Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Street harassment snapshot: March 6, 2011

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Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

Street Harassment Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

You can read new street harassment stories on the Web from the past week at:

Street Harassment in the News, on the Blogs:

Events:

International Anti-Street Harassment Day:

It’s only two weeks away! Participate in the first annual International Anti-Street Harassment Day on March 20!!!

Announcements:

New:

On-going:

10 Tweets from the Week:

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Stopping a harasser at an International Women’s Day event

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Today, my partner and I attended the Join Me On the Bridge event in DC (hosted by Women for Women International to mark International Women’s Day — I was there representing the women’s organization I work for) when a guy came up to our group harassing some of the women. My partner was the only man there until this other guy came along. I gave him the benefit of a doubt and thought maybe he was a male ally, too.

Wrong.

He went up to some of the women and was talking to them, then told the organizer of the event that she was “hot” while she was trying to explain what the event was about, etc. Then he went back to a couple of the women who were sitting down, and started to feel up one of their legs! She looked very uncomfortable and pulled her leg away from him. So, I ran over, and yelled, “Hey!”

He turned towards me, and I said, “Look, this is supposed to be a safe place for women. You need to stop harassing people.”

In his colorful language he told me he wasn’t harassing anyone because he didn’t have a weapon and his “dick [was] behind a zipper, behind a zipper.” And then he started to unzip his coveralls!

I told him that he was clearly harassing people, and that he shouldn’t be touching anyone, especially when it is obviously unwanted. He said fine and that he’d just leave. And he did, but not before telling a couple women that they were hot as he walked away.

My partner didn’t see what was happening at first, but when he heard me raise my voice he ran over to check if I was okay. He was incredibly bothered by what happened and gets upset whenever I’m street harassed.

I told him what happened and vented my frustration that a group of women (and men) can’t even gather together for a peaceful event honoring women across the globe without someone getting harassed.

I’m always scared when I speak out against harassing behavior because you never know when someone is going to be violent. My partner and I have seen a guy pull a knife on a bus before, so we both feel that it’s a real potential threat.

But I did feel a small victory today — and not just by stopping street harassment. I got to meet some other cool women’s rights advocates. It’s just a shame they had to experience that today.

– Katie B.

Location: Duke Ellington Bridge in Washington, DC

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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Nonconfrontational intervention to stop eve-teasing in Delhi

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Nai Sadak Book Market

It was the start of 3rd semester when I, with one of my friends, went to Nai Sadak to buy some of our course books. For those who don’t know, Nai Sadak is a well known and famous place in Delhi, India. You can find all course books there. While returning back to Chandni Chowk Metro Station we took a short cut. The short cut was quite remote, which we realized later.

We took a right turn and 5-6 meters ahead of us was walking a girl, constantly being followed by 2 local boys who were passing lewd remarks on her. Unaware of us, time to time they were making comment steep on the chart of lewdness. She was holding a poly-bag in her right hand and a bag was on her shoulder, seems she too was there to shop for books.

While walking by something shot into my solitude. This is eve-teasing, right? I questioned myself. I’ve read about it but never faced any situation quite like this.

“How should I stop it?” was the next question.

I told it to my friend, he too was concern. We cannot fight them like this. We needed to figure out something diplomatic. And that was the time when an idea struck into my mind.

We hurriedly went to the girl, passing by the boys, and started walking by her sides. At first she didn’t notice, perhaps because she was busy in figuring out how to get out of the mess she was in. Soon she noticed the halt in lewd remarks and two fellows walking along her sides and joking on their school life. The boys following her were still following us. I think it was instincts more than understanding that the girl realized that we were there just to help.

I passed a smile to her and she returned it back. Within no time we reached Metro Station. Not saying much she thanked us for our help. We parted our ways. She went off to catch a bus while we took  the Metro.

This was the first time I ever took such a step and perhaps the first time I ever saw eve-teasing and dared to intervene before it could turn ugly.

India is a country of freedom but freedom is at times taken in a sense of “Free-To-Do-Anything”.

– Prateek Bagri

Location: Delhi, India

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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One week, three instances of harassment in Wales

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Hello. I have not written in here for a while – fortunately. But now I have a reason to write.

I have been harassed three times this last week.

Ok, first one: I was walking down my street on my way to my boyfriend’s house. Two lads walked past me and one said, “Alright love?” I politely replied, “Yes thanks,” and went on. I didn’t think much of it until i heard them snickering a few seconds afterwards. Why?

Second story: I was walking back from my boyfriend’s house (on a different day) and a gang of teenagers walked across the road near me. A boy shouted, “Can I have your number?” I told himI have a boyfriend. Then he yelled, “Twat!” at me before rambling on that I was being ‘stubborn’. What appauled me the most was that there were girls with him and one said, “He wants to buttf*ck you.” Sigh.

Third tale: I was walking to the local supermarket when a teenage boy and girl came walking towards me. As I came in line with them, he shouted, “Fuck my ass!”

I have two words for the lot of you idiots. GROW UP.

– Clarice

Location: Porthcawl and North Cornelly, Wales

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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Pay attention to non-verbal clues for a better Mardi Gras

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Next week, if a woman is walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Mardi Gras, shouldn’t she expect to be harassed?  If a woman sits in a bar, alone during a crowded Thursday night Happy Hour, shouldn’t she expect to be harassed?  If a woman walks through a college football stadium parking lot, alone, late on a Saturday morning, past a series of tailgaters, shouldn’t she expect to be harassed?

Maybe she should.

But of course it doesn’t mean she wants that kind of attention or that it’s okay.  Reading visual clues for addressing a woman at any time, in any circumstance, with any kind of interaction is the responsibility of men.  Men must figure out where the boundary is and respect it.  Although the boundary is flexible and may be bigger and wider depending on the situation, there is nevertheless a boundary over which men shouldn’t cross.

Men must step up to their responsibility and not fall victim to the “well-what-do-you-expect, she-was-asking-for-it” syndrome.  Men will be surprised at how much more successful their interactions with women are when they are in touch with non-verbal clues from women on the street so they can avoid being harassers.

[Editor’s Note: Here are tips about how to talk to women without being a harasser. Be sure to check out a video about this topic on The Consensual Project blog and an article in The Guardian]

– Alan Kearl

This post is part of the weekly blog series by male allies. We need men involved in the work to end the social acceptability of street harassment and to stop the practice, period. If you’d like to contribute to this weekly series, please contact me.

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