Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

T Groping in Boston Leads to Arrest

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Transit police in Boston, MA, are working with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) to address low level sexual harassment on public transportation (ie street harassment) and Gina Scaramella, executive director of BARCC says twice as many people are reporting incidents since the campaign launched.

The Boston Globe describes a recent incident that ended in arrest:

“Jose Carlos Delacruz, 24, was accused of touching at least three women in an inappropriate manner around 10 p.m. Friday on the train in Brookline.

After allegedly groping one of the women, Delacruz then moved on to the two others and touched them inappropriately, according to transit police. When another man tried to place himself between Delacruz and the women, the suspect pushed him and continued trying to grope the women, the police said.

The train stopped at Coolidge Corner, where an MBTA inspector detained Delacruz until police arrived. When police arrived, he became combative and started cursing loudly at the officers, transit police said. It took three officers to subdue him, police said.

Police charged Delacruz with indecent assault and battery, disorderly conduct, and three counts of assault and battery.”

Transit police advise riders who are groped to “move away to the best of their ability and to draw attention to the attacker and enlist the help of fellow riders. ‘If possible, get a picture of the individual with your cellphone,’ said Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan. ‘It’s one of the best ways for us to catch the attacker.'”

Police awareness & sensitivity & collaboration with a rape crisis center all sound very promising as does the fact that this perhaps serial groper is getting regulated for his behavior. Keep it up Boston! And gropers, stop groping!

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Egyptian Women Blog

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Banat wa Bas is the first audio blogging station for girls, photo from alarabiya.net
Banat wa Bas is the first audio blogging station for girls, photo from alarabiya.net

Another post about Egypt!  This time about a women-only audio blogging station where women can talk about street harassment. Via Al Arabiya News Channel:

“A women-only audio blogging station has become one of Egypt’s most popular censorship-free forums for women intent on tackling taboo issues of gender inequality and street harassment…

Launched nine months ago by Amani Tunsi, 25-year-old computer science graduate, the blog offers young Egyptian women public space to tell their stories, share pictures and vent about daily frustrations without risking their identity.

It also offers a show called Mosh Kol al-Teir (Not all the Birds) that probes the different harassment methods and tricks guys use to pick up girls.

Bloggers have been at the forefront of the movement against sexual harassment, pioneering coverage of sexual aggression against women and leading campaigns like Kulna Laila (We are all Laila) to raise awareness and create solidarity among women bloggers.”

Ah, here is another example of the power of the Internet to help women share their stories and work for their rights.  Use your Internet access to share your street harassment stories on this blog &  raise awareness of the problem globally. Submit to: stopstreetharassmentATyahooDOTcom.

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Video Game Allows Subway Groping & Worse

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Perverts on public transportation get their way in a Japanese video game called RapeLay. Trigger warning… Leigh Alexander at Slate.com wrote the following about the game:

“The game begins with a man standing on a subway platform, stalking a girl in a blue sundress. On the platform, you can click “prayer” to summon a wind that lifts her skirt. She blushes. Once she’s on the train, the assault begins. Inside the subway car, you can use the mouse to grope your victim as you stand in a crowd of mute, translucent commuters. From here, your character corners his victim—in a station bathroom, or in a park with the help of male friends—and a series of interactive rape scenes begins.”

I see no point in making light of a crime most women fear and too many have experienced. I’m reminded of the real life rape of a young woman in New York at a subway station and the knowledge that much of the harassment girls and women experience is on public transportation (see various article on the Stop Street Harassment website), including in Japan.

A 2005 study in Tokyo found that 64 percent of young women in their 20s and 30s had been groped on trains, subways, or at transit stations, leading to the creation of more women-only cars. I don’t know if the high rate of groping in real life make the Japanese game more or less disturbing… 

The game has been banned from Amazon and Ebay and isn’t sold in any stores in the United States, but the Slate.com author found that it only took 30 seconds of Internet searching to find an illegal downloadable game.

[Note: During later research about harassment & assault on public transportation, I found out about Japan’s “Train Cafe” another gross form of entertainment that capitalizes on groping women.

“The cost to ride is 5,000 yen (~$42US). Once each hour, Train Cafe holds an ‘all aboard’ event, where the paying male members ‘board’ the train together with the girls and engage in simulated ‘chikan’ (groper) play. Each 20 minute ride allows gropers to grabs any girl’s behind or breasts. Upskirt grabs aren’t allowed and will result in a violation.”]

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Video Game Allows Subway Groping & Worse

By

Perverts on public transportation get their way in a Japanese video game called RapeLay. Trigger warning… Leigh Alexander at Slate.com wrote the following about the game:

“The game begins with a man standing on a subway platform, stalking a girl in a blue sundress. On the platform, you can click “prayer” to summon a wind that lifts her skirt. She blushes. Once she’s on the train, the assault begins. Inside the subway car, you can use the mouse to grope your victim as you stand in a crowd of mute, translucent commuters. From here, your character corners his victim—in a station bathroom, or in a park with the help of male friends—and a series of interactive rape scenes begins.”

I see no point in making light of a crime most women fear and too many have experienced. I’m reminded of the real life rape of a young woman in New York at a subway station and the knowledge that much of the harassment girls and women experience is on public transportation (see various article on the Stop Street Harassment website), including in Japan.

A 2005 study in Tokyo found that 64 percent of young women in their 20s and 30s had been groped on trains, subways, or at transit stations, leading to the creation of more women-only cars. I don’t know if the high rate of groping in real life make the Japanese game more or less disturbing… 

The game has been banned from Amazon and Ebay and isn’t sold in any stores in the United States, but the Slate.com author found that it only took 30 seconds of Internet searching to find an illegal downloadable game.

[Note: During later research about harassment & assault on public transportation, I found out about Japan’s “Train Cafe” another gross form of entertainment that capitalizes on groping women.

“The cost to ride is 5,000 yen (~$42US). Once each hour, Train Cafe holds an ‘all aboard’ event, where the paying male members ‘board’ the train together with the girls and engage in simulated ‘chikan’ (groper) play. Each 20 minute ride allows gropers to grabs any girl’s behind or breasts. Upskirt grabs aren’t allowed and will result in a violation.”]

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Fearless Karnataka Round Up

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takebackthenightVisit Blank Noise to find out how the Fearless Karnataka/Taking Back the Night activism went in India over the weekend. They will be posting narratives and so far have posted photos.

I found two news articles about their activism. From NDTV.com:

“On International Women’s Day, the message on the streets of Bangalore was loud and clear — public spaces belong to everyone and all of us need to raise our voices to stop violence against women.  ‘Fearless Karnataka’, a group formed after recent attacks on women in the city, led the way with street plays, protests and a late night event to celebrate womanhood.

Talking directly to the people, members of the group staged a street play to catch the interest and hoping to change the mindset of Bangalore’s public. This street play was an attempt to get the public to get involved, to react to violence against women if they see it and not just watch passively.”

From  The Times of India:

“After protesting in front of the DG & IGP’s office on Saturday, members of Fearless Karnataka had an ice-breaker with citizens on Women’s Day. They spoke to people on the streets around the spots where women were recently attacked, and made them put thumb impressions on a survey form asking: How will you, as a bystander, react to an attack? Posters were put up and flyers distributed.”

You can read some of the survey responses in the article. I am in awe of these brave people!

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