During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #14: The UK

Activists in the UK have been very busy speaking out against street harassment this year. Here are a few highlights:

The Ending Violence Against Women Coalition released two studies about street harassment in London. One study found that 43 percent of women had been harassed during the previous year and the second one honed in on harassment that takes place on public transportation. They successfully pressured several of the candidates who ran for mayor of London earlier this year to put street harassment on their agenda, but sadly, none of those candidates were elected.

The Hollaback! London leaders penned a powerful op-ed about the harms of street harassment.

The UK Anti-Street Harassment Campaign organized an initiative called “Flirting. Harassment. Real Men Know the Difference.”

The Black Feminists UK Blog members penned several articles about the intersection of racism and sexism in the street harassment they experience.

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #13: Russia

This year the feminist group RosNahal tackled street harassment. Their video and activism spurred the Russian government to take notice.

“Russia’s ruling party has decided that Russia needs a separate article prosecuting sexual harassment in its administrative code while the logistics for enforcing and proving such offences are still up in the discussion. Russia’s ruling party has suggested a steep fine of up to 50,000 rub which is about 1,000£ to punish any would-be sexual harassers.”

Awesome.

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #12: Nepal

When HomeNet Nepal, Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj and ActionAid International Nepal examined the harassment of girls and women on public transportation last year, they found disturbing results.

According to the research, “the cultural values, acceptance, weak infrastructure with poor signage and road with government’s limited attention and knowledge has supported in perpetrating violence especially in public transport. We also found out that girls and women, to protect themselves and also to come out of such violence and insecurity, have generated their own noble protection mechanisms/strategies like carrying safety pins to pinch men who come unnecessarily close, carry their bags in front [of their bodies] and such. Research also showed that as women have to endure all these, they experience several consequences from negative psychological impact including lowered confidence and self esteem, feelings of blame, frustration and mistrust or hate of men to losing their concentration, productivity in the work places, education and such.”

In response, this year, organizations like HomeNet Nepal, Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj, Rastriya Mahila Adhikar Manch, Activista and ActionAid International Nepal launched a Safe City Nepal campaign.

Included is a public transportation component launched with many partners: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Latitpur municipality, Trade Unions (GEFONT and NTUC), Traffic police department, Municipality Police, Community Police, Transport Enterpreneurs, Transport drivers, UNHabitat, Department of Urban Development.

Already, they have conducted a safety audit (evidence collection), held forums, and are now working on policy advocacy initiatives. Learn more from this video segment:

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (Nov. 25 – Dec. 10), Stop Street Harassment is featuring activists who took action against street harassment this year, one new country per day.

Day #11: Turkey

During the spring,  Hollaback Istanbul held a screening of Miss Representation and then a discussion about its connection to street harassment. They also held a screening of War Zone and had a social media campaign.

This year, they also launched the Hollaback! Green Dot Bystander Campaign and created a companion video with male allies letting harassed persons know they “have their back.”

Throughout the year they received great media coverage of their efforts to record people’s stories and speak out against street harassment, bringing more public awareness to the issue.