Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“A kind man came to my rescue and put himself between me and him”

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I’ll start with the first one I remember.

As I was walking to turn in a job application, a man on a motorcycle passed by me. He turned around and followed me, telling me how pretty and cute I am. I thanked him for his “compliments” thinking that would get him to leave me alone. I was very busy and didn’t have the time to deal with him. I told him I was busy and wished him a wonderful day.

That did nothing but made things worse. He started to circle me as I was walking and called me kitten and told me to hop on, that he’d take me somewhere fun. I told him no, that I was busy and had lots to do (which I did), but he was persistent, getting more visibly aggressive every time I said no. He hit the seat behind him hard enough that I could hear it. He kept calling me kitten and saying to get on and that I would like it.

At this point, he scared me because he got mad and demanded I get on. I was about to cry and I felt so alone and scared. The way he was looking at me, the way he was calling me kitten made me feel vulnerable and naked. The way he was looking at my body and not me made me feel less then who I am – that I was nothing else but something for his pleasure. I felt dirty.

A kind man came to my rescue and put himself between me and him. He told the biker to leave me alone that “you can clearly see that she is not interested. You’re scaring this poor girl.”

The biker tried to tell me a couple more times to get on, but he stopped and left when the kind man kept him away from me and kept telling him, “She’s not interested.”

I thanked him soo much. He said that he would love to see me get to where I was going safely but he had errands to take care of and wished me luck.

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

To become more open-minded. We desperately need programs for people of all ages to attend for the development of critical thinking. Possibly a manners class too.

– Kensa

Location: Greenville, Texas

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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Female Bicycle Messengers Talk about Street Harassment

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bustlebikemessengerThe new episode of Bustle’s documentary series NSFWomen (Not Safe For Women) focuses on how street harassment affects female bike messengers. Bustle’s Senior Publicist, Corporate Communications, Caitlin Eadie, shared this:

“Only 24% of all bicycle trips in the U.S. are made by women. 65% of women have reported being targeted by street harassment and 23% of women have experienced ‘sexual touching’ as a form of street harassment. To explore this issue, Bustle met with several female cyclists in Philadelphia who struggle with the fears and risks that go along with doing the job they love. One woman details a cycling incident when a male car passenger leaned out the window and grabbed her. Another discusses losing out on money because she fears for her safety when taking trips further away or past dark.

As the video’s intro states, ‘The purpose of street harassment is to remind women that they do not own the spaces that they’re inhabiting.’ A horrifying reality made even worse when Bustle reached out to 12 major U.S. city police departments and seven confirmed that they do not keep specific records of violence against female cyclists. The other five did not respond for comment.

NSFWomen tackles critical issues surrounding gender inequality, addressing the more nuanced, and sometimes undiscussed, struggles that women face on a daily basis.”

Check out the third episode of NSFWomen (Not Safe for Women).

 

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City in Colombia Bans Street Harassment, Survey in Nepal & More

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Here are four notable news stories from the past day:

DECREE:

In Timbío, Colombia, a non-binding decree was made on November 25, 2016, to ban public-sector workers and contractors from making “lewd, coarse catcalling that offends ladies.” Those in violation will face verbal reprimand, sensitivity training, or counseling.

Along with the decree was the launch of a city-wide campaign against street harassment, including ads at harassment hotspots, like public transit and stadiums.

iwalkfreelysurveynepalnov2016The decree is supported by la Casa de Mujer, a local women’s organization.

Learn more here.

SURVEY:

More than 1000 people took the #IWalkFreely survey in Nepal and 98 percent of all women said they had been harassed. Besides the streets, 71 percent of respondents also reported harassment in public transportation, 63 percent said they were subjected to physical harassment of some form, and 20 percent reported sexual harassment. Nearly half the participants who said they had faced harassment were between 20-29 years old, and 41 percent were between 13 and 19.

DOCUMENTING:

Here are two efforts to show what street harassment is like globally.

Via BBC News:

“As part of the BBC’s 100 Women season we would like you to join in and help us build up a picture of street harassment around the world.

We would like you or any of your female friends or family who experience harassment between Friday 2 December and Sunday 4 December to share your story with us.

We only need a brief description of the incident and the city where it happened. Tweet it using the hashtag #mappingharassment or if you prefer, email bbc100.women@bbc.co.uk

Do not put yourself at risk or try to take any pictures of the incident. Also do not give us further elements that could lead to your full identification, like your name, or address. Only post a brief description, the city and the hashtag.”

Via Vice News:

“As a woman walking around the city alone at night, there’s not much you can do if some creep decides to follow you around and harass you. But many women try to find a way to deal with feeling unsafe – to project an aura that will stop the harassment from happening. A brisk and confident step, eyes on the pavement and a hand in the pocket of your coat, clutching your phone.

To see how women from different countries in Europe deal with street harassment, VICE offices across the continent asked women from 13 cities if and where they feel unsafe alone at night, and how they deal with that feeling.” Read more.

 

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Blank Noise Invites You to “Walk Alone” on Dec. 2

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From our friends at Blank Noise in India:

walk.jpg

  • Have you walked, not having to think twice about the width of your smile,the length of your blouse,  skirt, tee neck, sleeve.

  • Have you clenched your fist so hard ,worn a frown, sharpened elbows out ?

  • Does your daily list of every place, person, garment you ‘avoid’/ deny reveal a larger something- that you decide where to go, how to go, what time to go, what clothes to go in, with whom to go based on your safety?

  • Have you too been warned, just like me, about places, our bodies, our clothes, our cities, our streets?

    An environment that constantly reminds women and girls to be careful , is also messaging out “ you experienced violence because you were not being careful enough”. Warnings lead to blame, blame leads to silence and shame. Our environments need to be made safe and inclusive, rather than have women carry the weight of warnings and fear. #INeverAskForIt #WalkAlone Towards Freedom From Fear.

walkalone-dec-22016blanknoise100 Action Heroes #WalkAlone
Friday, 2nd December
anytime between
9 pm – midnight

Women occupy streets at night.
Alone. Wandering. Walking.
Stop To Gaze At The Stars
Smell the night blooming flowers
We are many
We are visible

Action Heroes co create safe spaces
We Walk Alone, Together;
Towards Freedom From Fear

Here’s how: identify site ( is it unfamiliar / unknown / desired?)
/ register / walk alone/ document / share

* Register

* Read event FAQs

Action Heroes and allies have registered from cities across India and beyond. A complete list will be out on the 2nd December morning.

Walk Alone was initiated in 2015 and has been built by Action Heroes and organisational allies from across cities/ towns/ countries including Ranchi, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Philadelphia, Braunschweig, Toronto, Karachi, Melbourne, Koppa, Kohima, Shillong.

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Late November 2016 News Round-Up

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November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and groups globally commemorated it with events, marches, and online campaigns.

nov2016bctransitpoliceharassmentposterPlan International Australia and CrowdSpot created a digital campaign “Known as Free to Be” and invited young women aged 15 to 19 to mark public spaces on a map as either “happy”, where they have had good experiences or “sad”, where they have experienced feeling unsafe or unwelcome.

Barbadian women have been using the hashtag #LifeInLeggings to share their personal experiences of street harassment, as well as sexual and other forms of abuse and now women in other Caribbean countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad are using it, too.

Student and faculty at the University of Belize donned orange clothing and marched against street harassment.

In Toronto, Canada, there were 577 reports of sexual assault on the transit company’s property or vehicles between 2011 and 2015.

A new anti-harassment transit campaign launched in Vancouver, Canada, with the posters reading, “Unwanted touching is a crime. Keep your hands to yourself.”

Prajnya Trust is highlighting street harassment by covering a mannequin with stickers (with slogans) in the Chamiers Cafe in Chennai, India.

Four young women have a Youtube channel “Morras” where they post videos in which they talk about street harassment in Mexico and show hidden camera footage of harassers.

A regulation has been proposed in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to make it illegal to “bother others buy jeering or offensive language, gestures, noises or behavior” in public spaces.

Women in New Zealand say no to street harassment.

Thousands of women in Turkey rode bicycles to claim public space.

A new poll of 14,000 students in the UK showed that 95% of women and 61% of men had been groped against their will at a nightclub.

A new bill in Georgia (USA) will outlaw “upskirt” photos and video recordings.

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