Dylan Jane Manderlink, Arkansas, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Dear Street Harasser (and all of the people who have ever harassed or made me feel violated and uncomfortable while I walked down the street),

You are not free to hit on me. Contrary to what you, your friends, and society might think, I am the only one who can take charge of me entirely. Your indecent comments, unwanted examination of my body, promotion of subtle violence, and unawareness of my personal space were your failed attempts to take charge of me, assert your power, and have what isn’t yours. When you defensively spat back at me after I initially ignored you, I hope you know how primitive and humiliating your actions were. When you took one too many steps closer to me, you violated my personal space and being. When your eyes tried undressing me, you disregarded my humanness, made me feel incredibly uncomfortable in a city I call home, and grossly tried asserting an alpha male status in a public space.

But you knew that. You knew what you were doing. You knew that I didn’t and don’t want to be objectified, treated like an emotionless clothing store mannequin, and have my safety and security compromised. You knew very well that when I walk down the street I’m not asking for or inviting any sort of commentary, glares, and touching.

You treat us women as if we’re a player in your perverted and debasing game of “Street Harassment”. And of course you need to be the one controlling the “game pieces” of your sadistic game. But there’s no “Pass & Go” space in this game. You, as the street harasser have eliminated that piece because that would mean that we are free to pass by you, unharmed, untouched, unbothered, and safely. But you can’t let that happen, can you? So instead, you rig the game in favor of yourself, patriarchy, and systemic violence. You rig the game and manipulate its rules to get what you want, look at who you want, and remind those who pass you that they are objects in your game, not human beings. Your male entitlement is the card you’ve created that “trumps” all. You’ve set up the game so that we lose every time. We lose if we ignore you. We lose if we shoot you an assertive and powerful look. We lose if we fight back and honestly confront you and your offensive behavior. We even lose when we try advocating for ourself and others. We lose when we try and seek justice. What kind of game have you created? As activists, community members, advocates, bloggers, women, people who care, we will not let you win in your “game” anymore.

The game you created is “Street Harassment” and it’s been perpetuated by people like yourself and our patriarchal society. It’s a form of violence against women. Street harassment is systemic and insidious and you are perpetuating it with each unwanted comment, glare, touch, and violation of personal space. The violence women experience on the street as a result of street harassment is also perpetuated by the silence and inaction of others – of pedestrians who see it and decide to ignore it, of men who don’t educate other men, of big influencers who don’t make this issue a priority. But it’s not a game to us. Ending street harassment is a priority to us. When you swooped your head down and tried burying your face in my breasts, I did not want to be a part of that game. In fact, I made my rejection, discomfort, and fury clear. And your utter disregard for my space, my being, my body, and my opinions is loudly demonstrative of your unfair, unequal, and shameful perception of women.

We don’t exist for you to look at. We don’t walk down the street so you can put your face in my breasts. We don’t exist for you to promote systemic violence, inequality, and oppression. We will continue to exist. We will continue to walk through public spaces. Do not punish me for being a woman. We avow to be treated fairly, respectfully, equally, and humanely.

Your street harassment is exactly why we still need feminism. Your complete indifference to women’s humanity is exactly why I will continue to write passionate letters like this, publicly decry street harassment and other injustices, and advocate for the empowerment of ALL people in society at every chance I get.

– Dylan

Dylan is a recent graduate of Emerson College and currently teaches 8th, 10th, and 11th grade Digital Communications and Audio/Visual Technology in an Arkansas high school. You can visit her personal blog and follow her on Twitter @DylanManderlink.

Linnet Nyawira Mwangi, Kisumu, Kenya, SSH Blog Correspondent

I recently watched the widely viewed street harassment video “Ten hours of walking in NYC as a woman” where a young woman wearing jeans and a crewneck t-shirt walked through Manhattan, and I couldn’t help but notice the countless times she was harassed on the streets.

This made me realise there is more to street harassment than just the mode of dressing. See, in Kenya, towards the end of last year there was a wide spread campaign dubbed #MyDressMyChoice. This was as a result of women being stripped naked on broad daylight by men who gave the excuse of indecent dressing.  Since when did a miniskirt become indecent dressing? Stripping a woman who is supposedly indecently dressed does not make her more decent but robs her of her dignity. The most appropriate action would be giving her a ‘kanga’ to cover herself.

Looking at the issue of dressing keenly, we find that even the women who were attacked were not actually indecently dressed but they were attacked because they tried to defend themselves from the comments made by the harassers. It is not uncommon that some of the comments made are bound to make you angry  but sometimes it seems that the more you argue with them and challenge them, the angrier they become and behave indecently towards you. I am happy that the government and human rights activists intervened and some perpetrators of the acts were caught and charged. The issues of stripping women in public is now unheard of and I hope this continues.

But street harassment is not just about clothing. Even women in hijab get cat called on the streets too. Street harassment occurs because many of us let it happen. We watch as the men perpetrate the act and assume that it is none of our business. Some of us even stand back to listen and giggle at the comments made by the street harassers instead of helping the victims. I would like to challenge each and every person to stand up for the women in these situations.  

For the men out there, you should know that the woman you harass is someone’s sister or mother and they could also be your sister, mother or wife. I am sure you would not like it if the same was done to them.

Linnet is a student at Maseno University in Kisumu, Kenya pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociology with IT. Follow her on Twitter @Shantel_lyn and Facebook @lynnette Shantellah.

Tara Willoughby, Canberra, Australia, SSH Blog Correspondent

Like street harassment, mental illness is a subject that does not get enough serious discussion. In 2007, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated that almost half of all Australians would experience a mental illness in their lifetime, and 1 in 5 Australians will experience mental illness in any 12 month period. And yet there’s still a huge level of stigma around talking about mental illness in our community – three quarters of Australians with mental illnesses reported experiencing stigma.

Also like street harassment, mental illness often has disproportionately difficult effects on more marginalised members of our community like LGBTIQ people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, among others. As a queer woman who has struggled with mental illness, I am quite familiar with some of the ways that street harassment fits into the larger puzzle of prejudice, violence and mental ill-health in our communities.

There are two areas of intersection between street harassment and mental health that I’d like to talk about here: the effects that street harassment can have on people dealing with mental illness, and the possibility that street harassment could contribute to people developing mental health problems in the first place (spoiler alert: it does).

Effects of Street Harassment on People with Mental Illness

We often talk about the way that street harassment makes public spaces unsafe and unwelcoming, especially for women. The way that harassment impacts on mental illness is a key way that this takes place.

In Australia, women experience higher rates of mental illness in a given 12 month period, and in particular they experience much higher rates of anxiety disorders. Street harassment can play into the narratives and fears that run around in our heads. It can keep us cooped up on our houses, debating whether to go out and do the things that would otherwise be good for us (exercising, seeing friends and maintaining social connections, being in nature) and risk having our whole day or week crushed by a stranger, or stay inside where at least we know the people who demand we smile.

Street Harassment as a Cause of Mental Illness?

Street harassment is part of the larger spectrum of violence that’s present in our society. It sits in the same group as other more acknowledged violence against women, with homophobic and transphobic violence, with racist violence. We know that violence against women is more damaging to the health of Victorian (Australian) women aged 15–44 years than any other well-known risk factors. And when we look at that health damage, the majority of it manifests as mental ill-health.

Many people have written about the impacts that street harassment has on them, and the way that it has affected their own mental health, through to the development of PTSD symptoms or other negative mental health outcomes.

The Moral Responsibility to Consider Mental Illness

The world over, it is not surprising for a street harasser to change in a second from giving so-called ‘compliments’ to declaring their targeted woman a ‘crazy b*tch’. People who look to deny our experiences also occasionally find it convenient to question our mental health – to suggest that ‘only a crazy person would find a simple hello to be harassment.’

My response to all of these suggestions and allegations and shouts is: so what?

So what if your behaviour would only hurt someone who is experiencing mental illness? So what if I’m crazy? I’m also hurt. There are a whole bunch of people in Australia who are dealing with mental illness at any one time. And it is entirely well publicised that street harassment behaviours hurt people with mental illness. So if you choose to engage in street harassment, you choose to risk exposing someone with mental illness to increased harm.

I find this discussion reminiscent of the massive arguments that are periodically had online about trigger warnings. People often say that we just don’t know what may trigger someone – should we give trigger warnings for the sound of rustling papers and the smell of peanut butter? But on the other side of the coin, there are a whole bunch of things that we write about that we know can often negatively affect people. And we know that, because the people who are affected keep telling us.

We need to listen to the voices of the people who are hurt by street harassment on a daily basis. If we don’t listen, then the hurt is on us.

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.