Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Harassed, followed, assaulted on Oxford Street in Liverpool

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[Trigger Warning — Sexual Assault]

I was walking home from a club late at night, having become separated from my friend earlier on in the night. I stopped on the steps of a cathedral close to my house to have a cigarette and look at the view, and as I came down the steps, a man came out of a side street and began to follow me.

He tried to talk to me and I politely told him that I needed to get home, and said goodnight to him. At that point, he began grabbing me by the waist, holding onto me tighter every time I slipped away from him. I turned around and screamed at him to leave me alone, by this point scared and beginning to cry.

As I walked behind the bus stop next to my home, he grabbed me again, this time refusing to let me go. He pushed his hand into my underwear, and sexually assaulted me.

Several cars drove past less than two metres away from where I was being attacked, in full view of the road, and as I can remember it was the fifth or sixth passer by who eventually stopped to help me.

– Anonymous

Location: Oxford Street, Liverpool, UK

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“Maybe something about the way you dress is triggering them”

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I can’t believe some people are still blaming women for street harassment. I just read this on a forum:

“In my experience, cat calls have almost disappeared. I’m not only speaking of me – I don’t even see them directed at other women. Therefore, I have to hesitantly say that maybe something about the way you dress is triggering them.”

From another woman, shamefully enough.

– Anonymous

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“These teenagers liked the fight, they were laughing about the whole thing”

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I have a story to share– but it’s about racism. And one worth sharing: I was on the N Line going uptown a little before 3PM today (2:50-2:58?). I boarded on 57th and 7th. I don’t remember the subway car. Right when I walked in I heard yelling.

I had no idea what was going on, everyone in the car (it was a reasonably full car) was staring at a group of 6-7 african american teenage girls in the middle of the car. I soon realized what was happening– after the victims that they had been yelling at had exited the car, they turned and came back in because a few of the girls were cussing them out (profanely).

I saw the victims were a 20-something year old couple: an african american male and his asian girlfriend. It became evident that not only these teenagers were racist— but they saw this mixed-race couple and started an altercation, calling them names and insulting them (BOTH)– especially making fun of the asian girl’s accent.

It was a completely verbal argument, but one that could’ve easily turned physical in any other situation (example, like if the teens were boys, the victimized man may have tried physical retaliation). The victims turned back in after they taunted them after they had exited– but they couldn’t really do anything– they were visibly upset, but they did not/could not reciprocate appropriately. I assume it was because these girls were all underage, and there was a large gang of them, even though they were just teenagers. Also, of course, there are no cops around and there’s no videocamera. There’s no accountability. Meanwhile, everyone was just staring. The girls yelled at them to get out of the car again, and as they left again, one of the girls wanted to get in the last word, she actually (opened?) the subway window and yelled the couple,

“Don’t eat that Chinese p***y!!!!”

But the most terrible thing is that these teenagers liked the fight, they were laughing about the whole thing.

When the doors closed again I realized I had walked into a bad situation– as I am acutally asian myself and I had walked to stand on the car just several feet away from them. I am pretty new to the NYC subway system (I only come in about once a month), so I had no idea what to do. Does each car have an intercom? I felt that if it did, someone on the car should’ve reported it. If the car didn’t have an intercom, it SHOULD. People need to be held accountable for their actions— especially ones of a racist nature. The only way to do that is either have a police officer/security stationed at each platform OR have live video feed OR have an intercom.

This shouldn’t happen. It was one of the saddest, most disturbing experiences– a car full of young racist children, surrounded by passive adults.

As I turned my back to leave for my stop near 60th & Park, one of the girls tried to throw a piece of garbage at the back of my head (completely unprovoked by me– which is why I say they must’ve provoked the prior incident). She missed, and I ignored it and I kicked it to the side. I left the car quickly, and they followed. They followed me up the stairs laughing and giggling and egging each other on to try to throw the garbage at my head again. This second time they succeeded. As my back was already turned to them, I ignored them. I keep wondering what else I could have done, why there was so much hatred in these kids who just got out of school (presumably), and why a subway car full of mixed race adults said nothing.

They were teenage girls…lashing out and laughing not only at another race, but one of their own. This was a case of second degree aggravated assault– no laughing matter. The MTA needs to get their act together…

– GC

Location: N line– 57th and 7th, New York City

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Hey, Shorty!: Book giveaway, event, review

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Guess, what? There’s a fantastic new (and very affordable) book you can check out that addresses street harassment, Hey, Shorty!: A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets.

I’m excited because in my book about street harassment, I note the need for more books on the topic and here is one! And I’m also excited because the book comes from one of the groups I featured in my book, the New York City-based organization Girls for Gender Equity (GGE).

Hey, Shorty! is an essential, much-needed resource for students, teachers, parents, and any community member who wants teens to be safe at school and on the streets. Because the book is so important, I’m giving away a free copy of Hey, Shorty! in a random drawing. To have your name included in the drawing, put your name in the comments of this post or e-mail stopstreetharassment AT yahoo DOT com by April 19.

[4/15 UPDATE: I’m giving away TWO free copies of the book and also a free copy of the Hey…Shorty documentary. The additions are courtesy of one of my AAUW coworkers who got them for me without knowing I already own both :)]

If you live in New York City, you can go to Bluestockings Bookstore tonight, April 13, at 7 p.m. for the book launch event. Authors Joanne N. Smith, Mandy Van Deven, and Meghan Huppuch will talk about the book and the work of GGE (Smith is the founder of GGE and Deven and Huppuch work or worked for GGE). Several GGE youth organizers including Nefertiti Martin, Ariel Natasha, Veronica Tirado, Cyndi Yahya will read passages from the book. Books will be available for sale and signing.

Hey, Shorty! provides readers with two types of resource. First, in the main portion of the book, Smith, Van Deven, and Huppuch take readers through the 10 year history and work of GGE and their efforts to create an organization that empowers teenage girls to address issues that impact them and also to have schools address the widespread issue of sexual harassment (which, by the way, they are required to do by law under Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972).

The authors share personal experiences, thoughts, struggles and successes with designing programming, working with teenagers, learning from teenagers, and creating outcomes. The chapters are interesting and provide a model for action through the example of their work, in particular the model of prioritizing youth leadership on issues that relate to youth because, as Smith notes, they are the experts on these issues and they are the main stakeholders.

Two of the teen-led projects shared in the book that I have first-hand experience with are the Sisters in Strength Street Harassment Summit and Hey…Shorty documentary (available for purchase for $20 from the GGE website). I attended the Summit in 2007 as part of my master’s thesis research and I own the documentary. Both the summit and documentary were phenomenal and I was very impressed by the vision, articulation and hard work of teenage girls around the issues of street harassment.

Second, in the appendix, there are guides for students, school staff, and parents about how to prevent and also deal with sexual harassment. There is information about how to respond to harassers as the person being harassed or as a bystander and how to report harassers. Additional materials readers can use are a sexual harassment quiz and survey questions GGE used in their survey about sexual harassment in schools. These guides are easy to read and understand and are very important resources for anyone who cares about this issue. Soon you can add workshop curriculum to your list of resources, which GGE is developing with the help of 67 middle and high school students.

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of talks about street harassment, particularly to members of the nonprofit organization I work for, the American Association of University Women. Many of the people in attendance are current or retired teachers and are eager for information and resources they can use and they are very happy to hear about Hey, Shorty!

I hope you will read Hey, Shorty! and if you are a teenager, a parent of one, or work with teens, I hope you will consider using some of the materials in your own lives and work. GGE will celebrate 10 years this September. I look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the next 10 years!

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“I cried for the rest of the subway ride.”

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When I was 20, I was walking down the stairs into a subway, in broad daylight. Some punk kid followed me down and when he saw it was deserted, he grabbed my ass. I wheeled around on him and started screaming and backed him into a wall, but then I became so afraid that he might do something that I ran off. I cried for the rest of the subway ride.

– Anonymous

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

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