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Brazil: Female solidarity and cyberfeminism: collectivist measures against street harassment

July 4, 2017 By Correspondent

Yasmin Curzi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, SSH Blog Correspondent

In philosophy, the concept of “disrespect” describes situations of injustices that marginalized groups and minorities suffer in a society. In my thesis “My name isn’t pssst!”: Street harassment and feminisms’ struggle towards legal recognition”[1], I explain that street harassment, itself, expresses disrespect in two different ways:

As a form of legal disrespect because it deprives women from exercising fundamental rights – basically, freedom, in its many forms, and equality in the uses of the city.
As a form of social disrespect because it devaluates women socially, inhibiting the full development of their self-esteem, provoking trauma, stress, feelings of self-depreciation, anger and disgust of their own bodies, as several investigations[2] pointed out.

As Axel Honneth says in “The struggle for recognition” (1992), experiences of disrespect fuel social movements. It drives them to engage in fights to put an end to these situations of injustice. In brief, what Honneth says is that what makes individuals commit to the same cause is sharing the same situations of disrespect. In other words, disrespect generates negative emotional reactions that, in turn, when shared by others, provokes the union of these individuals in order to combat it. This bond that emerges from experiencing situations of similar sufferings can be defined as “solidarity”.

“Solidarity” expresses the true interest in the well-being of another individual. It evokes fights for a social coexistence free of experiences of injustice, that is to say, not troubled by disrespect. Thus, sharing stories and personal narratives are fundamental to identify others with the same suffering or even to raise consciousness of an interaction as a form of violence.

Social media platforms have provided a revolution in the feminist movements by creating new spaces where collective action can be organized and information can be shared. With social networks as their main tool, women began to articulate what was conceptualized as cyberfeminism by Donna Haraway in the book “The Cyborg Manifesto” in 1985.

As Holly Kearl^[3] shows, significantly, these new spaces have served to mobilize women’s activism to cope with street harassment – especially by allowing the realization of surveys and by creating the possibility to women of sharing their narratives, in various parts of the globe, that are otherwise made invisible.

Also, in Brazil, in face of the scenario of structural inequality and absence of public policy for women^[4], some important initiatives have been developed in the scope of civil society.

There is the campaign “Fiu Fiu Enough” (“Chega de Fiu Fiu”) of the NGO Think Olga and the movement “Women go together” (“Vamos juntas?”). The NGO Think Olga is now producing a documentary, with crowdfunding resources, that intends to expand the debate over sexual harassment in public places. The second action was idealized by the journalist Babi Souza, from Porto Alegre city, and it’s a call to women to get united with other women (strangers or not), when they’re alone in the streets. Also, there’s multiple groups in Facebook where women can arrange to go together to the same place or direction. In a partnership with “99 Taxis” (a taxi ordering app), this organization promoted workshops of non-sexist behaviors directed to the taxi-drivers associated with the app.

A third action, idealized in 2015 by the student Catharina Doria, is the app “Back Off!” (“Sai Pra Lá!”). It enables women to record where and when they were harassed and what was done to them. The purpose is to create a “harassmap” in order to alert which are risky places and also to pressure the public to assume the responsibility of assuring women’s safety.

Cyberfeminism has been, therefore, fundamental to the confrontation of street harassment as it enables resistance actions, led by women. But collectivist measures, in the scope of civil society, can’t be addressed, by material reasons, to the whole country. There should be no opposition to collectivist measures in the civil society scope, and in the elaboration of public policy toward women’s rights. Public authorities should, instead, be working along with these organized groups in order to eradicate violence against women.

Endnotes:

[1] To be published in the next year.

^[2] GARDNER, Carol. Passing by: gender and public harassment, 1980. Also BOWMAN, C. Street Harassment and the Informal Ghettoization of Women, 1993.

[3] KEARL Holly. Stop Global Street Harassment: Growing Activism Around the World, 2015.

[4] See my first article for the SSH Blog: https://stopstreetharassment.org/2017/05/public-policy-women/

Yasmin is a Research Assistant at the Center for Research on Law and Economics at FGV-Rio. She has a BA in Social Sciences from FGV-Rio and a Master Degree in Social Sciences from PUC-Rio, where she wrote her thesis on street harassment and feminists’ struggles for recognition.

USA: Street Harassment Looks Different For Women of Color

June 22, 2017 By Correspondent

Dee Rodriguez, Reading, PA, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

If you’re reading this, you may already know that street harassment is a big problem. For people of color, particularly Black and Latinx folks, street harassment is an even bigger issue. According to Stop Street Harassment’s national survey in 2014, Black and Hispanic people more likely to experience street harassment. While the survey uses the term Hispanic, I will be using the term Latinx throughout this blog.

The results are not surprising seeing as how sexual violence in its many forms, including street harassment, is a tool of oppression. It is estimated that 40% of Black women report coercive contact of a sexual nature by age 18 and 1 in 3 Latinx women report sexual violence other than rape. Black and Latinx people experience oppression in society due to their race and/or ethnicity and women that identify as such experience an added layer of oppression due to their gender. Street harassment is a gender-based harassment. Therefore, it’s important to note gender and race and/or ethnicity when discussing street harassment because the harassment may have racial overtones but also that Black and Latinx women are experiencing this at a higher rate.

Even more alarming, is that the Stop Street Harassment survey found Black and Latinx people were more likely to experience physically aggressive street harassment. Since street harassment is a way to exert control, it seems that the harassment escalates in cases where women of color are the targets. The graphic below shows how violence intensifies in rape culture and where street harassment falls. Following, catcalling, and whistling all fall under street harassment. Whistling and following can escalate to threats and then to rape and/or murder.

Sadly, we have seen cases in which street harassment became very violent towards Black and Latinx women of color. In Detroit, Mary ‘Unique’ Spears was murdered for saying no to a man who approached her and asked for her phone number. She left behind a fiancé and 3 children. In Brooklyn, NY during J’Ouvert, the celebration prior to the annual West Indian Day Parade, Tiarah Poyau was killed for telling a man to stop grinding on her. Tiarah was a college student with a bright future ahead of her. In Florida, a 14 year-old Latinx girl, was strangled, kidnapped, and ran over with a car for refusing to have sex with a man who approached her. He offered her $200 to have sex with him. Fortunately, she survived. All of these women are Black or Latinx. These stories serve as a reminder that street harassment continues to be a pervasive problem in society and can be lethal, especially to Black and Latinx women of color.

Dee is a volunteer coordinator and domestic violence/sexual assault advocate for a non-profit social services agency and works on a project to better serve Latinx women survivors. She has a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies with a focus on Latin American Culture from Penn State University. She originally hails from New York City and is a proud daughter of immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic. You can follow Dee on Instagram at @missdeerodriguez.

Nepal: How safe are public spaces for gender non-conforming people?

June 19, 2017 By Correspondent

Pritha Khanal, Kathmandu, Nepal, SSH Blog Correspondent

“I don’t want to rank levels of harassment because the thing about harassment is that even after the act you are traumatized by it. And trauma doesn’t have hierarchies — sometimes I can be more hurt by a word than I can be a fist.” – Alok Vaid Menon

Gender is a social construct and it hasn’t been very inclusive. In many societies, it only has categorized roles for heterosexual males and females. The population of LGBTQ thus is largely excluded by this inherently patriarchal system. The third gendered community is flatly denied by large amounts of population, and hatred for them is twice as much. People, including some ruling governments, policy-makers, politicians and icons, believe “God” only created two sexes and any others are showing themselves up, seeking attention or going against the natural law.

Gender non-conforming people are often known as queer or femme or trans-sexual and they are slowly coming out of closet through various forms of art and literature. One of these great and rising artists is Alok Vaid Menon who uses the pronoun they/them and is originally from India and is now residing in the United States. They represent and promote not only LGBTQ rights, but they also protest against a patriarchal system of gender division and roles, white supremacy and cis supremacies.

Having followed them on Instagram for quite some time now, I noticed that they face harassment ten times worse than me and other cis gender women I know.

*Courtesy of Alok Vaid Menon’s Facebook page*

Last month on 22^nd May, Alok Vaid Menon set the stage on fire among Nepalese poetry lovers in Nepal Tourism Board, Kathmandu. In the event organized by QC bookshop, the popular queer artist and writer Menon enlightened the audience with the problems the transgender community have been facing on a daily basis. The issues which were so surprising to us were expected and every day for them and include: hatred, domination, bullying, being called at, being misunderstood and judged and HARASSED. (Excessively and severely harassed.) They shared the story of being beaten up inside an Australian metro once and how not a single person intervened to help.

Dressed in floral gown and high heels, carrying their body hairs as a pride and shining in the neon lip paints, Menon sings loudly, “I don’t call harassment as harassment; I call it torture. Torture of Patriarchy.”

Alok Vaid Menon agreed to do a short interview with me after I attended the program. The interview is focused mainly upon street harassment and their say on it.

1. As a member of the transgender community, how do you define harassment?

I don’t believe in harassment I believe in torture — by which I mean, I understand harassment to be an intentional use of intimidation, pain, fear, and violence in order to break down marginalized peoples.

2. What are the most common forms of harassment you come across on the street?

Being stared at. People literally just stop what they’re doing and stare at me, take photos of me, point at me.

3. What is the worst case of harassment you’ve ever experienced?

I don’t want to rank levels of harassment because the thing about harassment is that even after the act you are traumatized by it. And trauma doesn’t have hierarchies — sometimes I can be more hurt by a word than I can be a fist. So what I would say is that the most severe and intense forms of harassment that I experience are in the Western world (specifically the US and Australia).

4. How do you usually react during these moments?

I enter survival mode. I look down and try to take up as little space as possible. I start thinking about my options and how to get away safely.

5. How does it impact you psychologically?

I am traumatized by the level of harassment that I experience. It has had an extremely negative impact on my mental and physical health. It’s made me incredibly anxious and I have to constantly find ways to cope with it.

6. What according to you is the solution of these problems? Do you believe change is possible with more awareness and proper education to people or is it effective when victims react back?

The solution is ending patriarchy and the gender binary that upholds it. I notice that a lot of strategies when it comes to ending harassment are oriented around making women and trans people modify our behavior and appearances, and never around actually challenging societies which enable and encourage harassment against us. I don’t think education is necessarily the right approach because this is about power not prejudice. What we need is to name systems of violence like patriarchy, caste, and race — and strategize how to address them at their roots rather than their systems.

7. What do you want to say to society specifically in regards to street harassment and to the victims regardless of gender to rise against it?

It’s not your fault.

Pritha is doing her Master’s degree in Anthropology and her thesis is on the menstruation practice issues among rural teenagers in Nepal. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She works in a non-governmental organization focused on women empowerment. Follow her blog www.prithakhanal.com and my Facebook account: @pritha.khanal.

Indonesia: Stand Up Against Street Harassment

June 12, 2017 By Correspondent

Astrid Nikijuluw, Serpong, Banten, Indonesia SSH Blog Correspondent

(English version below)

Bulan Juni di Indonesia (dan Negara-negara lainnya) umat Muslim merayakan bulan Suci Ramdhan. Pada bulan ini mereka berpuasa selama satu bulan penuh sampai datangnya hari kemenangan yaitu Idul Fitri. Bulan Ramadhan disebut sebagai bulan penuh berkah sehingga banyak digunakan untuk meningkatkan amal dan ibadah. Namun sayangnya beberapa prilaku buruk tetap tidak berubah.

Minggu lalu ketika saya sedang berjalan menuju rumah dari salah satu mini market, ada sebuah kejadian yang sangat mengganggu. Kebetulan di depan saya berjalan dua anak remaja perempuan mengenakan jilbab/hijab. Ketika melewati kerumunan (sekitar 4-5 orang) laki-laki, tiba-tiba perlakuan yang meresahkan itu muncul lagi. Salah satu dari mereka bersiul nakal pada kedua remaja perempuan tersebut. Dan temannya menyapa dengan nada menggoda “Assalamualaikum mbak, lagi puasa ya? Nanti buka bareng yuk..” Sementara yang lainnya ikut tertawa-tawa. Saya sungguh kesal sekali melihat tingkah itu. Buat saya kelakuan mereka sangat melecehkan dan tidak menghargai para remaja wanita itu. Salah satu dari remaja itu menoleh dan dari bahasa tubuhnya hendak melabrak/memarahi para lelaki kurang ajar tersebut, namun temannya menarik tangannya untuk segera berjalan menjauhi para lelaki itu. Dan kembali mereka tertawa seraya salah satu berkata “Lagi puasa nggak boleh marah-marah lho mbak, nanti pahalanya berkurang.” Apa?! Bagaimana mereka bisa berbicara mengenai pahala di bulan puasa tetapi kelakuan mereka sendiri sama sekali tidak mencerminkan spirit dari berpuasa dan beribadah di bulan Ramadhan. Saya sendiri tidak sampai berjalan melewati mereka karena arah rumah saya berbelok di jalan pas sebelum mereka berkumpul. Walaupun di dalam hati kecil saya ingin juga lewat dan seandainya mereka melakukan hal yang sama, well you’re messing with the wrong girl! Namun saya ingat kalau saya sedang berjalan dengan keponakan laki-laki saya, sehingga saya lebih berpikir untuk memberikan contoh dari kejadian yang dia juga baru saksikan.

Sampai dirumah saya masih tidak habis pikir. Apa sebenarnya yang ada di benak para lelaki tersebut sehingga berbuat sampai sebegitu jauhnya. Bagaimana bila hal yang sama terjadi pada saudara perempuan mereka, pacar mereka atau bahkan ibu mereka. Apakah mereka akan bersikap santai saja? Saya jadi berpikir mungkin mereka kurang diajarkan untuk menghargai wanita sepenuhnya. Akhirnya saya pun mengalihkan rasa amarah dan kesal saya kepada keponakan saya dengan cara berdiskusi mengenai kejadian tersebut. Intinya saya menjelaskan bahwa prilaku seperti ini sangat tidak terpuji dan menimbulkan efek psikologis yang tidak baik terhadap korban. Dan yang paling penting adalah hal itu mencerminkan rendahnya penghargaan terhadap wanita. Mungkin mereka bisa berdalih “Ah itu kan hanya bercanda, tidak serius, nggak usah lebay deh.” Well, ini Serius! Kalau hal seperti ini saja dianggap remeh maka tidak heran kasus-kasus yang lebih complex mengenai sexual harassment akan semakin meningkat. Menurut data dari Komnas Perempuan, terjadi 259.150 kasus pelecehan seksual yang ditangani selama tahun 2016 dan tersebar di 34 propinsi di Indonesia. Itu yang dilaporkan, dan saya yakin masih banyak sekali yang belum dilaporkan.

Kembali ke soal tadi, saya juga mencoba menyoroti dari sisi si korban. Dari kedua orang tersebut terdapat dua reaksi yang berbeda. Yang satu stand-up dan melawan, sedangkan yang lainnya lebih memilih untuk mendiamkan. Yang akhirnya si pelawan mengikuti temannya karena sedang menjalankan ibadah puasa, sehingga harus menahan nafsu amarah. Buat saya to stand up against that behavior adalah sangat penting terlepas dari agama apapun dan ritual ibadah yang sedang dijalankan. Bukan berarti dengan melawan kita tidak menjalankan ibadah dengan baik, namun kita menunjukkan bahwa prilaku tersebut salah dan tidak bisa dibiarkan. Bukankah kalau kita membiarkan sama saja secara tidak langsung kita ‘mendukung’ prilaku tersebut berlangsung terus-menerus? Dalam hal ini saya juga tidak menganjurkan dengan cara kekasaran, namun setidaknya mereka mengerti kalau kita tidak suka diperlakukan seperti itu! Itu adalah kelakuan yang tidak menyenangkan bahkan cenderung menjijikan. Langkah yang diambil dari dua remaja tersebut menurut saya mencerminkan sikap sebagian besar korban street harassment. Ada yang sudah mau melawan namun ada juga yang masih bersifat ‘membiarkan’ dengan permakluman. Seperti tulisan saya bulan lalu, susahnya dari street harassment ini masih banyak yang kurang/tidak sadar. Sekali lagi, menjadi bagian prilaku ‘sehari-hari yang dimaklumi’. Padahal bisa kita liat akibatnya, bahkan di bulan suci Ramadhan, bulan baik dimana seharusnya dipergunakan untuk memperbanyak ibadah, prilaku ini pun masih terjadi dengan pelaku yang tidak merasa ‘bersalah’ dalam melakukannya. Sungguh merupakan kenyataan yang membuat frustasi.

Saya berharap semakin banyak orang yang sadar akan street harassment adalah tindakan yang tidak pantas dilakukan dan selanjutnya bersikap untuk melawan tindakan tersebut. Selain itu sebagai orang tua, kita juga perlu memberikan pengertian kepada anak-anak kita sejak dini baik anak perempuan agar tidak menjadi korban sia-sia maupun anak laki-laki agar kelak tidak menjadi pelaku dari street harassment tersebut.

Astrid received her Bachelors of Business at Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Australia. She finished her Master’s Degree at Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta where she majored in Human Resource Development. Follow her on Twitter at @AstridNiki or on Facebook.

This June, in Indonesia (and other countries, too) the Moslem people are celebrating the Holy Ramadhan. During this period, they are fasting for 30 days until the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr. It is to be said that the Ramadhan month is full of mercy and blessings and therefore many Moslems are enhancing their worship and charity. Unfortunately, some bad behaviors still have not changed at all.

Last week, I was walking toward my home from a mini-market, when I saw a very disturbing incident. In front of me were two teenage girls, wearing hijab. When they walked through a crowd of men (about 4-5 men), one of them whistled at them, while the other said to them in an improper way, “Assalamualaikum, you both are fasting aren’t you? Let’s go break fasting together later.”

The others were laughing and continued to whistle. I was so pissed and angry seeing that scene in front of me. For me, their behavior was so disrespectful to the teenagers. One of the teenagers turned her head to those guys and from her body language, it seemed that she was going to say something to them. However, her friend, who was also the victim, pulled her hand and made her keep walking. And those guys ungratefully laughed again and one of them said, “You are not allowed to be pissed during fasting, otherwise you would lessen the reward of your fasting.”

WHAT?! How come they talked about rewards during the fasting month but their attitude was not reflecting the spirit of Ramadhan at all? I myself did not walk past them because I had to turn left to my street home, just around the corner of their position. Deep down inside my heart I was just wondering what if I walked passed them and they did the same thing to me? Well, they would be messing with the wrong girl, for sure. I was walking with my nephew though, so instead of getting angry, I decided to talk to him about the scene that he also witnessed.

As I arrived home, I still could not stop thinking about those guys. What were they thinking of behaving like that? How about if this kind of thing happened to their sister, or girlfriend, or mother? Would they sit back and relax? Therefore, I think maybe they were not taught enough about how to treat women respectfully.

Then I entered a discussion with my nephew about it. The point is, I explained to him, that this attitude was not commendable and can cause a psychological effect on the victim. And the most important thing is that it represents low-respect toward women.

Perhaps men quibble by saying something like, “Ah come on, it’s only a joke, nothing serious, don’t overreact.”

Well it is SERIOUS! If this kind of behavior were considered ‘nothing serious’ then no wonder the more complex cases of sexual harassment is increasing. Based on the data from KOMNAS PEREMPUAN (National Commission On Violence Against Women), in 2016 there were 259,150 cases of sexual harassment spread across 34 provinces in Indonesia. They were only reported cases and I am pretty sure that there were still many cases that had not been reported.

Back to the story, I was trying to highlight from the victim’s side. From the two of them, I saw two different reactions. One who stood up against it and the other who kept silent and let it go. The one who would stand up finally gave up and followed the silent one. I was sure that the main reason is because they were fasting and holding anger is one of the most important things. However for me, to stand up against that behavior is necessary no matter what religion or ritual that you currently are doing. It does not mean that by resisting it we do not perform our religion ritual well, instead we are showing them that their behavior is wrong and cannot be accepted. If we do nothing continuously, we indirectly ‘support’ this attitude. I do not suggest using violence or cruelty, but at least let them know that we do not like to be treated that way and that it’s inappropriate and disgusting behavior!

The way the teenagers reacted in this case reflected the reaction from most of the victims of street harassment. There are some who are ready to stand up against it and there are also some who are still silent and tend to ‘let go’ with the thought of it being ‘understandable behavior’ (last month my article highlighted that many people still do not aware of the street harassment behavior). T

Even during the Holy month of Ramadhan, the good month where we are supposed to enhance our prayer, worship and charity, this attitude still ensues and the perpetrators do not at all feel guilty of doing it. It’s a frustrating fact.

I hope many more people are aware that street harassment is inappropriate behavior and in further can stand up against it. And also as parents, we must teach our children from a young age, for daughter as though they will not be a vain victim and for sons so they will not be the perpetrators of the street harassment.

Brazil: Women-only Carriages in Rio’s Subways: Safe Spaces for Women or Institutionalized Inequality?

June 5, 2017 By Correspondent

Yasmin Curzi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, SSH Blog Correspondent

In 2006, the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro approved a law which enacted segregated areas on public transport for women, commonly known as “pink carriages.”. According to the memorandum of the law, the measure would serve as a remedy in order to avoid severe sexual harassment cases during rush hours on the city’s metro. It enunciates that this measure serves as an immediate remedy, “because the scenario of recurrent gender violence in public transportation is a problem difficult to overthrow.” Also it has few costs for the State or the concession-holder, so the implementation can be faster than other possible measures.

In effect, women who suffered from abuses would feel welcoming in this “special” spaces – a symptom of the institutional mistreatment directed to them. There are some narratives that corroborates with this approach, but the discussion about the real effectiveness of the law is far to be settled. In this article I’ll try to point some of the controversial topics concerning this public policy.

1. Enforcement: Supervision of women-only carriage is made by the metro guards, only on a few platforms – usually the ones located in richer neighborhoods. The result is that men often disobey the law, specially when the subway is crowded. Also, most of the guards are men and frequently present misogynistic behaviors toward women who suffered abuse in the subways. In most of the cases, they are insensitive about women’s issues and unprepared to deal with these occurrences. Often it results in a double-violation: women are slut-shammed, offended or neglected when try to make a complaint. And the guards themselves also harasses women, usually by leering or starin

2. The law’s definition of “rush hours”: “Rush hour” is settled by the law as being “workdays 6h a.m. to 9h a.m. and 5h p.m. to 8h p.m.”, but the use of the subways increased severely in the last decade. Therefore, “rush hours” are dynamics nowadays. A college student reported to me that she suffered harassment and abuse on a Saturday afternoon. The subway was crowded and a white blond guy started to stare at her breasts, stopped in front of her and masturbated himself. Then, she ran scared and chose not to make a complain. Stories of women that decided not to report harassment and other violations are recurrent, because, not only are institutions often hostiles toward those victims, but also society normalizes these behaviors.

3. LGBT concerns: One problem of the law is that it essentializes women as an homogenous group, excluding lesbian, bissexual and transexual women. For these groups, the space doesn’t bring the same feeling of welcomeness that it does toward cisgender and heterossexual women. A lesbian woman reported to me that, when she is in the companion of another girl, before going to college at 7h a.m. (considered as a rush hour by this law), the staring of other women made her feel like she is a “circus attraction”. The women’s car is, therefore, designed for one specific group of women, nurturing the normalization of conducts in a heteronormative society.

4. It is a merely makeshift: The law memorandum itself affirms that this measure is a quick response to reduce violence towards women. However, it’s possible to assume that public power chose the easiest path. By segregating spaces by gender, the State gets rid of its duty to address the real causes of sexism with more profound and long-term measures, such as education campaigns, in order to change the perception of women’s body as a public property.

5. It corroborates victim-blaming: Another issue of the law is that it implies a perception that if a woman isn’t in the women’s car in a “rush hour”, she is responsible for the harassment suffered. Victim-blaming is recurrent in other abuses/harassment situations and usually materializes in thoughts like “what was the victim’s wearing” and “what was she doing in the street late of the night”. Segregated spaces also spreads the idea that if a woman wasn’t in the women’s car, then she “wasn’t taking the necessary precautions in order to avoid risk situations”.

The discussion about this law is in dispute even inside the feminist’s movement. There isn’t a consensus about its real effectiveness and what other measures the State could implement in order to deal immediately with sexist violence in the public transportation. However, it’s pacified that short-term measures aren’t able to solve these issues in a profound way, thus, State should also institute awareness campaigns and public policies that treat sexism in its structural roots and not only by focusing in its surface results.

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