Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“They are a bunch of creeps”

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My neighbors always hire the same company to do there landscaping. The issue is this specific company happens to be extremely inappropriate. On many occasions me and other neighbors of mine have catcalled by them. My friend who is under age was sitting in her car waiting for the girl she is babysitting to get off the bus and the landscaping guys drove by and beeped the horn. Then they drove by again and were blowing kisses and beeping the horn. Keep in mind these are grown men dealing with an under age girl.

My friend was shaking. She called me and asked what to do. I told her if she was really scared the situation would escalate to call 911. This catcalling incident was probably the worst we have had with that company. However this summer there were many occasions I was running and they would drive by and stick there heads out the windows and yell something at me.

Honestly, I’m so over these perverts and I really hope my neighbors fire them because they are a bunch of creeps.

– Anonymous

Location: New Jersey

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

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UK: We Welcome All Men Who Are Ready to Take a Stand

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Tracey Wise, London, UK, SSH Blog Correspondent

Chris Green. Image via http://www.coe.int/
Chris Green. Image via http://www.coe.int/

Since establishing Safe Gigs for Women in June, after being groped at a big music event in the UK, it has become clear that I was not alone in facing this problem. Many women have contacted us, sharing their experiences of harassment at gigs, some saying as a result they now no longer go to gigs alone. At least three major festivals in the UK this summer reported serious sexual assaults. And let’s not forget that infamous T shirt from Coachella.

As such, it became clear that one of the principle aims of this campaign has to be to engage with gig goers to raise awareness of how their behaviour can impact others. Key to Safe Gigs for Women is the idea that this isn’t ‘man hating or women blaming’. But we must have the conversation that says it is not okay for men to grope women at music events nor is it appropriate to see the darkness and crowded space as a blanket for which it is acceptable to do this and get away with it. It will also be working to ensure that we are looking out for each other. Gigs and festivals can be a daunting place at times, and with music being very much, in our eyes, a force for good, to encourage everyone to look out for each other at all times will go a massive way to address this. The establishing of other projects addressing just this issue in the UK further highlight how this is a problem, including the White Ribbon Music project and Girls Against.

Hannah from Girls Against, said when asked why this project and why now:

“We’ve had numerous people… get in contact with us to say that they had no idea this even went on. We’d like to keep educating people… We’ve had people say that they’ve seen this happen but did nothing about it so we want to change that… We should be joining together and supporting each other so that everyone has a good time”.

Writing in support of Safe Gigs for Women on the Land of Sunshine blog, Niki Jones rightly points out that “a woman shouldn’t need a burly protector in order to enjoy a band”.

And it’s not just the UK. Recently, the US based band Speedy Ortiz set up a helpline for fans experiencing harassment at gigs.

Safe Gigs for Women was very much established in the opinion that for this to be successful, we must first encourage and defend the teaching of consent in all schools, as part of sex and relationship education. Secondly, if men are the “problem,” then men have to be part of the solution. So how do we do this?

Whilst I could stand and talk about this all day, chances are someone out there will call me a whinging feminist. But to achieve this, as I was lucky enough to hear Chris Green (director of the White Ribbon Project in the UK) advocate, men have to have the conversation with other men. Men have to call out other men on their inappropriate behaviour. Safe Gigs for Women welcomes all men ready to stand with us in this.

Born and raised in London, Tracey is a graduate of City University. She has spent the best part of her life at gigs and festivals and obsessing about music and created the “Safe Gigs for Women” project.

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“I just walked away feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable”

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I was walking home alone after school and a group of men (in their 30’s) had their eyes on me. Luckily there were two boys from my school in front of me so I walked close to them. Then one of the men looked at me and screamed, “WOWZA!”

And I just walked away feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable.

– Anonymous

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

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“Every time I go for a walk I do get timid”

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I usually walk my dog at night along the same route. The first time this happened was when I passed this house with my boyfriend beside me. My boyfriend states that he saw three guys at this house. The house was across the street from where I was walking. Once I was directly in the view from their house, one of the men whistled. I ignored it and kept walking. Then, one of them whistled again and all of them started laughing. By this point, I was feeling anger and frustration. It’s been so long since this has happened and the fact that it happened again didn’t make it any better. My boyfriend and I kept walking and I got so fed up by the time I got home.

The second time that this happened was yesterday. Same house and everything. However, this time I was by myself and I only saw one man outside. I was already on the phone with my boyfriend as I came close to the house. Again, once I was in direct view of them, the man whistled, as expected. I ignored it, got frustrated, and told my boyfriend on the phone that he did it again. After the first whistle he decided to call me like I was a freaking dog. He made this sound with his lips, the same sound you would make as if you were trying to call a dog over or just get their attention.

After hearing that sound, I was INFURIATED. I was still on the phone and I decided to tell my boyfriend the address of the house as loud as possible thinking the man would hear. I guess I was trying to “fake report” the situation. As I kept walking, I was so mad at myself for not confronting the man. Honestly, I wanted to go over and just cuss out the guy; but I know that probably wouldn’t be such a good Idea.

Later on, my boyfriend had come by my house to tell me that he actually went to the house and talked to a guy that was sitting outside. I’m not sure if that man he talked to was the guy who whistled at me. My boyfriend had told him that this has been the second time that I was whistled at by the same house and that he and the other men better stop. He told me boyfriend that he “understood” and that he would let the other guys know.

Every time I go for a walk I do get timid and I hope all the time that those men would not be out there when I pass by. However, I’m not going to let that stop me from walking the same route as I always do.

– Ivy

Location: 1821 Paso Real Ave, Rowland Heights, CA 91748

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

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“Thanks for making Playa Vista a terrible place to be a woman”

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I work at in Playa Vista, across the street from the Home Depot on Jefferson. Our parking lot is severely overcrowded, so I try to ride my bike in to work when I can. However, when I do have the audacity to ride my bike on a public street, 50% of the time I am catcalled at by day workers who congregate outside of the Home Depot. They whistle, wave, try to say hello, and generally attempt to get my attention. Somehow these men feel entitled to my attention, when all I am trying to do is get in to work.

There’s no alternate route for me to take. I am forced to ignore them, because I know that engaging them could result in threats to my safety or personal harm. This morning I had enough and tried calling the store, I explained the situation politely and was “transferred”, which meant my call was re-routed to an extension that did not exist.

How a company can be so callous about its impact on it’s surrounding community is bewildering to me. Thanks for making Playa Vista a terrible place to be a woman.

– Nicole

Location: Marina Del Rey Home Depot, California

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

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