Tara Willoughby, Canberra, Australia, SSH Blog Correspondent

[Content Note: links include descriptions of violence and harassment]

It is difficult to write about street harassment in Australia without writing about the criminal justice system and ultimately, police. Whether as responders or as harassers, police often take a central role in media discussions of street harassment. In my final post as a blog correspondent, I hope to outline where police fit in with people’s experiences of street harassment and also make an argument about what they should be doing to deal with this issue.

Do people report street harassment to police?

As has been discussed many times (including in my March blog correspondent article), the types of behaviours that constitute the majority of street harassment in Australia are often not easily reported to the police. Of the countless stories and conversations I have been a part of concerning street harassment, only once have I heard of someone reporting an incident of street harassment (being ‘egged’ from a moving car) to the police. And even in those serendipitous circumstances where the victim happened to have a notepad and pen on hand and the car happened to move away slowly enough to catch the licence plate number, the process of reporting was still a considerable investment of time and effort.

Do police act on street harassment?

Police can only take substantive action on individual instances of street harassment if they are against the law. While many types of harassment are crimes in Australia, many are not. The responses of police to reports of even criminal street harassment can be quite mixed. International law firm DLA Piper (writing in conjunction with iHollaback! And Thomson Reuters) note that “in practice, “one-off” incidents of minor street harassment, such as using offensive language in public which is not threatening, will often not be investigated by the police.” Police in the incident I described above spoke with the young man responsible for throwing eggs to tell him to ‘pull his head in’. Other reports describe police responses as anything from non-existent to actively hostile.

In a broader sense, police in Australia have taken some steps to address street harassment as a larger phenomenon. This includes speaking out about sexism and violence against women and acting in partnership with local government and communities to attempt to design safer public spaces. However, to date, police have not taken any high profile stances targeting street harassment specifically.

Do police commit street harassment?

Short answer, yes. Like any large group of people, within the police there are those who behave inappropriately and deliberately harm the people around them; at the beginning of 2014, 1 in 40 New South Wales police officers had been convicted of a criminal offense. Police forces around Australia have well documented issues with sexist, racist and homophobic violence.

What SHOULD police do?

There are two main reasons why police ought to take action on street harassment.

Firstly, addressing street harassment is within the stated goals of the police. NSW Police, as an example, states its goals thus: “We aim to protect the community and property by preventing, detecting and investigating crime [and]… maintaining social order”. The many forms of street harassment which constitute crimes in Australia fit directly into this credo, and if we acknowledge those which don’t as part of a self-perpetuating spectrum of violence, then addressing these forms of street harassment must be part of effective policing.

Secondly, interactions with police around harassment (either reporting harassment from other members of the public or experiencing harassment from police themselves) are identified as the key area where relationships between police and young people have become confrontational and hostile. Maintaining functioning relationships with the community is vital to effectively fulfilling the role of the police, since they rely on people trusting them and providing them with information.

How?

As addressed above, addressing individual instances of street harassment on a case by case basis has not been effective for police or victims so far, and it will not help to change the attitudes that allow people (including some police) to engage in street harassment with relative impunity. Police are one of many influential public entities that can help to create change in our society. In order to actually make a difference to this issue, they must commit to working with the wider community in partnership to eliminate the prejudices and violence-tolerant attitudes that support street harassment in Australia today.

Tara works with AWAVA (the Australian Women Against Violence Alliance) indulging her love of social media. You can find her on Twitter as @angelbird72 or @Tash_Because or being silly as one half of the ‘slice-of-life’ podcast Heaps Funny But.

Juliana Guarany, Brazil, Blog Correspondent

The discussion over street harassment – and violence against women in general – has grown to a level of insanity on the Internet. I have been watching several debates online ending in a series of mutual insults from men to women and vice-versa. On one side is the argument that men are only trying to give a compliment to a stranger. On the other side, women say that this behavior is invasive and annoying, to say the least.

Of course we can find women and men on both sides, but essentially, this has turned into a battle of the sexes in a very aggressive way. Whenever there is an argument against street harassment, a man shows up to show how offended he is by being accused of harassment just by saying a girl is pretty. Or even trying to prove he knows better and women should listen to him. On the other hand, women – mostly feminist activists – simply can’t deal with men anymore and the minute a man decides to talk he receives aggressive answers (not that they aren’t justifiable, this simply happens).

What I don’t understand is: if women are saying this behavior is bad, why is it so hard for men to acknowledge that and simply stop? Why do men counter-argue it by saying it wasn’t their intention to be mean?

Intention vs effect

I’m sure a strange man would not have the intention to hurt a strange woman on the street, but this is the problem right here: no matter what the intention is, the effect of it is unwanted by women. For that reason, and for that reason only, they should stop.

It’s like getting a meat dish for a vegetarian everyday because you think that dish is good, even though the vegetarian doesn’t like it. Just stop!

Instead of stopping, men become aggressive and Internet debates are filled with hate and we can see men and women growing apart. This movement is hurting both sides and not having much of an effect on those who actually practice violence.

So, what should be done?

First of all, if you are a man, think about your actions towards women in general and notice if, maybe, you tend to invade their personal space uninvited. It is important that you pay attention to it and respect a woman just as you would respect another man. Change that and you will be ok.

Now, if you are a man and you don’t catcall and you do respect everyone’s personal spaces, I guess there is no reason for you to be offended by it, is it? So don’t get offended if you’re not the target.

Now, if you’re a woman, know this: it’s hard not to get offended by hurtful responses online, but keep the debate to an upper level, otherwise aggressiveness will just take over.

It is important to understand that a message of respect is being passed here and if we act aggressively, the only message that goes through is more violence.

When we elevate the debate, there is a chance to get the message across and create collaboration. Let’s try not to look at every man as an enemy, so then we can get along and respect each other.

Juliana is a fellow from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and, together with Hamburg University, in Germany, is creating a digital campaign to connect all feminist initiatives around the globe. Read her blog Whistleblower and follow her on Twitter, @juguarany.