Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Let Us Walk! Stickers Against Street Harassment

By

 This is an excerpt from the Art of Growing Leaders 2015-16 Highlights, shared with their permission:

“The Art of Growing Leaders [in Philadelphia, PA] introduces young people ages 10-14 to multi-cultural rites of passage traditions, and provides them with creative leadership skills to help them discover their strengths and bring them to their communities. In the culminating project, students embarked on one specific creative social action project to improve their school/community.

Young women from Camp Sojourner, Girls’ Leadership Camp participated in  ArtWell’s The Art of Growing Leaders and created this public guerilla art project to speak out against street harassment. Students designed stickers and gave them out and spoke with hundreds of people on April 30 at the Sojourner Truth Walk in West Philly, sparking important conversations. One parent told us this topic was not appropriate for her child, as she was too young and had not experienced harassment, only to be corrected by her daughter who told her mother that she was no stranger to being harassed. This led to a dialog and new awareness between this mother and her daughter. We are proud of these young women in creating such a powerful,
straightforward, and important project.“

Camp Sojourner Final Social Action Project - May 2016

 

Share

#CarnivalSemAssedio Campaign in Brazil

By

CarnavalSemAssedio‬ campaign in brazil, feb 2016Via Telesur TV:

“A campaign against street harassment during Carnival is gathering steam in Brazil.

The campaign is using the hashtag ‪#‎CarnavalSemAssedio‬, or ‪#‎CarnivalWithoutHarassment‬, to help dispel the myth that harassment during Carnival is somehow more permissible.
“Unfortunately, sexual abuse figures increase in this period for many reasons and many men justify their abusive behavior as a normal attempt to ‘flirt’,” Heloisa Aun, one of the campaign’s founders, told Forum magazine.

According to the campaign’s materials, the goal is to “combat violence and machismo, promoting discussion that harassment is harassment no matter the time of year.”

Organizers are calling on women and men to break the silence and speak out against harassment during carnival, using the hashtag to document cases of harassment.”

Good for them!

I’m wishing all who celebrate it a safe & fun Carnival and Mardi Gras!

Share

Canada: Video – “Dear Stranger”

By

Watch “Dear Stranger,” created by Hanna Cortés, a student at the Vancouver Film School.

Hanna wrote the following about the project:

“Dear Stranger” is a project that reflects the situation of a woman being harassed on the streets. It was inspired from watching lots of women (including myself) feeling uncomfortable when walking to work, school or just home.

One evening, I was getting ready to go to a bar close to my place and I realized how much I change my clothes to try to “not grab attention from men.” I thought it was absurd, because that night I wasn’t even showing that much skin. I was wearing a simple skirt and a plaid shirt. I was confused but decided to be myself and that’s what I’ve been doing. It shouldn’t matter how much or how few clothes you are wearing, people should have respect for others.

I hope this video helps men understand how bad it is for a woman to be followed, looked at and talked to without any respect. I encourage women to be themselves everyday, that’s a beautiful thing, and it should not be taken away because of someone in the street.

Again, thanks so much to Stop Street Harassment for their everyday labour. Thanks to Holly Kearl for all the support.”

Thank you for using your talents to bring attention to this issue, Hanna!

Share

Watch Activists from Four Countries Talk about Street Harassment

By

Last month, Bluestockings hosted the New York City event for the release of my new book Stop Global Street Harassment: Growing Activism Around the World (Praeger 2015).

I was joined by seven co-presenters who shared their personal street harassment experiences and activism stories. Bisi Alimi is from Nigeria and lives in London; Gaya Branderhorstof Straatintimidatie is from the Netherlands and lives in New York; Alicia Wallace of Hollaback! Bahamas is from the Bahamas and just moved to New York; Ileana Jiménez is a high school teacher in New York City who talks about street harassment with her students; she brought two of her students who shared their stories, Shana and StellaRose; and Brittany Brathwaite is a community organizer for Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) in New York City.

Documentarians Lola Godeau and Sophia Philip videotaped the whole event and kindly let me share it publicly with you all via our YouTube channel. It includes the audience Q&A.

Share