Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Germany Speaks Out Against Gender Violence

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From our German friends ProChange, who commemorated the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence in their town square:

hier unsere Aktion zum 25. November 2012, unserem internationalen Gedenktag gegen Gewalt an Frauen und Mädchen:
Aktiv war unser Bündnis Dortmunder Frauen, dem wir angehören, zu dem vielfältige Vereine, Initiativen und Organisationen aus Dortmund gehören, die sich gegen jede Form von Gewalt an Frauen und Mädchen engagieren. Wir haben gemeinsam mit dem Frauenbüro der Stadtverwaltung Dortmund und der Presse am Rathaus vier Fahnen gehisst: “frei leben – ohne Gewalt”.
Die Fahnenaktion wurde erstmals initiert von der Menschenrechtsorganisation TERRE DES FEMMES am 25. November 2001. Seither wurde die Aktion von zahlreichen Frauenbeauftragten, Verbänden und Ministerien aufgegriffen und weltweit weitergetragen.
ProChange für Freiheit und Sicherheit, immer und überall.

Lieber Gruß

Gabi Hensler

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16 Days: Day 12, Nepal

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During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #12: Nepal

When HomeNet Nepal, Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj and ActionAid International Nepal examined the harassment of girls and women on public transportation last year, they found disturbing results.

According to the research, “the cultural values, acceptance, weak infrastructure with poor signage and road with government’s limited attention and knowledge has supported in perpetrating violence especially in public transport. We also found out that girls and women, to protect themselves and also to come out of such violence and insecurity, have generated their own noble protection mechanisms/strategies like carrying safety pins to pinch men who come unnecessarily close, carry their bags in front [of their bodies] and such. Research also showed that as women have to endure all these, they experience several consequences from negative psychological impact including lowered confidence and self esteem, feelings of blame, frustration and mistrust or hate of men to losing their concentration, productivity in the work places, education and such.”

In response, this year, organizations like HomeNet Nepal, Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj, Rastriya Mahila Adhikar Manch, Activista and ActionAid International Nepal launched a Safe City Nepal campaign.

Included is a public transportation component launched with many partners: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Latitpur municipality, Trade Unions (GEFONT and NTUC), Traffic police department, Municipality Police, Community Police, Transport Enterpreneurs, Transport drivers, UNHabitat, Department of Urban Development.

Already, they have conducted a safety audit (evidence collection), held forums, and are now working on policy advocacy initiatives. Learn more from this video segment:

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16 Days: Day 11, Turkey

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During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #11: Turkey

During the spring,  Hollaback Istanbul held a screening of Miss Representation and then a discussion about its connection to street harassment. They also held a screening of War Zone and had a social media campaign.

This year, they also launched the Hollaback! Green Dot Bystander Campaign and created a companion video with male allies letting harassed persons know they “have their back.”

Throughout the year they received great media coverage of their efforts to record people’s stories and speak out against street harassment, bringing more public awareness to the issue.

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Stopping Harassers with Pins and Needles

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Did you know hat pins used to serve dual purposes? They held elaborate hats in place on women’s heads and they were also an effective tool for stopping street harassers.

Imagine a trolley car in the 1940s, heading down a city street. Now imagine a woman standing in the car, on her way to the store or perhaps commuting to her secretary job (since that was one of the only professions open to women). It’s not crowded on the trolley, but a man is standing very close behind her. She stands alert and when he suddenly touches her inappropriately, she is ready. She discreetly reaches for her hat, seemingly to adjust it, but instead grabs a hat pin and stabs him! She never turns around.The harasser winces, backs away, and hopefully thinks twice about grabbing women on the trolley.

Fast forward to the 1980s in Istanbul, Turkey, and needles were the defense weapon of choice to stop harassers. Activists launched a “Purple Needle” campaign and handed out needles with purple ribbons tied onto them to women on the streets so the women could stab their harassers!

Kacie Lyn Kocher who founded the anti-street harassment group Hollaback! Istanbul said, “According to reports, street harassment went down substantially during the campaign.” The distribution of purple needles was briefly resumed in January 2008 in response to several instances of sexual abuse at Taksim Square in Istanbul.

Fast forward to today, and women in Nepal often use safety pins to ward off harassers. An ActionAid report about gender violence in cities includes a story from a college student in Nepal.

She said, “I carry safety pins with me while travelling. Whenever I feel that I am being harassed by someone around me, I poke him with my safety pin. It alerts the person who is conducting such violence on me. I was taught to do it by seniors in my college. I was hesitant to do it at first, but I found that when my friends did it, the person who harasses tends to back off.”

It’s infuriating that women have to resort to pins and needles to get harassers to back off but I do love reading about women’s long history of resistance! Don’t mess with us or you might get stabbed…

 

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16 Days: Day 10, Pakistan

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During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #10: Pakistan

In Karachi, Pakistan, this spring, students at university SZABIST hosted a “How to respond to harassment” session, a self defense class in the spring, and they created a PSA about harassment.

One of the students wrote, “My class group members and I selected ‘harassment’ as a topic for our gender studies course. The reason we chose this topic was because it is a prevalent problem in Pakistan and almost everyone in the country encounters it on a daily basis. We wished to highlight the issue and create awareness.”

The Pakistani organization Gawaahi also addresses street harassment on their website.

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