Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Screening of "BACK UP! Concrete Diaries"

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This Friday, July 10, 2009, Docs in Progress will be screening “BACK UP! Concrete Diaries,” Monique and Nijla‘s documentary about street harassment, at George Washington University, in Washington, DC. Feedback from the audience will be welcome after the screening.

“Sidewalks, street crossings, corridors, and concrete are hostile territory for women and girls who experience verbal and physical assault from men on a daily basis. This documentary explores how women deal with street harassment. It will especially look at how women are fighting back and defining their own personal and public spaces.”

Date: July 10, 2009
Time: 7 – 10 p.m.
Location: George Washington University Media and Public Affairs Building, 805 21st Street, NW, Auditorium B-07, Washington, DC
Cost: $5 suggested donation
For more information: Contact info

I hope you can attend! I’ll be there – I’m really excited to see the result of all their hard work!

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Harassing women on bikes

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Jessica Reed asks in a blog post on UK’s Guardian website: “What is it about a woman on a bike that attracts such unwelcome attention? From catcalls to lurid comments, should you shout back, or just ignore them? Any tips for those who will not give up their skirts?” You can read her entry in full to learn about the extent of harassment she’s experienced while on her bicycle.

I haven’t been on a bicycle in over a decade (wow!) and I don’t recall being the target of any gender-based harassed as an adolescent in my neighborhood when I did ride one. In response to the Guardian blog post, Holla Back DC! notes that they haven’t received submissions from anyone about being harassed while on their bicycle in DC though some contributors have said that men on bikes have harassed them.

From my research, I’ve read stories from women who are often harassed on their bicycle and stories from other women who were relieved to find they were not harassed while on their bicycle. Here’s an example of one story illustrating the former from my anonymous, informal online survey from last fall:

“Once I was riding my bike down the street and this guy over on the sidewalk who thought he was clever shouted at me, “Hey, don’t you know pedaling (peddling) pussy is illegal?” I didn’t feel unsafe just because he said that, but I did feel sort of unwelcome, and even though I was angry I didn’t feel safe in confronting him.” – a young woman from Louisville, KY

Off the top of my head, two incidents come to mind when I think about this topic. First: one of my cousins lives in Arlington, VA, a close suburb of DC, and she told me that a man yelled “whore” at her one time when she was riding her bicycle home from work! Second: when I interviewed the founder of HollaBack Chicago over two years ago, she said a harassment incident she experienced while she was bicycling inspired her to start the blog.

Have you been harassed while on a bicycle or do you feel more immune to it than when you are on foot?

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Dealing with it the wrong way

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There is only one road where I can walk my dog to the local park in London, UK and a man has been beeping his car horn or waving and smiling at me every time he sees me alone.

I don’t know him and I don’t want to know him so I’ve never responded in the 6 months or so he’s been doing it – until recently when he did it twice in one day and actually slowed, leered, waved and said hello. I shouted at him to F… Off in no uncertain terms and that was definitely the wrong way.

He has carried on doing it and now he knows for sure he’s really bothering me; just great. He lives in a cul-de-sac and I can see where he lives with his offending car parked outside – until I shouted at him that is. Now he’s hiding his car in his garage, I wonder why? I am tempted to go knock on his door and say ‘Here I am then, you keep trying to get my attention in the street, now what do you want?’ or ‘Is your wife home? Can I have a word with her?’ I guess these idiots rely on women not having the nerve to do that and they’re right. I hate it – why should we be forced into an unwanted confrontation?

Why does this guy persist when he knows I know where he lives? Why do harassers TRUST us? And nobody else sees it as a big problem so we get no support.

– anonymous

Location: London

[Editor’s note: the author selected the blog title; I don’t think there is a “right” or “wrong” way to deal with harassment, we all must choose what’s best for ourselves in each harassment incident]

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Benefit for Safe Walk

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Come out to Silent Barn in Brooklyn on Wednesday, July 7 (8 p.m. – midnight) for a benefit concert featuring Lady Bright, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Old Hat, and the Eskalators! There will be music, baked goods (vegan and non), beverages, information tables, and dancing. All funds (sliding scale charge of $6-10 to attend) will go toward offsetting the operational costs of Safe Walk.

RightRides, a nonprofit in Brooklyn, NY, offers free rides home to women, LGBTQ and gender queer individuals on Friday and Saturday nights from 11:59 PM – 3 AM, (early Saturday or Sunday morning) in up to 45 NYC neighborhoods across four NYC boroughs.

They also offer anyone walking to their destination a free, safe walking buddy through their Safe Walk program on Fridays, 11 p.m. – 2 a.m., May through October, in several neighborhoods in Brooklyn, NY, including: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Greenpoint, Williamsburg. The dispatch number is: (866) 977- WALK (9255)

So come out and enjoy good music & food while helping a great program aimed at public safety continue offering services to people in Brooklyn!

Want to volunteer with Safe Walk? Find out how on the RightRides website.

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Street Harassment Round Up – July 5

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Stories:

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

In the News:

Upcoming Events:

  • July 8 (8 – 11:55 p.m.): SafeWalk Benefit by Friends of RightRides to help offset the operational costs of SafeWalk to provide safe, free walks to any destination in the northern Brooklyn area on Friday nights. Cost: $6-10 sliding scale. Location: Silent Barn, 915 Wyckoff, Brooklyn, NY. More info
  • July 10 (7 – 10 p.m.): BACK UP! concrete diaries documentary screening as part of Docs in Progress. Cost: $5 suggested donation. Location: George Washington University Media & Public Affairs Building, 805 21st Street NW, Auditorium B-07, Washington, DC. More info

Street Harassment Resource of the Week:

Joan Fayer’s article “Changes in Gender Use of Public Space in Puerto Rico,” in Voices in the Street: Explorations in Gender, Media, and Public Space, eds Susan J. Drucker and Gary Gumpert (New Jersey: Hampton Press, Inc: 1996).

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