Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Colombia: What would you do to stop street harassment?

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By: María Paulina López, SSH Correspondent

One day, my sister came home saying she was upset that every time she walked from the bus stop to home a man watching her on the other side of the street yelled sexual comments. Imagine having to deal with this every single day! In my own experience, these abusive situations piss me off.

I decided to do something about it, but the problem was, that guy knows where we live and that scared me a little. So my sister’s boyfriend went and talked to him, asking for respect and safety for the women who walk on that street (he didn’t mention specifically my sister, so I suppose she wasn’t the only one) and that was it… he never did that again anymore. What would you do if someone’s being sexually harassed in a public place?


This video is an exact representation of a situation that a lot of people have to live every day: being sexually harassed on the streets.

What would you do? And that’s a question for all of you…what would you do if see someone being harassed on the street? I truly admire all those who did something, not knowing the people on that street were actors. I admire those around the world who care about these abusive situations.  It depends on the situation, and how safe you feel in that place, but you can take a lot of actions to stop Street Harassment:

* Show support, like the woman on the video;
* Call security, if you can;
* Make a video/photo to show the authorities;
* Ask them to stop it and to respect, like one of the guys on the video;
* See if you can identify the persons who are harassing and denounce the abusive behavior to their superiors; ask the person who’s been harassed if it’s fine and take her/him to a safer place.

Please, let’s don’t stay quiet or continue your walk without doing anything. This behavior is abusive, and affects millions of people around the world, especially women. We need safer public spaces for everyone! And this video is evidence that we can take individual actions to fight it directly, to make justice, and stand for a better world.

“The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, its indifference.” – Elie Wiesel

Maria is a psychology student, social investigator, and sexual educator. Follow her on Twitter, @MPaulinaLopez.

 

Colombia, pequeñas acciones que significan un gran cambio.

Un día mi hermana llegó a casa quejándose de lo cansada que estaba de que cada día, cuando caminaba de la parada de autobús a casa, el vigilante de la acera de enfrente le gritaba comentarios sexuales, ¡imaginen tener que lidiar con esto cada día de sus vidas! Entonces decidí hacer algo al respecto, el problema era que ese hombre sabía exactamente dónde vivíamos, y eso me asustaba un poco. Por eso, el novio de mi hermana fue y habló con él; le pidió que respetara a las mujeres que pasaban por el frente (no mencionó directamente a mi hermana, entonces supongo que no era la única). Y eso fue todo, a partir de ese momento, él nunca le volvió a decir nada a mi hermana cada vez que pasaba por allí. ¿Qué harías si ver que alguien está siendo acosado sexualmente en un lugar público?

Este video es una representación exacta de una situación que mucha gente tiene que vivir cada día: ser acosados sexualmente en las calles. ¿Qué harías tú? Y esta es una pregunta para todos… ¿qué haría usted si ve que alguien es acosado sexualmente en un espacio público? Realmente admiro a todos los que hicieron algo en ese video, y a todos aquellos alrededor del mundo que cada día se preocupan por detener estos abusos. Todo depende de la situación, y de cuán seguro se sienta en el lugar donde está ocurriendo el abuso, pero todos podemos tomar muchas acciones para detener el Acoso Callejero:

  • * Da apoyo a la persona, como la mujer del video.
  • * Llama a seguridad, si puedes.
  • * Haz una foto o video para mostrarle a las autoridades.
  • * Pídeles que se detengan y exija respeto,  como uno de los hombres en el video.
  • * Trata de identificar a las personas que están acosando y denuncia su actitud abusiva a sus superiores; asegúrate que la persona que es víctima esté bien y llévala a un lugar más seguro.

No hay que quedarse callados, o pasar de largo ante una situación así. Este comportamiento es abusivo y afecta a millones de personas diariamente en el mundo entero, sobre todo mujeres. ¡Necesitamos espacios públicos seguros, donde podamos caminar con tranquilidad! Y este video es prueba de que podemos tomar acciones individuales para luchar contra estos abusos directamente, hacer justicia, luchar por un mundo mejor.

“Lo contrario del amor no es el odio, es la indiferencia. Lo contrario del arte, no es la fealdad, es la indiferencia. Lo contrario de la fe no es la herejía, es la indiferencia. Y lo contrario de la vida no es la muerte, es la indiferencia.” – Elie Wiesel

Estudiante de psicología, investigadora social, educadora sexual MPaulinaLopez.

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#Outcry: Street Harassment, Everyday Sexism, Germany Cries Out

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By ProChange, SSH Correspondents

Outcry sounds out across Germany. 30,000 tweets are posted on Twitter by affected women within 48 hours.

What’s happened?

Sexism in the Pirate Party (a young political party in Germany).

Ok, we’ve heard about that. Mr. Brüderle of the FDP (Liberals in Germany) harasses a journalist (Laura Himmelreich). She writes about it. But we read such articles daily. How usual that the attention is diverted from the problem: “Why did the journalist wait until now to talk about it?”

The woman is given the guilt: “Women that can’t deal with dirty jokes shouldn’t go to the bar at night.”

It gets minimalized: “She shouldn’t make a big deal about it.”

It’s made out to be her personal problem to deal with: “Taboo-breaking. How can she write this.” The same as always.

Anne Wizorek jumps in, throws out the hashtag #Aufschrei (#Outcry) on twitter. The hashtag gets noticed from our use and the use of it by other activists. Within 48 hours there are 30,000 tweets written from women who otherwise wouldn’t trust themselves to write about sexual harassment. The press joins in and reports.

The tweets are taken seriously and put into print – the alleged sexist behaviour comes back to bite the perpetrator in the end. Comments from internet trollers are identified and disqualified.

Today in television news, it’s reported on and tomorrow evening there will be a program broadcasted on the topic. We wrote a long letter to the editorial office about international Stop Street Harassment.

#Aufschrei: Street Harassment, alltäglicher Sexismus, Deutschland schreit auf

Ein Aufschrei geht durch Deutschland. 30 000 Tweets (Kurzmitteilungen) auf Twitter von betroffenen Frauen innerhalb von 48 Stunden. Was ist passiert?

Sexismus in der Piratenpartei (eine junge Partei in Deutschland). Gut, das haben wir gelesen. Herr Brüderle der FDP (Liberals in Germany) belästigt eine Journalistin (Laura Himmelreich). Sie schreibt darüber. Solche Artikel lesen wir täglich. Wie üblich wird abgelenkt (derailing): “Wieso berichtet die Journalistin erst jetzt darüber?”  Der Frau wird die Schuld zugewiesen: “Frauen, die mit zotigen Witzen nicht klar kommen, sollten abends nicht an die Bar gehen.” Es wird bagatellisiert: “Sie soll sich nicht so anstellen.” Es wird versucht, in die private Schiene zu schieben: “Tabubruch. Wie kann sie das nur schreiben.” Alles wie immer.

Anne Wizorek steigt ein, schlägt das Hashtag #Aufschrei vor. Von uns und allen anderen Aktivistinnen wird der Hashtag bekannt gemacht. Innerhalb von 48 Stunden sind jetzt 30 000 tweets geschrieben worden, von Frauen die sich sonst nicht trauen, über sexuelle Belästigung zu schreiben. Die Presse steigt ein und berichtet.

Das Neue: Sie werden ernst genommen und gedruckt – das beklagte sexistische Verhalten disqualifiziert endlich auch den Täter. Die üblichen Kommentare der Trollfraktion werden als solche erkannt und disqualifiziert.

In den Fernsehnachrichten wurde heute berichtet und morgen abend gibt es eine Sendung zum Thema. An die Redaktion haben wir einen langen Brief geschrieben über das internationale Stop Street Harassment.

The German-based group ProChange is comprised of women from Dortmund who are activists for women’s rights.

Editor’s Note: Thanks, Hölly Patch, for the very quick translation assistance.

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Canada: Headphones Are a Woman’s Best Friend

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Photo via TheWip.net

By Terris Schneider, SSH Correspondent

I’m a total music nerd. Any time I step out from my apartment, my headphones are attached to my ears.

Then there was the week where I lost my headphones in a pile of all my stuff. Now I couldn’t listen to the 90’s One-Hit-Wonders station on Songza. Devastating. Even worse, that was the week where I discovered just how bad street harassment was in Vancouver because my headphones couldn’t protect me.

That particular week, I was cat-called by guys in cars on three separate occasions. The worst incident was when I was walking down my street and a group of men started grunting at me à la Tim the Tool Man Taylor. My instinct was to sprint down the street.

A couple weeks back, I went to a girl’s night with some of my lovely friends where we delved into the topic of street harassment. They all felt the same way that I did – they hated it, it was threatening to them, and they wished it would stop. Each one of them had a horrifying story to share too, unfortunately. And of course, there was the incident with my best friend last year. She was waiting at the bus stop at Richards and Hastings and a man looked at her and then pointed to his erection. She called me in horror, not sure what to do except get away.

What’s also disturbing to me is people’s laissez-faire attitude when it comes to street harassment. When you bring it up to certain people, they don’t really see the big deal. Unfortunately, it’s been burned into our brains that we have to accept street harassment, that it’s harmless, and that we should take it as flattering.

So what’s the deal with street harassment? (said in a Jerry Seinfeld-esque voice). Why should we stand against it? Here are a few thoughts of mine.

Threat of Rape

If we turned the tables on men and harassed them on the streets, there is little threat of rape to them from women. Plus, there are so many trauma victims roaming the streets day or night, suffering from hyper vigilance. The statistics in British Columbia are mind boggling: 1 in 2 women in B.C. will have experienced sexual assault or attempted sexual assault in their lifetime, and aboriginal women in Canada are five times for likely to be sexual assaulted than non-aboriginal women. Not to mention, a rape crisis center in Vancouver has a wait-list of 9 months for one-on-one trauma counseling.

Which brings me to my point, you don’t know who is going to feel really threatened and traumatized when being street harassed. That being said, victim or not, a woman should be able to walk down the street in peace without being harassed.

Harassment Turned Life Threatening

Earlier this month in Vancouver, a woman named Claudia Rylie was harassed on the SkyTrain when a guy took unwanted pictures of her. He then proceeded in stalking her down the street, making it one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. The Surrey police did nothing about it, but now the VPD is looking into it because it might be related to another sexual assault. You can read the story from VanCity Buzz to get a better idea.

What truly disturbs me is some of the comments left after this story. Mostly blaming the woman (shocker!) because she is an alleged sex worker, and claiming that she was doing the whole thing for attention. Yet another way to excuse rape culture. Notice, there is no one putting the blame on the harasser, who may have assaulted another person and was so creepy, that a woman followed Claudia from the SkyTrain to make sure she was okay.

Here are some of these disturbing comments (remind me never to read comment threads):

darkeclipseCollapse

fuck this girl she wants attention

Whistler

This woman is a thrill-seeker and getting readers riled up with this story is exactly the fuel she wants. She loves being photographed, but I’m sure usually for money. This has been a great promo for her line of sex work, and the VPD would also have her pegged immediately. A streetwise woman carries pepper spray, knows NOT to make contact with her stalker, and many other ways to be safe, like walk beside a stranger and explain what’s happening. A smart businesswoman would not publicize an incident like this, pleading for public sympathy. Claudia, there are video cameras throughout the transit system and you know it. I’ll bet there never was a man in black except in your fantasy.

But then there are awesome people like Kevin to give us some hope:

Kevin

And this is exactly the reason we have this problem is this mindset. Just because someone models or works in the sex industry as a professional does NOT mean it’s ok for them to be sexually harassed.

Thank God For Headphones

I’ve since found my headphones and will no doubt continue to use them as my security blanket against creeps. I wish I could live without them, but hopefully one day I can roam the streets fear-free if people finally start cluing into this stuff.

Terris is a professional wordsmith (freelance writer) based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. You can read more of her work on her blog, or follow her on Twitter and Facebook. 

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Colombia: No More Jagrutis or Rosas Elviras

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By: Adriana Pérez-Rodríguez, SSH Correspondent

Via Gender Justice Journal

2012 ended with shouts and protests around the world due to the rape and death of Jagruti (“awakening,” one of the many names given to her) in Delhi, India. Soon after the crime happened everyone in the world was upset about her fate and value judgements were fired with heavy hectoring moralism, condemning the Indian society of barbarism and atrocities based on statistics about sexual abuse. People, from different countries rapidly started to look for someone or something to blame, while people in India protested bravely in the streets of Delhi and other Indian cities against police brutality in order to raise their voice. Yet in the media, their culture and the fact that they are not “civilised westerners” were used against them.

These arguments are incredibly dangerous, problematic, and tainted with cultural ignorance because they demonise the Indian society, labelling it as “the den of rapists,” feeding western audiences with cultural superiority and they ignore the fact that sexual abuse is systematic in western countries, too: the character of this crime is endemic and indiscriminate.

In the UK, every 34 minutes a rape allegation is reported, but of those only 7% end up in conviction. In the USA, while Congressmen debate the “legitimacy” of rape, a woman is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes. Based just on reported numbers, it is estimated that in Colombia a woman is raped every 2 hours, 140 are assaulted daily and every 3 days one woman is killed. We must add to these numbers all the cases that haven’t been reported because the victims suffer in silence for fear and embarrassment or because they think what has been done to them is not worthy of mentioning.

Let’s not forget that in Colombia last year, a woman was raped, tortured and killed. Her name was Rosa Elvira Cely and her case mobilised the Colombian society to the streets demanding justice. That horrible crime happened at early hours in the morning on the 24th of May, 2012, when she left a karaoke place with two men she knew, she was then taken to a park where she was raped, stabbed, strangled, impaled and left to die. She was so badly assaulted and tortured that despite the several surgeries done to her, she didn’t survive.

Due to the particular nature of the crime, the Colombian society was so horrified that on the 3rd of June, in the same park, they protested against what was done to her, demanding justice and against gender violence in general, raising concerns about how women are treated in the country. For instance, for some it may be surprising to know that domestic violence is higher in Colombia and Peru than in India itself and that’s what many Colombians started questioning after that incident: the gender violence Colombian women face daily and which materialises on rape, physical and psychological abuse, sexual harassment and domestic violence.

Sadly, the sexual harassment, abuse and assault that women encounter every day is endemic worldwide.  In every country, it’s also common to blame the victim and excuse the offender, accusing her of provoking them. Such rape culture is systematic and it does not discriminate countries, religions or skin colour; it happens in our houses, buses, streets and parties.

Thus, the danger of culturally arrogant arguments is that they distort the real picture about how unequal power relations continue objectifying women around the globe, denying the endemic character of the problem, while reducing it to a cultural attribute of certain societies, dividing our global map between civilised and uncivilised societies and filling our understanding of and relation with others with prejudice.

The truth is that, India, together with the rest of the world, urgently need a revolution. Only together, with a strong collective conscience, can we ensure that there won’t be any more Jagrutis or Rosas Elviras in the future.

Adriana is a Colombian national who’s passionate about all topics concerning social justice, especially gender-based justice.

en Español

El 2012 terminó con los gritos y protestas alrededor del mundo por la violación y muerte de Jagruti (“despertar,” uno de los tantos nombres que se le ha dado). Las noticias no se hicieron esperar, poco después de lo ocurrido todo el mundo se alarmó con su destino y las audiencias globales lanzaron sus juicios de valor, condenando a la sociedad india de atrocidades apoyados en estadísticas sobre el asalto sexual, pero más que todo, apoyados en prejuicios. Gente de otros países empezaron rápidamente a buscar culpables, mientras que en las calles de Delhi y otras ciudades indias mujeres y hombres protestan valientemente en contra de la brutalidad policiaca con el fin de levantar su voz. Se culpó su cultura y el hecho de que no son “civilizados occidentales”.

Estos argumentos son increíblemente peligrosos debido a que demonizan la sociedad india, etiquetándola como “guarida de violadores,” alimentando con superioridad cultural audiencias occidentales e ignorando el hecho de que también en estos países el abuso sexual es sistemático: el carácter de este crimen es endémico e indiscriminado.

En el Reino Unido se reportan casos de violación cada 34 minutos, de los cuales sólo el 7% resultan en condenas  y en Estados Unidos, mientras congresistas se debaten sobre el carácter “legítimo” de las violaciones, cada dos minutos una mujer es asaltada sexualmente.  Basados sólo en los casos reportados, se estima que en Colombia una mujer es violada cada dos horas, 140 mujeres son agredidas diariamente y una es asesinada cada tres días. A estas cifras se les tiene que adicionar todos los casos que no fueron reportados, en los que las víctimas sufrieron en silencio por miedo y vergüenza, o por el hecho de que creen que lo que les hicieron no es merecedor de ser mencionado.

No olvidemos que el año pasado en Colombia se violó, torturó y asesinó a Rosa Elvira Cely, un caso que movilizó a la sociedad colombiana a salir a las calles y demandar justicia. Ese crimen tan atroz ocurrió a tempranas horas de la madrugada el 24 de mayo del 2012 cuando se fue de un lugar de karaoke, con dos hombres que ella conocía, que la llevaron a un parque donde fue violada, apuñalada, estrangulada, empalada y abandonada agonizando. Las heridas fueron tan graves que, aunque se le hicieron varias cirugías, ella no sobrevivió.

Debido a las particularidades, la sociedad colombiana quedó horrorizada que protestó, el 3 de junio en el mismo parque, en contra de lo que le fue hecho, pidiendo justicia y en contra de la violencia de género en general, expresando sus preocupaciones sobre cómo las mujeres son tratadas en el país. Por ejemplo, a unos les sorprenderá saber que las tasas de violencia doméstica son más altas en Colombia y Perú que en India y eso fue lo que muchos colombianos se empezaron a cuestionar: la violencia de género que las colombianas enfrentan diariamente y que se puede materializar en casos de violación, abuso físico y psicológico, acoso sexual y violencia doméstica.

Lamentablemente, el acoso, abuso y asalto sexual del que son víctimas las mujeres es endémico, ocurre en países tan “bárbaros” como India y tan “civilizados” como el Reino Unido o Estados Unidos. En todos estos, además, es común culpar a la víctima y eximir al victimario, acusándola de provocar el crimen. Esta cultura sistemática no discrimina países, credos o color de piel, sucede en nuestras casas, buses, calles y fiestas.

Por lo tanto, el peligro de estos argumentos basados en arrogancia culturales es que distorsionan la verdadera imagen sobre cómo las relaciones desiguales de poder continúan objetivizando las mujeres alrededor del mundo, negando el carácter endémico del problema, reduciéndolo como atributo de ciertas culturas, dividiendo nuestro mapa mundial entre sociedades civilizadas e incivilizadas y llenando de prejuicios nuestras relaciones con y conocimientos de otros.

Seguramente el trasfondo de todo esto no es afirmar que India necesita urgentemente una revolución cultural, sino que tanto India como todas las sociedades la necesitan con la misma urgencia. Sólo así lograremos, con una fuerte consciencia colectiva, que en un futuro no haya más Jagrutis y Rosas Elviras.

Soy una colombiana apasionada por todos asuntos relacionados con la justicia social, especialmente justicia de género.

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USA: “Why I’m Rising”

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By: Talia Weisberg, SSH Correspondent

When I was at the 2012 NOW Conference in Baltimore, I had the privilege of hearing Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues and women’s rights activist, deliver the keynote address. She discussed One Billion Rising, her campaign to end violence against women on the global level. It is so named because one billion women – that’s one out of every three women in the world – will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. On February 14, 2013, Ensler wants the world to rise, end the violence, and create a better, safer, happier world.

After hearing Ensler speak, I was rallied to action. I decided on the spot to rise along with her and millions of other women across the globe. One of the many reasons I am rising is to stop street harassment. It’s such an insidious form of violence against women, since most people don’t even know that street harassment is an actual issue. Considering that almost every woman and LGBT+ individual has experienced street harassment at least once in his or her lifetime, it’s surprising that this is something that activists have to raise awareness about.

As someone who was born and raised in Manhattan, which contains 1.5 million of New York City’s total population of eight million, it’s hard not to experience street harassment. It’s gotten to the point that I’m desensitized to it, at least in its milder forms (leering, catcalls, etc.). My mother always gets really creeped out when she sees men – especially those significantly older than me – looking me up and down on the street, but I don’t even notice it anymore. Street harassment has just become part of my life, a necessary hazard of living in a city and walking on the street all the time.

That is a huge problem. It is not acceptable that street harassment has become no big deal in our society, that men and women alike trivialize it. Street harassment is a serious issue in itself, making women feel unsafe, humiliated, and threatened in their own neighborhoods. It can also be a precursor to even worse crimes, like sexual and physical assault. Those of us who understand the brevity of street harassment need to educate the world about this pressing issue. We need to raise awareness and make sure the public understands what street harassment is and how we can stop it.

“We are rising because we are over girls being trafficked and sold and reduced and objectified,” Ensler said at the NOW Conference. I can certainly empathize: I am over standing by as womankind is objectified by street harassment. And that is why I’m rising.

Talia Weisberg is a Harvard-bound feminist hoping to concentrate in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her work has appeared in over 40 publications and she runs the blog Star of Davida blog (starofdavida.blogspot.com).

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