Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

These Acts Must be Condemned

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At the start of Ramadan, a white supremacist verbally harassed two Muslim women on the Portland (Oregon) light rail train. When bystanders intervened, he attacked them, killing two men and injuring a third. Our hearts go out to these brave men’s families and also to the harassed women.

The rise in crimes like this (like the seemingly random killing of an African American college student in Maryland by a white supremacist), are indicative of just how widespread racism, Islamophobia, sexism, etc, are in the USA. These acts must be condemned. Everyone should feel and BE safe in public spaces.

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Nepal: Humor or Encouraging Harassment?

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Pritha Khanal, Kathmandu, Nepal, SSH Blog Correspondent

“Darling, Why not smiling?”

There is a common practice of writing slogans or pieces of poems on the back of trucks in Nepal, often called “truck literature”, and it has been making us laugh long before online “memes” became popular. Most of the literature hilariously imitates the native tongues and is filled with sarcasm, while some lines succeed in touching your heart in case you are going through some emotional turmoil.

On the other hand, some lines provoke rage and make you wonder why it is acceptable to write these words which have a clear motivation of mocking women and girls. Are the inappropriate comments the drivers pass not enough — they also have to write these things in huge letters on the back of the tanker? What is it that they want to prove and what message is that they want to convey?

As I was travelling with my family last weekend, I came across this water tanker with these words written with the usual purpose of making everyone laugh (“Darling, Why not smiling?”). I don’t know which part of the line was supposed to be humorous but my instant response was: What the hell is funny in these lines? Why should any “Soltini” (a kinship term where sister of a bride is Soltini to the brother of a groom) smile just because it reads so on the truck?

Things like these which are so common and ignored sometimes really depict what is inherently wrong in the society. In the name of humor and healthy flirting, there are often wrong messages spreading in society. In fact, some Nepalese culture actually cherishes the healthy flirting among their kins and community just like Solti-Soltini, which is good because it keeps the charm in the family alive and it happens with the consent of two adults along with their family. But when the behaviour is done to other girls with the motive of mocking them and making them uncomfortable, it becomes a form of harassment. Just like these lines sound very casual, it is one of the worst comments a girl has to face in the street. It feels creepy and makes us insecure when we hear the words in the street, in the market by a passerby or the groups of guys hanging around the teashops. What makes people think that writing such lines in the public vehicle is appropriate or creative?

Street harassment is part of the chronic form of violence against women. When a boy finds it comfortable and “cool” to tease a girl in the street, he may feel it is okay to grope her or inappropriately touch her in the street.

So how is this “truck literature” related here? It’s because they are written by the ones who are used to passing such comments in the street. They are written by the same drivers/ assistant drivers who laugh with each other when a girl they intentionally harassed frowns her brows but is helpless to react anyway. The same individuals who believe a girl wearing tight shirt is asking for an eagle’s eyes in her cleavage and those wearing short pants are calling for harassment. These lines are the work of harassers and for the harassers.  They are funny to those who find i’ts okay to tease in the cheesiest tone and expect that the girl finds it funny too. Some would laugh hard at the lines and replicate the same to other girls while some would just casually shrug it off. But, rarely one would realize that it may be words of encouragement for fellow harassers and one more girl in the street would be hearing the words.

So what are the measures? Not everyone can stop the vehicles in the heavy flow of traffic and rant against the lines to the driver. But one can discourage such acts. Let us condemn such lines. Let us not promote messages which give the impression of harassment but rather encourage drivers to use such widely visible and effective space for delivering better messages.

Pritha is doing her Master’s degree in Anthropology and her thesis is on the menstruation practice issues among rural teenagers in Nepal. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She works in a non-governmental organization focused on women empowerment. Follow her blog www.prithakhanal.com and my Facebook account: @pritha.khanal.

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“What right does someone have to determine my value?”

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Tonight I was wearing a dress and walking my dog, at around 7 pm. I walked past a certain house and I heard one man yell to me, “10 bucks.” Then I heard his friend say, “5 bucks.”

As if they were ranking my sexual attractiveness. I found this to be quite insulting. First, of all what right does someone have to determine my value? Second, by saying 10 bucks assumes that I would give them permission to touch me for that amount, or that they have a right to touch my body even without my consent. Finally, I was minding my own business and did not deserve intrusive insults about my perceived sexuality. It made me feel devalued, valued according to attractiveness, violated and emotionally upset.

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

Make laws preventing sexual harassment, end male entitlement, and the objectification of women’s bodies.

– Anonymous

Location: Canada

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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“This is not being talked about”

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There’s no single day when i don’t get catcalled.

At first, i thought that maybe it’s my fault, i wear provocative clothes, i wear too short of shorts, i wear dresses, fitted shirts, etc, or maybe because i wear too much make up to the point where i attract too much attention.i tried to change myself, i tried wearing pants even though it’s scorching hot on where i live (Philippines), i wore sleeved tops, i stopped wearing shorts and dresses.

but it made no difference, i still got catcalled on our street, at my university.

it made me realize how i am not the one at fault here. i started researching about street harassment and catcalling, i made it my mini-thesis for two of my subjects, i made it my topic on almost all of my concept papers and position papers.

it was hard, why? because not much is written about sexual harassment on streets, catcalling, wolf-whistling, and other forms of it. i was devastated when i think about how i wouldn’t be able to pass my papers with very few bibliography materials. but i was more frustrated, thinking that not much people would be able to write about this. not much books to educate people about the issue. there are only few blogs here and there but we all know that it is not much academically accepted as research materials.

i may focus on how i was getting catcalled every single time i step out of our home, but i’d rather stress on the issue on how this is not being talked about. it’s not just a simple ‘offending or inappropriate comment’. street harassment is the result of normalizing rape culture, it is about the entitlement of those who think they have the right to catcall somebody. street harassment is all about instilling subconscious fear to women and men, LGBTQ people who experience it everyday or at least once in their life.

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

Put up more information about it, educate people. educate victims, specially girls, on how to protect their selves, let them know their rights, what to do when they experience these. but most of all, address the root of the problem. educate perpetrators, specially men, not only the ‘do not do this, do not do that,’ but let them know the effects of their actions. what does these kind of comments do to a victim’s brain? it instills fear, it makes them conscious of how they look, it is not seen as a compliment, it’s seen as harassment.

– D. Saunders

Location: Manila, Philippines

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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“Did you just f**king kicked my dog???”

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I was walking my dog today along the same route I do every night because I find it “safer” than going around the block. About 5 or 6 guys were hanging out in front of the Dali, by the corner of Flatbush and Woodruf (Brooklyn). I was on the phone and one of the guys kept on saying “Good evening” and raising his voice because I wouldn’t respond. So I finally put the phone down and said “I am on the phone and I don’t have to respond to you talking to me on the street just because you want me to.”

He came to me as if he was going to punch me. His friend held him and my blood boiled so, I said, “What the f**k did you just do? Are you going to hit me?”

His friends kept on telling him to calm down and for me to walk. I kept on walking and he came from the side and kicked my dog. I screamed, “Did you just f**king kicked my dog???”

He pretended he was going to punch me again. His friends kept on pushing him. Then he threw some paper at me and walked. I called the police and had to wait 30 minutes. Which is absurd. His friends came back and kept on on trying to intimidate me saying I was lying, over and over. I am not sure what the police would do about it. I pointed out that the Deli had a camera but I don’t know if they bothered to look or not.

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

More police available. I have been thinking to put posters around with examples of Street Harassment. Educate men better and provide free self defense classes to women .

– Joana F

Location: Prospect Lefferts Garden, Brooklyn, NY

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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