Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Chicago's Superstars Address Harassment on the CTA

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I’ve long admired the anti-street harassment work of the Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team (YWAT) in Illinois (for example, a few years ago they held a citywide Day of Activism against Street Harassment). Their current work to address harassment on Chicago’s public transportation makes me admire then even more.

Photo from the Sun Times
Photo from the Sun Times

The YWAT recently surveyed 639 CTA riders, mostly young women, and found that over half of the respondents had been sexually harassed on the CTA and thirteen percent had been sexually assaulted. Of those who had been harassed or assaulted, only 9 percent said they filed a complaint with the police or CTA. Supporting the low reporting rate, there were only two recorded incidents of criminal sexual assault on the whole Chicago transportation system in 2008. Via the Chicago Sun Times:

“Ronnett Lockett, 20, a Northern Illinois University student and another member of the group, said one problem is that women might be frightened and not know how to respond. Ads on trains would help people know what to do, Lockett said.

The group also wants CTA employees and police to be trained in how to deal with harassment. …

CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said the agency takes these things ‘very seriously.’ But riders who feel threatened have to speak up, she said.

‘Should a customer feel threatened at any time as the result of another individual’s behavior, they should notify the rail operator immediately via the use of the emergency call button,’ Gaffney said.

At L stations, customer assistants or security guards are on duty during service hours, Gaffney said.

And CTA buses and many L stops are equipped with security cameras networked to the CTA’s control center, Gaffney said. Some stations have already been renovated to include brighter lighting, and the agency is in the process of installing more security cameras.”

The YWAT is holding a poetry slam about sexual harassment on the CTA to gather more stories about harassment and open community dialogue about this problem too many women and girls face. The event will be held on June 27.

I’m glad they are continuing to address the problem of harassment and assault in public spaces (like buses and subways) that women in their community face simply for being female.  Their work will make a difference.

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Ban Jeans to Curb Eve Teasers?

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Okay, this is just stupid (via Fox News):

“More and more colleges in the Uttar Pradesh state are prohibiting jeans, miniskirts and tight blouses to combat ‘Eve-teasing,’ a term for sexual harassment in India. Violators face expulsion.

‘Girls who choose to wear jeans will be expelled from the college,’ Meeta Jamal, principal of the Dayanand girls’ college in Kanpur city told AFP. ‘This is the only way to stop crime against women.’

But women said that they are being wrongfully targeted by the new rules, which should really go after the men who are sexually harassing them.

‘Banning any clothing will certainly never solve the issue of sexual harassment,’ a Lucknow University grad student, who didn’t want to be identified, told AFP.

Other colleges in India have tried to prohibit jeans on women, according to the AFP, but rescinded the ban after protests from students.”

Hopefully this ban will also be rescinded. Kudos to the students who are standing up to this idiocy.

Geez, I can’t get over the guy who said the only way to stop harassers is to make women stop wearing certain clothes. They should talk to the women in Eygpt and Yemen who said that they got harassed by men on the streets even when they were veiled!

If harassment is a problem, the focus should be on getting the men who are engaged in the harassing to stop.

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Cab Driver Allegedly Assaults Passenger in L.A.

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In Los Angeles, California, a cab driver has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a female passenger. Unlike the recent incident in Malaysia where it sounds like the cab driver was assaulting women in the cab, this cab driver followed the woman into her home and assaulted her there. After the woman called the police, the cab company fully cooperated with the police and the driver was arrested last week.

“The L.A. Department of Transportation is stressing that with 2,300 licensed cab drivers in the city of L.A., taking a cab is still a safe way to get around town.” – via ABC local news

I think this is better advice – free from fear-mongering – than the advice given to women in Australia after a cab driver became aggressive toward a female passenger: “The best thing to do is not to travel alone at night.” Some advice, huh? It’s not realistic for everyone to avoid being out alone at night and it places the responsibility for avoiding the problem with the women instead of the perpetrators.

The LAPD believes there could be other victims and urges anyone with information to call the LAPD at (877) 527-3247.

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Toronto Event Tommorrow for Young Women!

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If you’re in Toronto and care about addressing street harassment & other violence against young women, check this out, via Shameless Magazine’s Blog:

Making Noise Media Camp for Young Women
For young women ages 14-25
Saturday May 30
rsvp: michelle cho, 416-703-6607 x 3
michelle@urbanalliance.ca

“Summer is almost here, and rates of violence always go up in the summer…we’re tired of being hollered at the in the streets and feeling unsafe, but want more creative ways of challenging gender violence.”

“We’ve organized a media camp FOR THIS SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009, to start to bring young women together to plan a summer campaign to challenge street harassment in Toronto using media they’ve created themselves. We want to talk about how violence is experienced differently by women of colour and how it is made invisible by the media or sensationalized to be solely about being because they do not fit into the “mainstream”.”

Sounds great!

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Unpleasant Reminder

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A few evenings ago, I was walking down the street with my girlfriend in downtown Louisville. We were walking home from a poetry reading. As we were walking, I noticed a man walking along side of us. He passed us, and then spat twice directly in our pathway. It didn’t hit us, fortunately.

I was baffled. I said aloud, “Gross! Did that guy just spit at us?”

Another man, who had been walking just behind us, also passed us up. He overheard my question and said, “He was cursing you.”

I was even more puzzled. “What?”

“He was cursing you. It was a curse,” he said, and continued down the street.

My girlfriend and I were disgusted and confused. Why in the world would some random strange man want to curse us? And then it hit me.

It was because my girlfriend and I were holding hands. In public. For all the world to see. Including homophobic jerkwads.

As an openly gay woman, I’ve had to train myself to not notice people on the street. I’ve taught myself to not pay attention to other people’s reactions when they see my girlfriend and me holding hands or acting affectionate in public. You know, the same way straight couples act in public, only they don’t get spit at or cursed. This kind of deliberate tuning out of the world is the only way I’m able to enjoy being out and visible with my girlfriend. So sometimes I forget that people hate me without knowing me. Sometimes I forget that people think I’m evil, a sinner, going to hell, disgusting, perverted, or somehow less than human.

It’s not very pleasant to be reminded.

-Maria

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