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Croatia: Map the Violence, Break the Stereotypes

December 10, 2015 By Correspondent

Marinella Matejcic, Croatia, SSH Blog Correspondent

Today, information is everything. The possibilities are endless: by using your computer, you can check the weather in a village behind the seven seas, read about growing carrots in a jar or, in some countries, check what’s the crime ratio in your neighborhood by clicking a couple of icons.

Yes, the last one is the topic of today’s blog post: is it possible to map violence? Sure it is. You just have to know how and where to look for the data.

In the early spring of 2015, a group of volunteers from two organisations – Hollaback Croatia and Code for Croatia – decided to join their forces to produce a website that would deliver information on the numbers of different crimes that happen in the Republic of Croatia. The initiative is aware that there is a strict and proper frame for combating violence in the family or the workplace, but that does not stand for street violence and/or harassment. They’ve recognized the possibilities of technology and wanted to change things. “The initiative works with zero funds and on the entirely voluntarily basis” – Miroslav Schlossberg from Code from Croatia told us.

One of the goals of the project was to raise the transparency of work of the bodies of public and state administration. As Croatia has a good Law on the right to access information and the Ministry of the Interior is open to cooperation, they started collecting information on crimes that occurred in the last five years. Ana Maria Filipovic Grcic, a volunteer from Hollaback Croatia said, that the idea itself was nothing new: similar things already exist in other countries. Per instance, India has the most criminal maps like the Croatian team is developing, except that they’ve already made an app that refreshes the data in real time. After all, India, unfortunately, is one of the countries with highest sexual violence and harassment ratio, and this is one of the ways that the community decided to fight it.

Hollaback! Croatia is already mapping citizen’s personal experience of harassment in public space. The team that develops Croatian application believes that by joining more sources of data (the official ones, from the police, and the data submitted by citizens) they will be able to provide a more reliable service. For that matter, they are collecting the general data, without names and details, just plain facts: when and where, and what the qualification of the crime is from both the Ministry and the citizens. The initiative is interested to find out how often do the particular crimes occur and what is the general safety level of the cities they are collecting the data for.

By mapping and providing the information on the crime rates in the capital of Croatia, Zagreb, and the rest of the country, it would be easier to learn what the real problems are and why is that violence happening after all. With an information sheet like that, it would be possible to conclude what can be done by the municipalities, do prevent the crimes from happening. It is important to highlight that the a map like this would help break the stereotypes on some neighbourhoods’ reputations and to show that the attacks are happening all over the country, and it’s not related to the time of the day and a particular public space.

The biggest part of the project is carried by the expert group Code for Croatia with help from the HollaBack initiative. There are five people on the team, but they are always looking for an extra pair of hands and a source of reliable financing. Mapping the violence is a significant joint project, which is a substantial evidence that, for starters, good will, time and experience really can change the world.

Marinella is a freelance journalist/writer, feminist activist, and soon-to-be administrative law student. She writes for Croatian portal on gender, sex and democracy called Libela.org and covers CEE stories for globalvoicesonline.org. Follow her on Twitter @mmatejci.

The Netherlands: Demystifying Dutch Tolerance

October 26, 2015 By Correspondent

Eve Aronson, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, SSH Blog Correspondent

Have you heard of the Dutch Myth of Tolerance? It’s not a myth in the mythical sense, and it’s not a fairytale, though it does sound admittedly magical.

Since the 17^th century, the Netherlands has been a smorgasbord of races, ethnicities and religions and has continuously championed itself on what are known as “pillars” of tolerance.

The Dutch Myth of Tolerance is reflective of the disintegration of these pillars towards what has become an increasingly harsh critique of the narrative of ‘acceptance and multiculturalism’ in the Netherlands (or the lack thereof).

At first, the presence of this myth throughout my research was subtle. People told me about their experiences of street harassment and may have thrown in some (racially) identifying characteristics of their harassers. But after several months, it became evident that a more solid smokescreen lurked, and that the notion of Dutch pluralism and tolerance was not always as strong as it presented itself to be.

When people talk about street harassment in Amsterdam, it is not uncommon to highlight the race or ethnicity of one’s harassers, particularly if they are of Moroccan or Turkish decent, two of the largest minority populations in the Netherlands. Often times, the harasser is also tied to a particular neighborhood. For example, one person I talked to said: “In my experience, harassment was worse in neighborhoods with a lot of immigrants from cultures…Moroccans for example.” Another echoed: “A lot of catcalling, primarily from members of black communities”.

A report released in March of this year by the city of Amsterdam also highlighted particular minority-populated neighborhoods and communities as being more affected by street harassment, which arguably worked to further emphasize the link between street harassment and race or ethnicity.

Many of you might also recall the October 2014 video of a woman walking through the streets of New York in the US. The video heavily criticized for selectively showing a disproportionate number of men of color harassing the (white) woman in the video. Emphasizing connections between street harassment, race and location is not only completely inaccurate; it also strips accountability from a significant proportion of harassers who fall outside of these stereotypes and who are harassing women in Amsterdam just as often.

Below is a map of locations tagged by 48 respondents of a recent street harassment survey that I conducted in Amsterdam. Take a good look at where the majority of incidents are reported:

(Source: BatchGeo 2015)

The majority of the geotagged incidents were reported in the center of the city, mostly around touristy areas and not in areas of the city known to have large minority populations (Biljmer, Zuid-Oost and Oost, for example). What this data does then, is encourage a revisiting of stereotypes of street harassment in Amsterdam, albeit from a purely geographic perspective. And this is just a start. The more stereotypes are checked—particularly using visual tools and visualizations—the more people are realizing that street harassment extends beyond race, ethnicity and geographical area.

What kind of impact does this have on the ground? Understanding street harassment as part of broader power structures does not mean that everyone gets this memo, and in this vein, individuals’ lived experiences are critical to take into account. But without denying individual experiences with street harassment, it is important to underline the implications of making generalized statements about races or communities.

Starting up a Hollaback! in Amsterdam is one way to work towards exposing exactly what happens on the ground and where. Geotagging experiences of street harassment not only confronts the Dutch Myth of Tolerance but it also provides an important starting point for conversations about street harassment and race in the Netherlands. Coupled with other awareness-raising initiatives and campaigns, addressing racial stereotyping in conversations about street harassment through such visual tools also encourages a look at street harassment through a much broader lens—one that unfortunately does not make the fight against street harassment easier but who said this was going to be easy? Ultimately, what taking a more comprehensive approach to street harassment does, is it makes the work more strategic and more effective in the long run.

You can find the full analysis of the Amsterdam survey results here or by contacting Eve at evearonson@gmail.com. Follow Eve and Hollaback! Amsterdam on Twitter at @evearonson and @iHollaback_AMS and show your support by liking Hollaback! Amsterdam’s Facebook page here.

The Netherlands – Amsterdam: Haven of Sex, Drugs and Rrr…Catcalls?

September 24, 2015 By Correspondent

Eve Aronson, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, SSH Blog Correspondent

When people think about Amsterdam, what usually comes to mind is a fantastical world of marijuana, Red Light Districts and lots of gorgeous canals running through the city.

The Netherlands is not really an obvious place to look at street harassment. Ranked fourth in Europe by the European Institute for Gender Equality, and ranked 14^th in the world according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, the Netherlands at first glance appears to be doing fairly satisfactorily in terms of promoting gender equality.

But there’s also a lot of people here and, consequently, a lot of room for mischief. There’s over 4,000 people per square kilometer in Amsterdam to be precise, which is about twice the amount of people in the same amount of space in New York and London.

So many humans sharing so little space doesn’t only lead to horrendously clogged roads (and bike paths) during rush hour, but also inevitably to more catcalls, more groping and to more instances of harassment in these overcrowded public spaces.

In January and February, I conducted a detailed survey of people’s experiences with street harassment in this ‘great small city’.

In just two weeks, I received a flood of over 150 responses from women, men, LGBTQ-identified folks and people of color. What their experiences underlined was that street harassment was happening in Amsterdam and that people were itching to talk about it.

The three most popular types of harassment reported were ‘Greetings’ like Hey baby and Hi sexy, Hissing or Whistling and Sexual Comments. Below is a chart of all reported types of harassment by the survey respondents in Amsterdam:

Along with the types of harassment listed above, a significant number of people also reported experiencing non-verbal forms of harassment like leering, or smirking. One respondent described their harasser(s) as, “Looking at me with their eyes like they are already ripping my clothes off and raping me very violently. Looking at me like me fighting back would only turn them on more”.

What do these and other forms of street harassment do to those who experience it? What are the effects and long-term consequences, if any? To some survey respondents, the answer to these questions was that there were none, and described their experiences as ‘benign’ or ‘normal’.

Some respondents described their experiences as complimentary. Last year, New York Post writer Doree Lewark spoke to such interpretations, pointing to the euphoric nature of catcalls: “[W]hen a total stranger notices you, it’s validating…What’s so wrong about a ‘You are sexy!’ comment from any observant man?… For me, it’s nothing short of exhilarating, yielding an unmatched level of euphoria”.

But for many people in Amsterdam, what they experienced was far from euphoric. One respondent explained that she has been diagnosed with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) as a result of years of street harassment in Amsterdam, a recent encounter of which left her with a broken nose after she called her harassers out.

Below are two figures illustrating the extent of the effects of street harassment on the folks like the respondent above. The first shows 14 different effects that street harassment has had on people’s day-to-day lives in Amsterdam. The second gives a glimpse into some of the emotional effects that street harassment has on people who experience it:

Survey respondents used words like “suspecting”, “fearful”, “frustrated”, “depressed” and “angry” to describe how they felt after being harassed in the streets or on public transport in Amsterdam. The experiences of these respondents were far from euphoric—rather, they are red flags that what is understood as ‘harmless’ or ‘playful’ to some is in actuality having a huge impact on how people move through public spaces and interact with others.

In April, I launched a local Hollaback! chapter in Amsterdam to provide an outlet to folks who have experienced street harassment to post their stories, get resources and mobilize on-the-ground actions. A local partner, StraatIntimidatie, is also currently running an online petition, vying for a nationwide law against street harassment.

One story told and one signature at a time, street harassment is being named and fought here in Amsterdam and around the world. Next time, I’ll talk about some cool new ways that online and digital technologies are being brought into the fold to really shed light on the pervasiveness of street harassment in Amsterdam and beyond. I’ll also talk about some important challenges that come with using these newer forms of activism and how they risk perpetuating certain racial and ethnic stereotypes about who harasses, who is harassed and why. See you next month!

Hollaback! York – The Challenges and Rewards of Starting a New Group

April 18, 2015 By Contributor

Guest Blog Post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2015

We are launching a new branch of Hollaback in York, UK and getting set up and running has been a pretty positive experience for us so far. York is a fairly small city and isn’t really known for its activism, so we had been worried at the start that there wouldn’t be many people wanting to get involved. But the response has been really great – it just goes to show that street harassment really is something that affects almost everyone and once you start the conversation, people are always keen to join in. The two universities in York have recently launched anti-sexual harassment campaigns and zero tolerance policies, and seeing people in our community take sexual harassment seriously makes us really hopeful that things can change in York to become a much safer space for everyone.

Having said that, we have had a couple of challenges, including being denied permission from the council to do a chalk walk during International Anti-Street Harassment Week. We were really looking forward to that; chalk walks from other anti-street harassment groups are always really popular, as they are a great quick and fun way to spread awareness that prompt the public to ask questions and get involved. So we are having to get a little creative and find some alternatives instead!

Our favourite part so far has been the incredible network of support from other anti-street harassment sites and blogs all over the world, all sharing and learning from each other and working together to build our knowledge and understanding of such a complex issue. However, what we are really looking forward to is making a difference to people in York when our site is officially up and running. Street harassment can be a dangerous and humiliating experience and we are keen to get stuck in with anything we can do for our community to show some support, provide some comfort, or empower someone to speak out.

We have found out that there are plenty of ups and downs in this work, but we are definitely looking forward to more of it!

This piece was written by the Co-Director of Hollaback York

Kenya: “Because I Speak Out, I Feel Safer”

April 16, 2015 By Contributor

Guest Blog Post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2015

Setting up Hollaback! Nairobi dates back to late 2013. I was harassed by two drunk men on my way home. I was actually on my street surrounded by people that had known me since I was a child and it hurt that none of them did anything to help me. The two men were walking behind me and saying a lot of nasty things because I had a long slit in the back of my dress that showed my thighs. I tried to ignore them and kept walking. I don’t really remember the details of the altercation now but what I will never forget is that one after the other they put their hands up my dress and though I did manage to hit one of them before they ran off I was violated. I have never been able to forget what that few seconds felt like and I have never been able to wear that dress again. I told many of my friends about it and it was one of them told me about Hollaback and the work they do. It was very easy to make the decision to sign up and setup a site for Nairobi.

A lot of things happened in my life that made it difficult to setup immediately but every new experience I had or heard about from a friend strengthened my resolve to make sure it was actually set up. Hollaback! Nairobi’s official launch was in January 2015.

Three months later I am still a one woman team and it’s a little daunting since I also have a full time job. I am often second guessing myself about whether to speak out about an issue or stay quiet and there is also some procrastinating on whether to advertise, print out stickers and flyers but I believe in time it will all get easier and I will find a couple of team members willing to join the movement for all the right reasons. So far in the recruitment process, I have encountered two types of people. Type 1 wants to take over and turn the movement into something it’s not; a full time job with massive donors and trips abroad. Type 2 are interested in taking part but don’t really want to put in the time.

Unfortunately, getting people to speak out and share their stories has been very slow despite the growing number of rape cases, and other forms of gender based violence. In fact two of my school mates, one from primary school and another from law school were killed by their boyfriends in 2014. Additionally, in November and December 2014 videos were shared all over social media of men publicly stripping women on the streets for what they call dressing indecently that went viral and had many Kenyans take to the streets to protest against these actions. In 2015 public a member of parliament has been accused of raping a journalist in his publicly funded office.

The need for activism on any form of gender based violence in this country grows every single day and it will only be a matter of time before people are able to speak out more on the issue, before people are able to share their stories and maybe even put their names and faces on their experience.

Before that day comes, Hollaback! Nairobi’s main focus is education. People have yet to accept that street harassment is a violation, that it causes harm to the victims, eating into their self-confidence little by little. It certainly isn’t rape but that doesn’t make it any less important. Besides, if we were to teach people to respect us on the streets in broad daylight they will certainly respect us even in the dead of night.

Getting victims to speak out in a society where people say they have larger problems to deal with like terrorism and starvation will be an uphill task but I think it can be done. Building a society where people feel safe and respected is an all rounded affair. We cannot focus on one and ignore the other.

What I have loved most since joining Hollaback! is the support this community provides. It’s like having a personal team of cheerleaders every step of the way. As a person, I feel more confident about myself because I can speak out. And because I can speak out I feel safer. I had completely stopped taking any public means of transport but it’s now the exact opposite. I rarely drive myself anywhere on weekends. Life is so much better when you can walk and enjoy the sunshine.

My community hasn’t yet accepted our existence here but if it has had this effect on me, I am sure it will spread.

Wacu Mureithi Directs Hollaback! Nairobi

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