Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“The first time I experienced street harassment I was 9”

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Over the last few weeks alone:

* A boy no older than 10 pulled my top down in a public park.
* An elderly man groped and verbally harassed me on the bus
* Men of varying ages have repeatedly leered at and catcalled me on the street (I am 16)
* When serving at the pub where I work upon occasion men have told me to ‘smile darling’, ‘show some more skin’ and ‘get back in the kitchen’ (I’m a waitress)

The first time I experienced street harassment I was 9, in a junior school uniform and it has not stopped since.

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

Educate men, there is a widespread culture that passes off any harassment towards women as ‘banter’, its not ‘banter’ it is a jail worthy offence.

– Anonymous

Location: Consett, Newcastle, UK

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

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Saudi Arabia: A Ban on “Seductive Eyes”

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Well if you thought women’s bodies couldn’t be policed any further… in Saudi Arabia women can’t have “tempting eyes” showing….

Via Pakistan Today:

“A new law in Saudi Arabia banning ‘tempting eyes’ has become the latest example of female oppression in the country.

The law states that women with alluring eyes will be forced to wear a full veil… Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, spokesman of the Saudi Arabian Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, said they ‘had the right’ to force women to cover their face.

‘The men of the committee will interfere to force women to cover their eyes, especially the tempting ones,’ he said.‘We have the right to do so.’

Many commentators wondered how the word ‘tempting’ would be applied. One unnamed journalist in the country suggested it referred to ‘uncovered eyes with a nice shape and makeup.’

‘Or even without makeup, if they are beautiful, the woman will be in trouble,’ they added.”

This outrageous mindset is not new. In 2008, I wrote about this story on the blog:

“A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.”

No law was passed at that time and it is disappointing to see that Saudi Arabia has gone backward and has codified this form of body policing.

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“It’s horrible to be made to feel vulnerable when doing something perfectly normal”

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I was travelling for work in Basel, walking down the street in the evening looking for a suitable place to get dinner. For no particular reason that attracted several stares/ leers from the passing blokes. There does not seem to be many women on their own in this town. I was then followed down the street by a bloke hissing something at me under his breath. It scared me, I turned around and walked away as fast as I could, ignoring him. I saw another woman getting harassed by a different man on the way back. At home I might be tempted to say something but here in another language I don’t feel confident. It doesn’t help that every second shop window has sexy lingerie on display or there are lap-dancing bars on street corners. I’m a 40 year old professional woman and it’s horrible to be made to feel vulnerable when doing something perfectly normal.

– Anonymous

Location: Basel, Switzerland

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

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Suspect Charged in Spears’ Murder

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Trigger Warning!

Via Huffington Post

“A suspect has been charged in connection with the death of Mary “Unique” Spears, aDetroit woman shot to death after allegedly rejecting the man’s sexual advances.

Mark Dorch, 38, was charged with first degree murder and assault with intent to murder, among other charges. His trial is scheduled to begin February 9….

Though the circumstances that surround Spears’ death are not entirely clear, her story has been shared frequently online at a time when street harassment has been at the forefront of feminist conversations. It’s served as an extreme example of the danger women can face when they receive unwanted attention from men, and a powerful refutation of the argument that such harassment is harmless.

Writer, activist and social worker Feminista Jones began using the #YouOKSis hashtag on Twitter earlier this year in an effort to shine a light on black women’s experiences with street harassment and discuss solutions, namely non-confrontational intervention from bystanders. She told The Huffington Post that Spears’ tragic death also illuminates racial disparities in conversations about street harassment and its consequences.

“Often, black women and women of color are subjected to more harsh or harsher forms of street harassment,” Jones said. “I think that black womanhood has been devalued so much that we are more likely to be treated as property or as objects than maybe other woman, [though] that’s not to say that other women aren’t treated that way.”

Spears had a fiancé and three sons, ages 8, 4 and 1.

“I hope that her family finds some sort of reprieve from this tragic, tragic death that should never have happened,” Jones said. “No woman should lose her life because she declines a man’s advances.”

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My skin color does not mean I welcome harassment

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I was leaving a beauty supply store dressed in regular, fully clothed jeans and an Oxford shirt when a white dude driving in his car yelled, “Hhow much for a BJ?” I am a Christian and practicing abstinence with a degree from an HBCU. I’m a missionary and basically a nun and may never even have sex. I didn’t know being brown automatically made me a whore or a prostitute…We were in a suburban well income neighborhood. Not that that matters. I am adult who lives at home.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

Well it should be illegal to harass someone and hurl pornographic words at someone minding their own business. But I can’t see how that can happen. We need to have an awareness that the color of my skin does not make me a prostitute or welcome cat calls/harassment.

– AP

Location: I was walking home from the store from Maryland

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

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