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Taxi "Terror" in Australia

May 3, 2009 By HKearl

According to Star News in Australia in an article with the classy title “Taxi terror prompts a warning for women,”

“A young woman said she was forced to flee a taxi and hide in the early hours of Sunday morning after the driver became aggressive when she rejected his sleazy advances.”

She filed a report with the police and the taxi company. The police chief said he,

“was unaware of her allegations but urged taxi passengers to remain vigilant. ‘The best thing to do is not to travel alone at night and don’t get in the front seat at any time.'”

Photo from ABC News
Photo from ABC News

How realistic is it for everyone to not take a taxi by oneself? Instead of saying something about how the police force would do all they could to investigate the allegations and/or pass new measures to make sure passengers are safe with taxi drivers, he focused on putting the responsibility for safety unfairly and sometimes unrealistically in the hands of the passengers. Not helpful!

The taxi company’s response was a bit more helpful. Peter Valentine said they will investigate the woman’s allegation and that the taxi company is currently in discussions about installing scanners to facilitate “safe city taxi ranks.” Much more helpful than telling people to not ride in taxis alone.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about women taxi drivers and women-only taxi services and discovered that in Brisbane, Australia, there are women-driven cabs for women passengers precisely because of male drivers harassing female passengers. I’m not a proponent of women-only forms of public transportation as a long-term solution because ultimately men’s harassing behavior must end, but I am curious to find out how the women only taxi service is going.

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Filed Under: Administrator, News stories Tagged With: Australia, Brisbane, cab, Geelong West, sexual harassment, street harassment, taxi, women-only taxis

Street Harassment Round Up – May 3

May 3, 2009 By HKearl

Stories:

Since April 26, HollaBack NYC has been posting one photo a day of street harassers. They will continue to do so for a month. All of the photos are being submitted by one woman, Sally N., a New York City resident. Emily at HollaBack NYC says, “We believe these pictures tell the story of what it’s like to be a woman in the big apple.” Visit HollaBack NYC to see these photos.

Holla Back DC! has several new stories this week. In the story, “Hey, pretty lady, give me a smile,” I admire the woman’s presence of mind to respond to him as she does despite being a bit frightened by him.

New Street Harassment Blog:

Through the Stop Violence Against Women group of Amnesty International Mauritius Section, there’s a new anti-street harassment blog, which is part of an anti-street harassment campaign in the country. The blog will officially launch in the next few weeks and a report about street harassment in Mauritius will be published in June.

New Features:

Holla Back DC! launched two new features on their blog this week. You can submit your stories via an online form and they have a new online street harassment map to track where street harassment is occuring around the city.

Copying Holla Back DC!’s idea, I also launched a new online form so people can more easily submit their street harassment stories and do so completely anonymously.

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Filed Under: Administrator Tagged With: map tracking, online form, photographs of harassers, sexual harassment, Stories, street harassment

Blogging Against Disablism Day: Street Harassment Edition

May 1, 2009 By HKearl

Blogging Against Disabalism DayMy older sister was born with several kinds of disabilities and from an early age I looked out for and helped her. She passed away from complications related to some of those disabilities at age 12, when I was 10. I don’t engage in a lot of activism around rights for persons with disabilities because it makes me sad. But when I read about Blogging Against Disabalism Day, I thought I’d participate and try to put a street harassment spin on it.

I don’t remember my sister being a target of street harassment per say, probably the closest was just curious/nosey kids who’d ask questions about why she was or did X, Y, Z, and the occasional adults who’d stare. I’m sure if she’d lived longer, or if I had been older, I would have seen her be a target of worse since so much of street harassment is about power and control issues and unfortunately, she would have been an easy target.

In my on-going quest for street harassment stories, I haven’t come across many written by a self-identified person with disabilities about how their disabilities contribute to their gender-based street harassment experience. (And of course, there are many people who can’t type on a computer due to their disabilities, like my sister wouldn’t be able to if she were alive, so their stories in general are lost in this format unless they’re told by others.) I did find one story, however, in the comment section of a street harassment post on the F Word blog in the UK which has stuck with me, so I’m re-posting it here.

Anon said: There’s a low-level harassment that seems go without saying, but sometimes things happen that stick. Men have often kicked, grabbed or forcefully pushed me (even at the top of stair cases) when I’m out in my wheelchair. It’s scary. Sometimes it’s just plain hurtful. Once or twice, I’ve been in a shop waiting to pay for something and the man behind me decides to wheel me out of the line. Just like that!

The first time I went out in my wheelchair my mum and I were so shocked when an aggressive man leaned over me, shook my wheelchair and quickly thrust his groin in my face as he squeezed past. There was about three feet of space in front of us he could have easily used without pressing up against me or moving my chair at all. I was sixteen. The second and third time a man did “the groin thing” it still bothered me. Now I just see it as something that happens but it’s still upsetting to think about.

On good days I walk, and my disability is completely invisable to the rest of the world. On some “walking days” I feel incredibly vulnerable. Three years ago, on one of these vulnerable walking days, a man cornered me in a park. I was 18, he seemed about 40. I’m petite, fragile from my disability and slender. He had huge muscles and stood head and shoulder over me. He leered. He gave me this grin and nodded his head over and over and over again as he looked me over. He goes, “Yeeeeah. Oh yeah,” and keeps nodding and grinning. I felt sick. My heart was pounding and I didn’t know what to do. How do I get out of it? How do I make him go away? It took me three years to go back to the park he scared me so much. I felt dirty. I felt ashamed. I even blamed myself. It was a hot day but I flung on two jumpers when I got home to cover myself up. I wanted to take a shower so I could somehow shower him away and how he looked at me, but that would involve taking off the jumpers. I couldn’t do that. Didn’t want to be seen, even alone in my bathroom…”

My heart goes out to her. No one should be disrespected like this or feel so unsafe or unwelcome in public.

Do you have any stories to share about yourself or others relating to gender-based street harassment compounded with harassment for having disabilities?

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Filed Under: Administrator Tagged With: blogging against disablism, disability rights, handicap, person with disability, sexual harassment, street harassment, wheelchair

Is he masturbating against you?

April 29, 2009 By HKearl

Sadie at Jezebel wrote a post yesterday about the  many times she’s been unsure whether or not a man standing by her on a crowded subway is masturbating against her.

She said, “After the fact, somehow, you’re always pretty sure. But at the time, there’s just enough doubt to make one’s course of action debatable. It’s not like being flashed, or getting stuck alone in a car with some guy jerking off which, while horrible, is pretty straightforward…”

My mother had this happen to her in New York City about two years ago. She also wasn’t sure if the man rubbing against her on the crowded subway was purposely doing so or if it was the result of a crowded car, until the car became less crowded and he was still doing it. And even then, she gave him the benefit of the doubt to the extent that she didn’t say anything to him.

It’s a tricky situation: no one wants to falsely accuse someone, but no one wants to just let that happen to them (or anyone else) either.

I’m reminded of various commenters on the recent Boston Globe article about the subway anti-groping campaign in Boston who were SO concerned that women were falsely accusing men left and right of being gropers when they probably were just getting bumped on a crowded train. From anecdotal evidence, I think most women will give questionable gropers and masturbators the benefit of the doubt so I think the fear of those men is largely unfounded. (And funny how that was their concern, instead of being concerned that enough women are getting groped on the subway that Boston had to create an anti-groping campaign…) The fear of being wrong probably keeps many women from doing anything about the questionable gropers and masturbators unless it becomes quite clear what is going on (like if he’s still doing it after the train clears).

Given this dilemma, what have you done if you’ve had a possible groper or masturbator make physical contact with you?

Sadie said she has been known to dig her high heel into a questionable harasser’s foot – and often he steps away from her. My mom reporter the man rubbing against her to the New York City Transit.

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Filed Under: Administrator Tagged With: Boston, groping, jezebel, MTA, New York City, public transportation, sadie, sexual harassment, street harassment, subway masturbator, the T

Is this article for real?

April 29, 2009 By HKearl

“Police say this woman could’ve probably used better judgement, but that doesn’t change the fact she was taken somewhere against her will and forced into a very bad situation.”

That is the opening sentence in an article for KOLD News 13 about the sexual assault of a woman in the Phoenix, AZ, area.* To be unprofessional and slang-y myself, is this for real?!? Were there no editors on staff to review it before it was posted? Or is it a joke? Assuming it’s a real article…

Spelling and grammar errors aside, blatant victim blaming here and later in the article (“Granted, authorities say the victim could’ve likely avoided this had she not asked a complete stranger for a ride, but that doesn’t make this man’s alleged actions right.”) is unprofessional, unhelpful, and harmful. Really, what is the point? Who does that help?

<sarcasm>Oh and thanks for conceding that his actions weren’t right even though she was sooo stupid for getting in that car with him. Everyone knows the second a woman gets help from a stranger she’s bound to get assaulted. </sarcasm>

The facts I can glean from this mess of an article: a young woman was at a Circle K convenience store at 3 a.m., looking for a ride home.  Someone offered her a ride. She went with him and he allegedly sexually assaulted her in a lot nearby. There is no information about how she got away or if she’s okay, just a plea to report anyone who looks like him because “he does pose a threat to other members of the community.”

If a man had asked for a ride home at 3 a.m. and the driver sexually assaulted him, would the opening sentence of the article have blamed him for getting in the car? Maybe (thinking of Mathew Shepherd) but it is less likely.

Why doesn’t she have the right to try to find a ride home if she needs one, which she clearly did? Oh yeah, she’s female.  She shouldn’t be out alone at night without a man to protect her…

I’m appalled by the journalism throughout the article and I hope she’s okay!


*I wouldn’t define this incident as street harassment, but I think it’s relevant to the victim blaming women may experience when street harassers target them

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Filed Under: Administrator Tagged With: Circle K, sexual assault, victim blaming

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