Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Day 7: International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2017

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Yesterday was the final day of the 7th annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week! Here are some highlights from that day as well as the extra events that occurred today

Here are more photos from the International Wheatpasting Night led by Stop Telling Women to Smile on April 7. People participated in Berlin (Germany), Duluth (Minnesota), Albuquerque (New Mexico), New Orleans (Louisiana), Chicago (Illinois), New York (New York), London (UK), Bristol (UK) and Toronto (Canada).

Afghanistan:

Free Women Writers released a second street harassment video.

Canada:

Hollaback! Ottawa hosted a sidewalk chalking.

Croatia:

Hollaback! Croatia held a flash mob.

France:

Stop Harcèlement de rue – Toulouse hosted a gathering where people could share their street harassment stories and strategies.

Germany:

ProChange engaged in street action in Dortmond.

Mexico:

La Ciudad es Nuestra held street action and chalking in Mexico City.

Nepal:

“Youth Demonstration against street Harassment” was organized by Youth Advocacy Nepal in partnership with various like minded organizations including ActionAid Nepal, Campaign for People-Led sustainable Development, NDYN, Dalit Youth Alliance and among others at Maitighar Mandala.

The Philippines:

UN Women Safe Cities Metro Manila conducted focus group discussions and follow-up/refresher workshops with tricycle drivers; held in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. They also met with the local government official in the barangay (the village head) to outline what support they need to implement Quezon City’s anti-sexual harassment in public spaces law.

Poland:

Hollaback! Poland invited people to share their stories using the hashtag #STOPmolection.

UK:

Proactive Dance launched the Cat-Call Counter Attack! It is a site responsive dance piece that seeks to playfully agitate and reclaim the streets around the Royal Festival Hall and Southbank Centre in London.

USA:

Rallies were held in three cities:

Atlanta, Georgia (led by Slutwalk Atlanta – watch a video of it)

New York City (led by Hollaback)

Washington, D.C. (led by Collective Action for Safe Spaces)

Brooklyn Movement Center’s anti-street harassment working group No Disrespect, The Safe OUTside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project, and Culture Push hosted street action. There was screen printing, de-escalation skills sharing and opportunities to plug in to local organizing.

Maryland: FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture held a quilting workshop for the Monument Quilt to honor survivors of sexual violence in Baltimore.

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“Let me sniff your saddle”

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I was cycling along the road and a man leaned out of a car and shouted, “LET ME SNIFF YOUR SADDLE.”

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

Make misogyny a hate crime. Raise awareness.

– KH

Location: Bristol, UK

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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Day 6: International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2017

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Day 6 of the 7th annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week is nearing its close. Here are some highlights.

  • You can view more photos of the actions in our photo album.
  • Check out the growing list of media coverage!
  • Tomorrow is our last — and biggest day!! Check out all the rallies, marches, and other types of street action taking place all over the world!

Global:

The Stop Telling Women to Smile International Wheatpasting Night is underway. Tag us in your photos or use #EndSH. Already, at the time of this writing, we’d spotted photos from Toronto, Canada, and Bristol, UK (pictured)!

Afghanistan:

Free Women Writers released a video about how street harassment interferes with girls’ ability to get a good education.

Canada:

Women in Cities International release the third episode in their new podcast Small Talks and City Blocks.

Croatia:

Hollaback Croatia hosted an educational panel with a discussion in the city library.

Dominican Republic:

The International Law Students Associaiton Chapter PUCMM and other groups held a conversation on street harassment.

Guatemala:

The Municipal Office of Women of Villa Nueva has been organizing a photo campaign across the week. Today they said over 1,340 people had joined, including staff at the Municipal Police of Transit of Villa Nueva! WOW!

Indonesia:

Hollaback Jakarta, Indonesia Feminis and Cewekbanget hosted a talk show about street harassment.

India:

Safecity hosted two events: 1) a photo exhibition and panel discussion about “Reclaiming Public Spaces: Challenges in Local Transport” and 2) a film screening.

Jagori and Safetipin conducted a safety audit and mapping of safe/unsafe spaces at JJ Colony Bawana New Delhi.

The Netherlands:

Hollaback! Nederlands and artist Chlóë Matanja along with other performers and artists hosted “Over the Shoulder: Let’s Talk About Street Harassment,” an inspirational evening of art, performance and community-building, including a silent auction of Chloe’s photo series, a film screening by Tamara Shogaolu, live performance by spoken word artist, Cissy, a bazaar, an interactive street harassment map and more.

Romania:

Hollaback! Romania held a flash mob to raise awareness about street harassment.

USA:

Connecticut:

The Center for Family Justice, Inc did a photo campaign.

 

Michigan:

NOW (National Organization for Women) Washtenaw Chapter organized a performance-based art about street harassment. The performance was a pop-up runway themed where an announcer announced each volunteer and they walked through the public bus transit area as a way to reclaim this space. As each lady walked through, the announcer described details of a time this person was harassed which include what the person was wearing, what activity they were doing, and what type of harassment. This was meant to show that it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing or what activity you are doing. After each volunteer walked down the runway, the announcer gave a fact about street harassment. As the performance happened, volunteers handed out zines with information about street harassmen.

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Building Solidarity in a Fragmented Country

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Guest Post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week

By Sofia DiPasquale

Hollaback! is a global network of grassroots activists working to end all forms of harassment. We believe that everyone has the right to exist in public space without fear, and that bystander intervention and story-sharing are key to creating a harassment-free world. We’re hosting regular bystander intervention trainings to give people the tools and knowledge to act up and fight back against harassment when they see it happen. You can share stories of harassment or bystander intervention on our website.

Since the 2016 presidential election in the U.S., we’ve seen a spike in the amount of stories we’ve been receiving – particularly racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant harassment. Harassment disproportionately affects marginalized communities, especially people who face intersecting oppression. We recognize that not everyone feels safe intervening in every harassment situation, especially when you belong to the community that is being targeted. Our bystander intervention training outlines five options of ways to intervene, ranging from directly confronting the harasser to documenting the situation, so you always have a choice when you’re deciding the best way to respond.

Overwhelmingly, people sharing stories of harassment say that they wish someone had stepped in during the harassment or checked in with them after to let them know that someone has their back. We’re trying to get as many people trained up on bystander intervention as possible so we can begin to create communities where people affirm and protect each other in public space, and no one has to feel uncomfortable or unsafe. You can find out more bystander intervention resources here.

Sofia DiPasquale is a communications intern at Hollaback! If you’re in New York City, join their Anti-Street Harassment Week rally from 2-4 p.m. at Tompkins Square Park.

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What’s in a Name?

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Guest Post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week

By Blythe Tyrone

Youth Advocacy Nepal, April 2017

Ask any woman if she’s experienced street harassment, and she’s likely to respond emphatically in the affirmative. She’ll probably have a few anecdotes to share (she might even laugh while doing so), recounting what was said and done by whom, maybe regretting the way she handled the situation but recognizing the potential danger of an alternative response. As result of the harassment, she might share that she now avoids that one street at certain times of the day, or perhaps makes a point to listen to music while walking down a city street to discourage unwanted comments, or simply to drown them out.

To a passerby, street harassment may just seem like harmless words, but these uninvited interactions have real effects on women’s daily lives. I intentionally don’t jog on the sidewalk of high-traffic streets, for instance, because the occasional honk or holler is jarring and distracting from what should otherwise be a stress-relieving activity. It’s minor, but it’s a real change I have made in my life because of street harassment.

Because street harassment is so common, it seemed like an area that would be ripe for academic research, but when I started digging into the literature, I was surprised at how little I could find, especially compared to similar topics like sexual harassment. I thought street harassment was such an obvious problem and was surprised that no one seemed to care about it. I could find peer-reviewed research on what pick-up lines worked better at a bar, but little about something so common it’s been the subject of a viral video, comedy sketches, webcomics, think pieces, a Tumblr project, disturbing headlines, and initiatives.

The problem, I soon learned, was a simple matter of definition. What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot, apparently. Eventually I discovered that I was far from the only one interested in researching street harassment, but I was one of the few actually using that term. Street harassment research is scattered across disciplines under a variety of names such as stranger harassment (Fairchild & Rudman, 2008), public harassment (Gardner, 1995), catcalling (Wesellmann & Kelly, 2010), girl watching (Quinn, 2002), sexual terrorism (Nielson, 2002), street remarks (Kissling, 1991), and street hassling (West, 1987). So, earlier, when you asked that woman if she’s experienced street harassment? She could actually have described any one of these experiences.

Research is an important tradition that helps us understand problems and leads us to solutions. If we are not using the same words when identifying our problems, how can we expect to share what we have learned about them so that others may take our experience into consideration for their own work or build on it?

For my graduate thesis at NC State University, I have made a point to explore the many names street harassment research might be disguised under in past research. However, as more and more people – especially beyond the hallowed halls of academia – start using the term street harassment, not only might it spur researchers to start using the same name, but it may help spread awareness to the general public as well. To recognize and call out street harassment when we see it, we need to all be on the same page as to what we’re calling it to begin with. This isn’t to say that there are not many different layers that shape street harassment (it is certainly enmeshed in issues of race, power, gender, sexuality, etc.), but if we have a common place to start, we will be more unified and effective in the overall effort to stop street harassment.

Blythe Tyrone is a graduate student at NC State University studying street harassment for her thesis research. Follow her on Twitter @blythe_tyrone.

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