No Means No programme in Nairobi shows it’s effective.

“A study of adolescent girls in one of these settlements [in Nairobi], published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that a 12-hour No Means No programme more than halved incidences of sexual assault – a statistic that has been replicated across the programme’s reach. Ten months after completing the course, more than half of female participants reported that they had used their new skills to avert sexual assault.

Three-quarters of boys trained by No Means No have successfully intervened in a violent or sexual assault on a woman. And there has been a 46% decrease in school dropouts due to teen pregnancy where the programme is active.”

Lebanon: Women across the Arab world, including Lebanon, have launched anti-SH campaigns like #NotYourAshta

Netherlands: The first conviction under Rotterdam’s street harassment law was made.

Nigeria: How women in the market put a stop to street harassment.

Pakistan: There’s no perfect way to deal with street harassment.

Palestine: In Ramallah and beyond, women are using their clothing to respond to street harassment, ­wearing jackets and T-shirts ­emblazoned with the words “Not your habibti”.

Philippines: The House of Representative approved a law against street harassment.

Sri Lanka: 90% of women have faced sexual harassment on public transport.

Turkey: Syrian girls and young women who are refugees in Turkey face street harassment there.

UK: After an 18-month campaign, upskirting will be illegal in England and Wales.

UK: Five teenagers talk about their lives, including street harassment.

USA: “Surviving R Kelly” documentary aired and has led to some cities banning the musician.

USA: Coachella will combat sexual harassment with “safety ambassadors” this year.

USA: Harassment on Lyft vs Uber.

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January 2019 SSH News

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Happy 2019, Friends!
We are grateful to everyone who donated to our Giving Tuesday and year-end campaigns. We are putting the funds to use right away and I’m excited to share the following updates with you!

New Research:
We are partnering with UC San Diego’s Center on Gender Equity and Health and the advocacy/research groups RALIANCE and Promundo-US on another national survey about sexual harassment and assault, including street harassment. For the first time, we are asking a question about perpetration and questions about attitudes around reports of sexual harassment. We are also asking a few questions focused on people’s experiences of sexual harassment.

2019 marks five years since our first national study on street harassment. We will create a separate fact sheet highlighting the street harassment-specific findings from this study to provide data, five years later.

We are finalizing the questions with our advisory group this week, and it will go into the field in two waves in February. We hope to release the findings in late March or early April.

Timely Actions:
Yesterday, we joined 200 other organizations in signing a letter to the US Department of Education to voice our opposition to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would amend rules implementing Title IX in a harmful way. (H/T our board member Patrick)

This week, the SSH board of directors issued a statement in support of actor Terry Crews and all male survivors of sexual harassment and assault like him after his experiences were publicly questioned. (H/T our board member Lindsey)

This month, I wrote an article supporting Gillette’s new ad that encourages men to speak up against other male behavior like street harassment. A lot of men were upset about the ad, but I believe we need more ads like it, not fewer.

Sexual abuse / rape like that committed against a woman in Arizona with significant intellectual disabilities is shockingly common. I did a video interview about sexual abuse and persons w/disabilities for NowThis in November, using data from our 2018 research, and they released it this month to give context to this horrific news story.

Transit Campaign
This week, I joined Collective Action for Safe Spaces’ ED alicia sanchez gill and the marketing team at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to discuss the 8th year of our joint anti-sexual harassment campaign. We have a few things we are still fleshing out, but stay tuned for some cool outreach actions and the possibility of a national transit ad campaign!

International Anti-Street Harassment Week
This year will be our 9th year leading an international week of action, from April 7-13!

We look forward to meeting you on the street to raise awareness about street harassment and strategizing ways to end it!

SSH in the News
Recent news coverage includes:
·  Guardian
·  Isthmus
·  KOLO 8
·  Newsweek
·  New York Daily News
·  Now This News

We look forward to working with you all this year on making public places safer for all!
-Holly
Stop Street Harassment Founder & CEO

P.S. Please consider a tax deductible-donation to support our work.

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Meet Us On the Street 2019

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This year marks our NINTH year hosting Meet Us on the Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week!

April 7 – 13, 2019.

Anyone, anywhere in the world can participate.

If you will be leading action, please complete this form to let us know about it.

If you’d like to be listed as a participating co-sponsor, please let me know! Contact StopStreetHarassment@Gmail.com.

We look forward to meeting you on the street to raise awareness about street harassment and strategizing ways to end it!

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SSH stands with Terry Crews

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All survivors of sexual assault and harassment deserve support and respect. 

Photo by Gage Skidmore

In October of 2017, actor Terry Crews courageously added his voice to a growing wave of survivors breaking their silence about sexual harassment and assault on a global scale.

This week, Terry Crews’ status as a survivor is making headlines again, but for all the wrong reasons, as Crews endures victim-blaming, skepticism, and other forms of revictimization following several celebrities’ mockery of Crews’ sexual assault.

Stop Street Harassment stands with all survivors of sexual harassment and assault, and we know all too well that Terry Crews is not alone in his experience. Our most recent survey research confirms that all genders experience harassment or assault: forty-three percent of men surveyed in 2018 said they’d experienced sexual harassment or assault. Twenty-six percent of men reported experiencing some form of physical sexual harassment. 17 percent said they’d experienced unwanted sexual touching, and 7 percent said they’d been sexually assaulted.

There is no “right” way for a person to act when they are disrespected, sexually objectified, made to feel unsafe, or touched without their consent. When someone comes forward and courageously shares a story of harassment or assault, the last thing they deserve is to have others speculate on what they could have or should have done, either in the moment or in the weeks, months, or years that follow.

Stop Street Harassment remains committed to ending gender-based public sexual harassment, and part of that work is uplifting survivors of any kind of harassment or assault. Thank you again to Terry Crews for adding his story and his support to a movement we hope will continue making the world a safer place for all survivors.

–Stop Street Harassment Board of Directors

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“I felt so uncomfortable I had to get off the train”

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I was on a subway in New York City when I was 15 years old in the summer holidays in the middle of the day with my sister my mum, my dad and our friend. We got to a stop and an old man probably about 65 looked me up and down and said, “Very pretty! Ooh if only I was 45 years younger!”

And then continued to look at me for the rest of the journey. I felt so uncomfortable I had to get off the train and wait for the next one.

Optional: Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?

We need to educate young children so that they don’t grow up to be so ignorant towards people’s feelings and how their actions can make someone afraid.

– LH

Location: NYC

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

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