hollaback Archives | Page 22 of 25 | Stop Street Harassment

Weekly Round Up March 21, 2010

March 21, 2010 By HKearl

Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

On this blog, a woman in Los Angeles is arrested after she sprays mace at an aggressive harasser (!), a woman in Georgetown, DC, tells a harasser to stop and he tells her she can’t tell him what to do, a woman in Georgetown, DC, gets an apology from a harasser, and a woman in NYC is harassed by a group of teenagers on the subway on St. Patrick’s Day.
On HollaBack NYC, a woman helps get a pervert at a diner kicked out, a group of women harass another woman using race-based slurs, a woman photographs a creepy guy on the train, and a group of men harass a woman from their car as she walks home in Brooklyn.
On HollaBack DC, a woman is grabbed by a man on a subway escalator, a guy threatens to walk a woman home, a man yells out to a woman from his car and then curses at her when she doesn’t thank him for the “compliment,” another woman gets into a dialogue with a harasser after he calls her sweetheart, and another man tells a woman he has condoms and all he wants is one night with her.
Street harassment stories on other blogs: “Rape Culture Hurts Everyone,” on Feminuity, “Street Harassment [in Morocco],” on Studying Abroad, and “Dear Creepers,” on Stories from the Realm.

In the News:

My Republica reported on street harassment in Nepal.
A man was arrested under suspicious of assaulting two transwomen in NYC with a metal pole.
Toronto’s The Globe and Mail printed an article entitled “Guys, catcalls are never cool” (I’m quoted in it).
Numerous news sources and blogs reported on research by Stephanie Chaudoir and Diane Quinn of the University of Connecticut that revealed that based on how women who are harassed feel, men who harass women in public give all men a bad name.

Announcements:

HollaBack NYC is looking for volunteers with various skill sets to help them take their work to the next level.
Share why you “Holla Back” for the HollaBack NYC website.

Events:

Resource of the Week:

Todd Denny’s book Unexpected Allies: Men Who Stop Rape

Weekly Round Up March 14, 2010

March 14, 2010 By HKearl

Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

On this blog, one woman shares three different harassment stories that happened to her this week in Georgetown, Washington, DC, a woman in NYC is harassed on her way to jury duty, and a woman in MA is harassed in an elevator at her workplace.
On HollaBack NYC, a woman shares how a compliment from a man on the street turns into him stalking her!
On HollaBack DC! a woman wishes she had verbally confronted men who harassed her and pulled on her arm and another woman talks about a man who followed and harassed her and her sister.

In the News:

Women-only taxi cabs are introduced in Cairo because of male harassment
One of the women in the first same-sex couple to marry in Washington, DC, mentions street harassment in an article about it.
Three teens recently died because of male harassers and predators.
An op-ed about the need for the legal regulation of street harassment appears in the Huffington Post (written by yours truly)

Announcements:

If you’re in the UK, check out the new anti-street harassment group, the LASH Campaign.
Be the first to test out the HollaBack! phone application when it comes out!
Blank Noise in India is looking for new logo submissions
RightRides/New Yorkers for Safe Transit is hiring
HollaBack DC! has dubbed March as Public Transit Awareness Month

Resource of the Week:

One Angry Girl has many shirts and bumper stickers with anti-street harassment slogans

Weekly Round Up March 7, 2010

March 7, 2010 By HKearl

Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

A woman in Edmonton, Canada, remembers being groped on the street by a man walking by, another was followed by a man in Brugge, Belgium, and another woman in Virginia, sees the men who harassed her a few weeks earlier.
On HollaBack NYC a woman snaps a picture of a man who groped her and reports him to the subway manager
On HollaBack DC! a woman retorts to a harasser at an Eastern Market metro station, another one is harassed at a bus stop, and a third woman is harassed by a man in a car as she walks to the metro.

In the News:

Politics Daily ran an article called, “‘Eve Teasing’ in India: Fighting for Change as Sexual Violence Grows”

Announcements:

Be the first to test out the HollaBack! phone application when it comes out!
Blank Noise in India is looking for new logo submissions
RightRides/New Yorkers for Safe Transit is hiring
HollaBack DC! dubbed March as Public Transit Awareness Month

Resource of the Week:

The documentary “Hey…Shorty” by Girls for Gender Equity: Watch a 2 minute overview and purchase the 20 minute documentary.
“This youth-produced documentary focuses on women of color’s experiences with street harassment and men of color’s ideas about and intentions behind the behavior. It exposes the frequency with which street harassment occurs, dispels myths about who it happens to and why, and examines the root causes of why men feel it is their right to approach women, in ways both friendly and violent, in public spaces. Young women share stories of bottles being thrown at them, older men grabbing their hand, and other examples of how street harassment creates a hostile environment for women that perpetuates a culture of violence and the fear of men. Men show off their ‘holla’ skills, give advice to women on how to respond to their advances, and are challenged to think about street harassment in a new light, one that resonates with them in a profound way.”

Weekly Round Up Feb. 7, 2010

February 7, 2010 By HKearl

Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world.
Share your story!

On this blog, a woman in NYC tells about a sexually explicit comment made to her on her walk home, a woman in an unspecified location tells how a man tried to drag her along with him and his friends, and another woman in Virginia had a man make inappropriate comments to her and then hurl insults at her on her way to work.
On HollaBack DC! a woman remembers how a man spit in her face as she crossed Key Bridge a few years ago and another talks about how she passed by a man who flashed her on the street.
On the blog Freedom Fighter Alicia writes about a harassment experience in Washington, DC ,on the metro.
On HollaBack NYC, a woman successfully told a man who was rubbing up on her on the subway to stop, another woman was masturbated on by a man during her subway ride, and another woman was harassed on the street and then blamed for it by a police officer to whom she reported it.

In the News:

Women and girls in Islamabad, Pakistan, talk about harassment while riding and waiting for buses.
A man groped a woman during a Disneyland ride and she filed a report.
The New York Times covers subway muggings, harassment, and assault and cites New Yorkers for Safe Transit.
Learn how to react to guys who groper on Jezebel.
Rachel Simmons discusses whether or not girls see street harassment as a badge of honor or a battle scar.
Equal Writes discusses anti-harassment ads on the New York subway system.
A writer on the Guide to Global Muslim Culture talks about women-only public transportation from the perspective of a woman who has used it in Egypt.
On Gender Across Borders a writer talks about being fed up with street harassment and the male gaze.
HollaBack NYC co-founder Emily May was interviewed for Global Sister.

Events:

Vagina Monologues fundraiser for a DC chapter of RightRides on Feb. 13 and 14.

Resource of the Week:

Global Action Project’s video “Crossed Lines”

NYC steps up efforts to make subways safer

December 2, 2009 By HKearl

As any woman living in or visiting NYC, or as anyone reading the website HollaBackNYC will know, street harassment is a major problem there.

Public transportation is one of the hot spots for such offenses. The NYC Transit says there have been 587 reports of sexual offenses in the subway system so far this year, mainly on the Lexington Avenue 4, 5 and 6 lines. Harassment and assault are very under-reported, so the real numbers are far worse.

For more than a year, New Yorkers for Safe Transit have been working specifically to make the subway and bus systems harassment-free. For example, for over a year there have been anti-sexual harassment print ads and, for almost a year, audio ads on several subway lines, thanks to their efforts. Recently they testified at a hearing on sexual harassment on public transportation.

Their continued pressure and activism is leading to more efforts on the part of NYC’s transit system.

MTA reports they will increase the number of automated messages in the subway stations warning against assaults and they will begin distributing anti-groping posters and brochures.
They are working with the NYPD to have more officers at stations, especially during rush hour, so targets of sexual harassment can more easily report offenders. Victims of subway sexual harassment can also call NYPD’s Sex Crimes Report Line at 212.267.RAPE.
Building off the method HollaBackNYC uses for “hollaback”ing at harassers with camera phone photos, NYPD is working on a pilot program that would enable victims to send photos of harassers to police officers, who can investigate the case even after the harasser has slipped away into a crowd. This is essential because so often harassers only harass when they know they can escape or when they know there will be no witnesses.

Lastly, here are recent tips released by the NYPD for dealing with sexual harassment on the subway:

Do not be ashamed or afraid to report the offense to the police or an MTA employee immediately.
During off hours, wait at the marked waiting areas on the station platforms and sit in the conductor’s car when the train arrives.
Know your way around your subway stations: the locations of exits and where stairwells lead.
If the sex offense happens on a crowded subway car, if you can do so safely, step away from the perpetrator and loudly let others know what the offender is doing.
If you are in an empty car, leave the car and find one with more passengers.
If you can do so safely, use your cell phone to take a photo of the perpetrator, or make a note of any distinctive features or items of clothing.
If the perpetrator follows you off the train, call the police and stay in a crowded area.
Remain alert and awake.

Kudos to the New Yorkers for Safe Transit for keeping on the pressure and to the MTA and NYPD for stepping up their efforts to make subways safer and freer of sexual harassment.

« Previous Page