Events Archives | Page 16 of 31 | Stop Street Harassment

SlutWalk DC!

August 13, 2011 By HKearl

Today is the national SlutWalk, taking place downtown in Washington, DC!

SlutWalk to Raise Awareness About Blaming Victims of Sexual Assaults: MyFoxDC.com

For those who are unfamiliar with the SlutWalks, they started in Toronto in April in response to a police officer who said women wouldn’t be victimized if they didn’t dress like sluts. People all over the world who are tired of victim-blaming have taken to the streets in a very grass-roots way to organize and participate in SlutWalks. Some have dubbed the movement the future of feminism, though there are certainly many people who take issue with the walks.

Stop Street Harassment became involved in SlutWalks back in March when the Toronto organizers asked me to post info about the walk on the site. I did and Stop Street Harassment became one of their ally organizations. In April, I found out there would be a SlutWalk DC and immediately became involved. I’m one of the 20+ speakers who will be giving brief remarks today at 1 p.m. after the walk (which starts at noon in Lafayette Park, behind the white house). Stop Street Harassment will also have a booth where people can pick up a variety of handouts and even purchase a copy of the Stop Street Harassment book or buy a button.

This is anticipated to be one of the largest SlutWalks yet, and more than 6,000 people RSVPed on Facebook. I’m energized to be part of this effort to demand an end to victim-blaming and slut-shaming. I’m participating to honor all of the sexual assault survivors I know and love and to raise awareness about the more than 80% of women around the world who face street harassment and are too often blamed for it, too.

I’ll post photos and a video + transcript of my speech afterward.

For those who are considering attending, here are the details, I hope to see you there:

Schedule for August 13th

11am – Rally in Lafayette Square!
12pm – Begin Marching down 15th St, NW
1pm – Speakers at the National Sylvan Theatre

Welcome – Dr. Ruth Neustifter
Kim Cohen
Join the Conversation – Andrea Bredbeck
Stop Street Harassment – Holly Kearl
Sadie Healy
A Long Walk Home, Inc. – Dr. Salamishah Tillet
(con)sensual – Carmen Rios
Defend Yourself – Lauren Taylor
Elina Reyes
Deaf Abused Women’s Network – Sasha Ponappa
Radio Show “One Mic Stand” – Aiyi’nah Ford
Stevie Boi
GetEqual DC – Janelle Mungo
DC National Organization for Women – Elisabeth Crum
Erin Sherrange
Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive – Meredith Zoltick
ISO: DC – Emily Brooks
Robbie Woodsum
Maryland District 16 – Delegate Ariana Kelly
Shawn Wright
New York Times Best Seller “If I Am Missing or Dead” – Author Janine Latus
Join the Conversation – Andrea Bredbeck
LTB Comedy – Luce Tomlin-Brenner
Wrap Up with Sanity Gurlz and SlutWalk D.C. Organizers – Javon, Fallon, Samantha, and Shawn

After the speakers finish there will be booths from our allies for everyone to visit with, get information, and get involved!

Live Tweet of Anti-Street Harassment Event

July 22, 2011 By HKearl

This is cross-posted with permission from Hey Shorty on the Road, written by Mandy Van Deven, co-author of the book Hey, Shorty! A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets. Last evening, it was my honor to co-present with her, Rochelle Keyhan the founder of HollaBackPhilly, and filmmaker and educator Nuala Cabral.

Many moons ago I met Matt Dineen through some mutual friends and our shared work in independent media. A passionate activist and all-around lovely guy, Matt currently works at Wooden Shoe Books as a collective member and event organizer. After hearing about Hey, Shorty!’s release, Matt invited me to Philadelphia to do a reading — and I enthusiastically accepted.

Technically speaking, I’d never actually met filmmaker and educator Nuala Cabral in person until yesterday, but it felt like we were old friends since we’ve been in touch with each other for years via the Internet — again because of shared interests and community-based work with youth to end gender-based violence — and follow each other’s work. Nuala’s short film, Walking Home, has garnered a lot of attention online for its criticism of street harassment. Wanting to share the opportunity with local activists, I invited Nuala to be a part of the Wooden Shoe event and asked if there were other folks in Philly I should reach out to. This is how Hollaback! Philly’s Rochelle Keyhan, a lawyer by trade, came to be added to the list.

Holly Kearl is someone who has shared the stage with me and Girls for Gender Equity on several occasions. From Holly’s book release event at Bluestockings to the first-ever New York City Council Hearing on street harassment to the the National Conference for Women Student Leaders, our work coincides with great frequency — much to my delight. Five smarty pants activists deep, this is how the Wooden Shoe Books event drew over 40 people to talk about violence against girls, women, and LGBTQ folks in public spaces.

If you weren’t able to make it there, you’re in luck! Hollaback! Philly’s Research Assistant Elizabeth Welsh live tweeted the event from beginning to end. Here’s a taste of what you missed:

Welcome to the live-tweet of our anti street harassment panel! We’ll be getting started in just a minute.
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Introductions! @mandyvandeven @nualacabral and @hkearl are all here with us.
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@mandyvandeven is telling us about getting involved with Girls for Gender Equity in Brooklyn: ggenyc.org
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It quickly became clear to Mandy and to ggenyc.org that sexual harassment is rampant in kids’ lives – and seldom gets talked about.
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Moving on to @hkearl talking about her street harassment experiences, starting as a 14-year-old runner
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Many women end up altering the activities they choose to participate in in an effort to avoid street harassment
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This is why Holly frames it as a quality of life issue. Discovering the term “street harassment” led her to begin speaking out.
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32% of women choose outfits that will attract less attention on a monthly basis – planning for street harassment before leaving the house!
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45% of women avoid being out after dark on a monthly basis – what does this mean we’re missing out on? Classes, socializing, campaigning…
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1 in 5 women have moved to a different neighborhood; 1 in 10 have changed jobs/commute in an effort to avoid street harassment.
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Street harassment negatively affects men who are not harassers – women are often wary of interacting with them.
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Holly’s tips for helping to stop street harassment: Share your story, end the silence!
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Sharing our stories breaks down stereotypes about who gets harassed and helps increase solidarity with other women (and men!).
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Some women have had success asking harassers to repeat themselves, or repeating harassers’ words back to them, loudly, if in a crowded place
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Turning it around like this often embarrasses harassers by emphasizing how stupid they sound.
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If someone is harassing on the job, complaining to the parent company can lead to great results!
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Bystanders can also reach out to victims, asking “Are you okay?”
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The Young Women’s Action Team fought neighborhood street harassment by alerting business owners where groups of men were loitering outside.
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Neighborhood business owners banded together to create respect zones and not tolerate loiterers (who were also bad for business!)
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More on the Young Women’s Action Network in Chicago: http://t.co/MCl17ly They harnessed the power of data, no matter how informal.
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You can see more from Holly at her website: stopstreetharassment.org
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We’re up now! Hollaback! is everywhere! Because, unfortunately, street harassment is everywhere.
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We encourage you to report street harassment: philly.ihollaback.org Young Women’s Action Network showed what a difference data can make.
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Don’t forget, all reports submitted to our website are anonymous. Build solidarity between people who want to walk the street unharassed.
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We’re also working for LGBTQ people, who also unfortunately get harassed.
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Next up: Local filmmaker and activist @nualacabral. While living in Brooklyn she bumped up against street harassment on a daily basis.
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Check out Nuala’s Walking Home: vimeo.com/user1897188
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When Nuala put her film on YouTube, it connected her with a movement that was even more empowering than creating the film.
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Nuala: “Those moments of being street harassed feel really lonely and disempowering.”
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Now we are opening up for questions. Please @ us with any questions you’d like to ask!
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Question about addressing street harassment with school kids. Nuala: Too much victim-blaming from both boys and girls. Also: Responsibility.
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Nuala: “If we care enough to want change, we need to think about responsibility and what we’re going to do to make change.”
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International Stop Street Harassment day is the first day of spring – March 20th.
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This year it will be Anti-Street Harassment Week, by popular demand!
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Mandy: “Girls for Gender Equity wrote Hey Shorty! as a way for other organizations to see our growth thru failures as well as successes!”
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GGE grew over 9 years. This is NOT a rule-book, but suggestions for other organizations. http://www.feministpress.org/books/girls-gender-equity-gge/hey-shorty
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A question now from the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia avpphila.org
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We’re saying: Queer and trans folks tend to get harassed not only sexually, but also with words involving more violence.
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Holly: Street harassment of trans women tends to often be about gender policing, and is threatening to men who think they’re very masculine.
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Us: Our official stance is not to differentiate between race or class – everyone harasses.
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Holly: Most harassment is same-race, especially the more severe forms. There needs to be education around what constitutes harassment.
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Mandy: The emphasis has been put on perception and not intent, and that’s wrong. Intent does matter – it’s racist/classist to say otherwise
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Mandy has written extensively on street harassment for Bitch Magazine: http://bitchmagazine.org/profile/mandy-van-deven
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Mandy advocates for street harassment to be addressed on a community level rather than by criminalizing it.
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Question: A favorite activity of K-2nd graders at the recess program I ran was standing by the fence and yelling at women on the street.
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Us: A lot of the time it’s about impressing other dudes more than interacting with women.
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Questioner: It started with the 2nd graders, and after a couple of weeks trickled down to the kindergartners.
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Mandy: In schools, a big problem is institutional support for addressing these things – Figuring out what the policies are, if they exist.
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Mandy: We talk about socialization as adults, but it’s process that starts as young people. An 8-year-old boy hollering at women on the street doesn’t even know what he’s looking at.
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@hkearl: I’ve actually started getting more questions from parents’ of 9- 10-year-olds. Anyone know any good resources?
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Questioner: This is a cultural problem, and people should be boycotting sexist/misogynist music I’d classify as hate speech.
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Questioner: I can’t understand how other males aren’t seeing this and don’t have empathy for this situation.
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Questioner: We need to teach men how to talk to women. I don’t want to hear about how my outfit makes me look sexy.
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Questioner 2: I think there are a lot of men out there who think that’s the way you talk to a women.
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Holly: Sexualization from a young age makes this seem normal.
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There’s a whole section on Holly’s website for and by men: stopstreetharassment.org/male-allies/
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Nuala: Guys say things like, 2 out of 25 women will respond, so I’ll still yell at the other 23.
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Nuala: In order to reach men, I’ll also talk to women. We need to be clear about the distinction between a complement and harassment.
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Nuala: No women wants to get harassed, but some women and girls like getting attention. Those are the girls these guys are trying to reach.
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A lot of @nualacabral’s work with young girls involves building self-esteem when talking about street harassment.
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Nuala: For some girls, their body is the only thing they get complemented on. We need to address that.
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Nuala has gotten a lot of pushback from her video because it shows men of color. As a woman of color, she wanted to break the silence.
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Nuala: We have to acknowledge that there are some complexities there. You have to be sensitive, but it’s a fine line to be neutral.
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Nuala: If you look at the media, the bodies of women of color are more consistently exploited.
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Nuala’s recent blog post about a NYC newsstand that illustrates the problem “All black booties, all white faces.” http://nualacabral.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/the-news-stand/
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Nuala: “It’s just more acceptable for certain women to be degraded.” Questioner: “It’s not acceptable, it’s normal.” Nuala: “Normalized.”
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Nuala: “I like that you also brought up the self-esteem of a man, especially for men of color. We know that oppression breeds oppression.”
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Holly: “For some men it’s about oppression, for others it’s because some men feel so entitled.”
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Holly: “My research has shown that black women are more likely to be approached as prostitutes. It’s this history of exploitation.”
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Questioner: Men and women are taught that the only relationships we can have are sexual or more, that we can’t have friendships.
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Questioner: A lot of men can’t relate to women as another human being, a person with morals and goals and a future.
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Mandy: For any kind of change to happen, there has to be an education piece on the larger framework of sexual violence in our culture.
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Mandy: We have this impression in our minds of how violence happens and who the victims are, but it’s completely separate from reality.
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Us: If you don’t have a smartphone, you can submit via email, or by texting to our email address, or manually uploading on the website.
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Questioner: Why are women okay on the streets of certain international large cities, but not here?
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Holly: My theory is that street harassment is less likely in countries with more gender equality.
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Questioner: I thought in those other countries women are treated with more respect. Us: More, but it’s not perfect.
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Questioner: There were a number of women in the black revolution movement who acted out strongly against sexual harassers.
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Questioner: Women are getting hurt because of harassment. Are you aware of any men who have been hurt as a result of being harassers?
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Mandy: I know there are a lot of women who are in prison for killing domestic abusers and rapists…
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Mandy: There’s very little documentation of violence in response to street harassment, but that would be interesting.
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Questioner: I struggle with the polarity between public accountability and shaming. I dreamed of putting up flyers about the same man who was harassing me all the time, but could never go through with it.
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Questioner: Do you think public shaming has a place in this movement, or is that counterproductive?
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Us: Even imagining what you would have said and done can be theraputic, even knowing that you never would have done it.
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Us: Psychologically, it’s really helpful for women to know there are other people thinking about and struggling with the same thing.
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Holly: People in DC banded together to say “Stop harassing women” to one man who was always in the same place. A lot of these harassers are repeat harassers who always stand in the same place. It’s not very many men.
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Mandy: The anthology “The Revolution Starts at Home” has a lot of suggestions for community-based steps to take toward accountability without shame http://www.southendpress.org/2010/items/87941
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Questioner : How does sexual harassment compare with harassment of other groups, like Muslims, especially right now.
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Mandy: The way all groups are affected creates potential to reach across boundaries, but I don’t think they’re all the same.
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Mandy: The manifestation, function, and social acceptability greatly vary. It’s dangerous to say that they’re the same.
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Holly: Women of all backgrounds who took my survey felt harassed because they were female; men mentioned all the other factors first.
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Questioner: The economic impact on women’s lives is amazing! Imagine if it were something men had to deal with. What areas are under-researched?
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Holly: That’s why we need to capture that data, because then we have some idea of what we can do.
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And it’s a wrap! Many thanks to @mandyvandeven @nualacabral @hkearl and of course to YOU for coming along with us!

Check out the remaining dates of the Hey, Shorty! tour here.

Thanks @HollaBackPhilly & thanks Elizabeth for the amazing and thorough livetweet of the event!

From Washington, DC to Kabul: Community Marches against Street Harassment

July 7, 2011 By HKearl

Last month I was part of a team of activists who organized a march against street harassment in Washington, DC. It was empowering to walk the streets with a diverse crowd of community members, reminding people that they are “our streets, too.” It also felt empowering to raise more awareness about this important issue offline.

Even though street harassment often is a controversial topic, during the march itself, I felt safe and passersby were generally supportive. I didn’t notice any harassment or heckling, which had been a slight concern going into the march. It probably helped that there were numerous male allies in our midst.

I hope the same will be true next week when feminist activist and Dickinson College sophomore Noorjahan Akbar helps lead a community march against street harassment in Kabul, Afghanistan. I suspect their march will be quite different from ours, especially since many people at ours wore shorts and tank tops in the warm summer sun. In addition to having different clothing choices and probably a lot more chance of facing harassment and even attack from passersby, their march will be historic for marking the first time people are taking public action around street harassment in Afghanistan.

The Facebook event page highlights what will take place:

“Hadia, a group of Afghan volunteers, and Young Women for Change (YWC), an organization working for the welfare and empowerment of Afghan women, would like to invite youth across the city to join hands in a campaign [called Advocacy for Dignity] against street harassment of women on Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 3 p.m.

The majority of the participants of this campaign will be women to guarantee the comfort of female participants, but young men who oppose the disrespect of women are also welcome to this event.

Approximately a hundred youth will start walking from Chahari Sadaarat, Shahr, at 3 p.m. and walk to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. This [march] … will end after a half hour gathering in front of the MOWA. During the campaign, members of Hadia and YWC will encourage the public to partake in the peaceful walk as a sign of protest and a method for raising awareness on the un-Islamic act of women’s harassment.

In addition to advocating through the walk, Hadia and YWC members want to use media and propaganda as a means of raising awareness to recognize street harassment of women as a violation of their human rights and an issue that discourages women from social participation.”

How exciting! Yesterday I corresponded with Akbar via Facebook about the march. She told me more about why they are holding it:

“The main reason we are holding this campaign is that despite the fact that women’s harassment is a serious problem that discourages many women from active participation in the society, it is not recognized as a problem. Women often remain silent when they are harassed and men believe it is normal to assault women, just like drinking water.

Harassment of women has gotten worse in the last couple of years as more women have started going out of their houses for schooling or jobs. However, that is not the only reason harassment has increased. Governmental regulations to restrict women’s behavior and clothing, for example the proposed wedding law that requires women to dress “modestly’ in weddings, encourages the people who think like the Taliban and believe women should remain in their homes to harass women as they exit their houses and use women’s “inappropraite” clothing as an excuse.

Through our campaign, we hope that sexual harassment will be recognized as a problem, discussed in the Afghan media and men, rather than the victims who are women, will be held responsible for their disrespectful behavior.”

Except for the middle paragraph, her quote could have been written by almost any woman around the world. Globally, street harassment is not acknowledged as a serious problem (though thanks to important groups like the New York City Council and UN Women who are taking on this issue, this is shifting a little bit) and we need to help raise awareness that it is and get men involved in being part of the solution.

This global problem requires a global response and I am so excited to add Afghanistan to the growing list of countries where there is resistance and activism taking place to make public places safer for women and girls.

For more information about this march and related feminist activism in Kabul, read a UN Dispatch published just yesterday called The Rise of Afghanistan’s Fearless Young Feminists.

Stay tuned for a blog post after July 14 recapping how their march went.

Street Harassment Snapshot – July 3, 2011

July 3, 2011 By HKearl

Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

Street Harassment Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story! You can read new street harassment stories on the Web from the past week at:

Stop Street Harassment Blog

Street Harassment in the News, on the Blogs:

* Huffington Post, “Egyptian Sexual Harassment Returns To Pre-Revolution Levels“

* Al Arabiya News, “Muna Khan: Keep on moving. Or why women-only transportation doesn’t have me jumping for joy“

* MSN India, “Roadside Romeo walks into women cops trap, convicted“

* CNN, “Mobile tech fights sexual harassment“

* ABC News, “New York Anti-Street Harassment Group Asks Women to Hollaback!“

* Care 2, “Guatemala Introduces Women-Only Buses“

* New Statesman, “Laughing matters?“

* Village Voice Blog, “Subway Masturbator Captured on Camera, Shamed by Brave Victim Online“

* The Times of India, “Police set up helpline for girls to tackle eve-teasing“

* Al Masry Al Youm, “The Sexual Harassment File: Do men consider women in harassment?“

* The Gothamist, “Hollaback’s Emily May Talks About Stopping Street Harassment“

* Daily News & Analysis, “Eve-teasing could now land you in jail“

Announcements:

New:

* There are only a few days left help fund Hollaback’s bystander campaign, “I’ve Got Your Back“

Reminders/On-Going:

* The UN launches a “Safe and Friendly Cities for All” campaign

* Sign Mend the Gap’s petition to address subway harassment in Delhi, India

* College students, enter the Hollaback essay contest, entries due August 1.

* Are you in Egypt? Use HarassMap to report your street harassers

* Have an iPhone? Download the Hollaback iPhone app that lets you report street harassers

15 Tweets from the Week:

1. Karnythia @CreoleSoul I am a headphone girl when I go out. So I miss all but the most direct efforts. I get a lot of street harassment.

2. iHollaback We are so grateful to NYC councilmember @bradlander for supporting our work in ending street harassment!

3. ArriannaMarie But honestly… I have had days where I had anxiety about leaving the house & walking down the street to work or class. #StreetHarassment

4. ruthie_dee @hkearl It happens so often I can’t even remember. Always makes me feel angry/self-conscious/humiliated though. #streetharassment

5. FinerFeminist I feel so strongly about street harassment I might tweet every line of this article separately.

6. HelenCLondon I’ve had a man walk past me, grab my bum but actually get his fingers somewhere they REALLY shouldn’t be #streetharassment.

7. The42BusDC if law enforcement responded to verbal and street harassment now, they could spend less time dealing with assaults and such down the road.

8. amandahess L.A. street harassment does not disappoint. Thanks, guy who aggressively offered to shake my hand throughout tonight’s Metro ride!

9. Cillygrrl14 So glad I can go outside again. Above about 25 degrees there’s so much sexist street harassment it’s not worth it.

10. thinkelizabeth just told a street harasser in DC “I can’t believe u just said that” and it stopped him cold. 1st time I’ve had success #streetharassment

11. femmeniste Last night, a guy who looked like a bargain basement Fabio got in my face to tell me I looked “so hot.” It was quite rude. #StreetHarassment

12. LizaEckert Dude just made kissy noise out of a delivery truck. Flipped him off. Should have taken picture. #streetharassment

13. thinkelizabeth just told a street harasser in DC “I can’t believe u just said that” and it stopped him cold. 1st time I’ve had success #streetharassment

14. ruthie_dee Strange as it may seem, I don’t actually enjoy being honked at, pervy fat man. #streetharassment

15. hiddenblackbird So, our car breaks down in Sioux City. Awesome. Let’s stand on the street corner and count how many people catcall at us!

Workshops to Address Street Harassment This Summer in NYC

July 2, 2011 By HKearl

SYDNIE L. MOSLEY DANCES PRESENTS THE WINDOW SEX PROJECT: COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

Workshops to Address Street Harassment This Summer: July 16 and August 20

Sydnie L. Mosley Dances is proud to announce its inaugural Harlem community arts and performance initiative, The Window Sex Project. Harlem women ages 18-35 are invited to participate in a FREE workshop ($10 for non-Harlem residents) on a Saturday, 10 am–3pm. Participants may choose to come on July 16 at Barnard College or August 20 (location TBA).

The workshops not only provide practical methods and resources for women to combat street harassment, but also empower women to define and celebrate themselves through healthy choices and artistic expression. More information and complete schedule is available at: http://www.windowsexproject.com.

The workshops aim to be a safe, supportive space for women to tell their stories about street harassment, when the general culture of this type of harassment encourages women to be silent as they walk NYC streets. By pairing story telling with dance, participants will take immediate action against sexual objectification, harassment and, at its worst, violence. Choreographer Sydnie L. Mosley will facilitate the creation of dance movement by workshop participants about their experiences, which will be used for the later creation of an evening-length dance work to be presented in Harlem.

Mosley says she was sparked by personal experience to start the project. “I realized that I needed to do something,” she explains. “I needed to take a stand, have some kind of response to street harassment. It happens every day. It happens not only in Harlem, not only in New York City; it happens all over the world. So now I am taking both political and artistic action.”

The Window Sex Project is a Harlem community arts and performance initiative produced by Sydnie L. Mosley Dances in partnership with Grosvenor House YMCA, Barnard College Dance Department, Barnard Center for Research on Women, Hollaback! NYC, RINY Media, INSPIRIT Dance Company, Ebony Eyes Artistry, The Body Shop Harlem, and Citizens Committee of NYC.

About Sydnie L. Mosley Dances

Sydnie L. Mosley Dances is a New York City-based contemporary dance company presenting works that seek to actively engage the audience’s physical and emotional senses with dance performance in addition to involving audiences in the artistic process. Choreographer Sydnie L. Mosley is an emerging voice in dance who often produces work that reflects real life experiences exploring, but not limited to, interests in black cultures and the experiences of women. The movement vocabulary reflects various styles of modern, ballet, and African dance, while dancers frequently use their voice with spoken text and audible breath. Choreographed works aim to move people through dance making them feel human with works that provoke a visceral reaction to the physicality on stage, or incite curiosity and conversation.

Contact: Soula Harisiadis, 410-916-1844, sydnielmosleydances@gmail.com

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