Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
This new PSA from Whistling Woods International, a film school in India, forces men to consider how creeping and inappropriate their leering is. No one is entitled to another person’s body!
Buzzfeed reports, “The ad was released exactly one year after a horrific gang-rape in New Delhi started a nation-wide conversation about women’s safety in India.”
The movie industry is still primarily run and owned by rich white men and it shows, right?
Generally women and girls are relegated to roles where they are to be looked at/desired or they are hell bent on getting a man. There are few roles for older women. Persons of color are often caricatures, stereotypes, and sidekicks, especially women of color. Apparently that’s how a lot of white men view us.
For this reason, I rarely go to the movies. Two of the few films I saw in theaters this year were “Fruitvale Station” and “Catching Fire.” On occasion, however, I watch movies about and written by white men for white men and I did last night when I watched “Anchorman 2” with my partner and two of his white male coworkers.
“Anchorman 2” had a few funny jokes, fewer than the first “Anchorman” film and the representation of women was way worse. Come on, did they really have to make Linda, the only black character, angry, sexually aggressive, and then apologetic to Ron Burgandy after he was racist at her family dinner?!? It wasn’t good on disability or animal rights either.
They also managed to make unfunny jokes about street harassment, sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, and murdering women. Is that some kind of record? Not only were they offensive but none of those jokes added to the plot line. I know they tried out tons of jokes during the script-writing and filming and I have a hard time believing that out of all of the jokes they must have tried out, those were the “best” ones for the film.
One of the worst moments for me was when news team sidekick Champ said (paraphrasing from memory), “Ron, do what men have been doing to women for thousands of years, hit her,” as the audience around me laughed. Ha ha ha, domestic violence is so funny. NOT.
I have a really hard time imagining these jokes would have happened if there were more women involved with the film, especially in roles of authority where they could decide what jokes stay or go.
Increasing gender equality and decreasing gender violence in our society is such a complex and multifaceted endeavor. One element of it is changing the normalization of sexism, racism, and gender violence in the media we consume. Having more women involved in media and having diverse roles for female characters could help make that happen.
Here are resources for creating that change in media:
* Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media
Check out their video about how the media failed women in 2013
With only 11 days left in 2013, I took some time today to reflect and calculate and feel grateful!!
Listed at the end of this post are 100 people and groups who gave substantial time, work, ideas, expertise, and/or money to Stop Street Harassment (SSH) in 2013 because they, too, want to live in a world where everyone can safely navigate through public spaces.
As many readers know, SSH is my passion project that I do after and between my paid work. Funded only by in-kind donations of time and skills and some monetary donations from people like YOU, I am so proud of all that SSH has achieved this year, thanks to SSH’s board members, volunteers, interns, donors, correspondents, blog contributors, mentees, collaborative organizations, and media allies. THANK YOU.
10 Stop Street Harassment Achievements in 2013:
1. Correspondents: In January SSH launched a Blog Correspondents Program with two cohorts of 30 people total from 9 countries and 5 continents who collectively wrote more than 100 articles across the year. They illuminated street harassment issues in their community and raised awareness.
2. #EndSHWeek: In April, around 150 groups from more than 20 countries and 6 continents participated in SSH’s annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. It raised an incredible amount of attention with rallies, marches, events, sidewalk chalking and online activism.
Wrap-up report | Photo album | Storifies from the five successful tweet chats.
3. Stop Trivializing Street Harassment: In April we launched an on-going list of “Campaigns against Companies that Trivialize Street Harassment.” In collaboration with groups like Collective Action for Safe Spaces, this year SSH was instrumental in pressuring Lego, Bare Escentuals, and Skirt Sports to drop offensive products, marketing, or messaging.
* Add your name to the 32,000 signatures in our current campaign asking YouTube to remove Simple Pickup’s YouTube Channel – it’s an instruction manual for men to learn how to street harass women.
4. Celebrating 5 Years: In late May/early June, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a successful Happy Hour in Washington, D.C. where we honored community leaders, activists, and organizations who’ve addressed street harassment in important or unique ways, including D.C. City Council Member Muriel Bowser and the Metro Transit Police. We also hosted an online auction fundraiser.
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5. Mentoring Activists: In July, we launched a Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program. Across several months, we worked with activists as they implemented their proposed plans: workshops in high schools in Afghanistan, focus groups and a community event in Cameroon, and three short films and a community event in Chicago.
* Make a tax-deductible donation to SSH to help us expand to 10 mentoring sites in 2014.
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6. #50Stories Book & Tweet Chat: In September, I released a short, fun, empowering book, 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers, with stories submitted to or featured on the SSH Blog. SSH held a very successful #50Stories tweet chat, managed by SSH social media volunteers & interns, that trended briefly in the USA and led to many news articles on the topic.
* Buy the book in paperback for $10, or Kindle for $6.99. 50% of the profits will help fund SSH’s work.
7 . Know Your Rights: In December, SSH launched a state-by-state toolkit, Know Your Rights: Street Harassment and the Law. We held a briefing event in Washington, D.C. where the lead author, SSH intern Talia Hagerty, presented an overview of the toolkit and its purpose.
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8. National Study: SSH continued to fundraise for the first-ever national survey on street harassment (cost: $47,000). I also conducted four focus groups in NY, CA, and DC with demographics like queer women of color and men in the LGBQTI community. The focus groups will supplement the survey and both research findings will inform a national report.
* Make a tax-deductible donation to SSH to help fund the study.
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9. Rallies, Events, Campaigns: SSH was involved in LOTS of events and collaborative activism this year, including:
a. Rallies and Marches:
* SSH joined thousands of groups in more than 200 countries on Feb. 14 for One Billion Rising.
* SSH staff marched in both New York City and Washington, D.C. to support racial equality and to demand justice for Trayvon Martin.
* SSH tabled at the Rally Against Rape in Arlington, VA.
* SSH hosted a sidewalk chalking event in Arlington, VA.
* SSH spoke and tabled with Collective Action for Safe Spaces at SlutWalkDC.
b. Talks: At the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in NYC, I presented on sexual harassment in schools for my day job and moderated a panel for ActionAid. I gave talks on street harassment at a high school in NYC (x2), campuses in WI and NY, bookstore in PA, a Veteran’s Administration Hospital in PA, an event for summer interns in Washington, D.C.
c. Conference Presentations: I presented on street harassment at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, the International Coalition Against Sexual Harassment, the National Sexual Assault Conference, with co-presenter FAAN Mail.
d. Key Meetings:
i. In Feb., SSH and Collective Action for Safe Spaces met with the transportation authority in Washington, D.C. to discuss next steps in a campaign to stop sexual harassment on the transit system. The meeting was part of a global day of action when grassroots women and women’s organizations in 50 cities met with government
ii. In Feb., SSH joined Hollaback Bmore for a meeting with the Baltimore Health Department to discuss collaboration around the issue of street harassment.
iii. In Nov., Hollaback! Philly organized a city council hearing on street harassment and SSH board members Nuala Cabral and I testified. In a meeting afterward with Councilmember James Kenney, he pledged it was not “a one and done day,” but that he was committed to collaborating with them.
10. Blogging, Articles and Media Coverage:
a. There were 550 posts on the SSH blog, including personal stories and highlights of street harassment news and activism
b. I wrote 16 published articles related to street harassment for outlets like Ms. (both their blog and print magazine), Bitch (both their blog and print magazine), Women’s Media Center, Fem2Pt0, Feministing, and BlogHer.
c. SSH received tons of media hits, including: Washington Post, Guardian, NPR, MTV, Salon.com, Slate.com, Feministing, HuffPost Live, Ebony Magazine, LOOK Magazine (UK), Bridget Magazine (Germany), and the Smithsonian’s Blog.
* SSH Board Member Relando Thompkins joined me on the Talk2Q radio show to discuss street harassment, racial profiling, and victim-blaming. Download the podcast of the show.
THANK YOU SSH Community —
| Board Members:
Anna Bavier Interns: Talia Hagerty Contractors: Amy Mistrine Safe Public Spaces Mentees: Phaydra Babinchok Crucial Online Helpers: Soraya Chemlay
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Blog Correspondents:
Carla Avenia |
Volunteers:
Katie Broendel Assisted with Focus Groups: Brenda Bethman |
Key organizations with whom we worked in 2013:
| Key Collaborators:
Brooklyn Movement Center |
Donated Space or Food for SSH Events:
Alliance for Justice Key Media Allies: Bitch Magazine
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I’m 17 years old, and I’ve received ‘unwanted attention’ from men almost everyday since I was about 13, which is the same for an unfortunate number of girls I know. Up until now, it’s never really affected me. I’ve brushed it off, or shouted something offensive back if possible.
A couple of months ago, I was walking home from sixth form with a friend, around 4 p.m., and as we approached her street, a man in a white van drove past screaming, “GET YOUR ASS OUT.”
There was something so aggressive about it that made me feel both terrified and physically ill. After seeing my friend to her house, I had a good ten minute walk to mine, the entirety of which I spent on the phone to my boyfriend trying not to cry. I’m sick of feeling vulnerable and scared every time I leave the house and being treated like a slab of meat with tits. I want to be able to live the rest of my life without worrying about being grabbed at by a sorry excuse for a human being. It’s not okay.
– DWM
Location: Calcott Road, Bristol, UK
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
Check out the new book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers!
By Phaydra Babinchok, Chicago, IL, USA, SSH Safe Public Spaces Mentee
In addition to creating three short films as part of the Stop Street Harassment’s Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program, we created a fun event for screening the films. With the $250 stipend provided I was able to book a performance space at Studio Be a nonprofit theatre. The screening was held on the afternoon of Sunday October 13.
I wanted to create a comedy event about street harassment. Because it is such a serious issue I feel it needed a light-hearted touch to make it a more approachable subject. My friend Alicia Sowisdral is a feminist comedian and host of Pop Goes Alicia a live monthly pop culture show about gender. I reached out to her and she gladly agreed to be the host for the event.
Stop Calling Me Baby, a comedy event about street harassment, still needed a few performers before it would be complete. The lineup was rounded out with two stand-up comedians and a spoken word performer. As I said before, I feel it is important to include men in the discussion so one of the stand-up comedians was a man.
The stand-up comedy was interspersed with a powerful spoken word performance. The performances ended with a hilarious stand-up set about street harassment by Marla Depew. Who knew street harassment could make one laugh so hard.
Then it was time to debut the films. They were projected onto a large screen and I stayed behind the curtain during the screening because I was nervous that the films wouldn’t go over well. I had anxiety that the films might possibly upset people because we are in a way making fun of a serious issue. However, my anxiety was quickly alleviated by the audience’s laughter.
Once the films were done screening Alicia led a Q&A with the audience and writers of the films. Again I was nervous that there would be a critical or judgmental question about the films, but the audience really liked them. We were able to talk with the audience about how street harassment is a daily issue that most women have to deal with. People in the audience shared personal stories of experiences of street harassment.
Overall, the event turned out exactly as I had wanted. It was empowering, educational, and fun for all.
Phaydra Babinchok is a feminist activist based in Chicago. She is the Director of SlutWalk Chicago and Chapter Leader of Chicago’s Women, Action, and the Media. She works at Sarah’s Circle, a program that helps homeless women.
