Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Women protest from Nairobi to Delhi

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Via The Daily Nation:

“Women protest on Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 17, 2014, against street harassment, demanding the arrest of the men who stripped a lady naked when she was on the street.”

Via ABC News

 

“In this photo by Saurabh Das, female police cadets undergo martial arts training at an institute in New Delhi. The cadets will undergo rigorous training for up to three years and then train other female cadets who will be deployed in sensitive parts of the Indian capital to prevent eve teasing, or street harassment of women, as well as molestation and other crimes.”

 

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USA joins UN’s Global Safe Cities Initiative!

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UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray, following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to work together for a safer New York, through UN Women’s Safe Cities initiative. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

The USA is now part of UN Women’s Global Safe Cities Initiative, an effort that started four years ago in just five countries and has expanded to nearly 20 countries.

The Initiative is “the first-ever
global comparative programme that develops, implements, and evaluates comprehensive approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces.”

Via UN Women:

UN Women and the City of New York today signed an agreement to work together in order to enhance the safety and empowerment of women and girls. It is the first such agreement signed between the City and a United Nations entity. As part of the pact, the City will support public education and advocacy efforts organized by UN Women in the context of the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, the visionary roadmap for gender equality adopted by 189 governments in 1995. The City will also join the Safe Cities Global Initiative.

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Chirlane McCray, the City’s First Lady, signed the Memorandum of Understanding at UN Headquarters during the official UN commemoration of the International Day to End Violence against Women. Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka welcomed New York to a worldwide partnership that includes cities in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America.

“We deeply appreciate the commitment of the City of New York to make the streets and public spaces safe for women and girls,” said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka. “With this agreement, New York City demonstrates its global leadership as a champion of women’s security and gender equality. We look forward to working together in this important partnership.”

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USA: Nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men feel unsafe in their own neighborhood at night

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The results of the Gallup’s annual Crime survey, conducted Oct. 12-15, was released yesterday. More than one-third, or 37%, of U.S. adults say they would not feel safe walking alone near their home at night. Gallup says this is in line with the historical average for the question (39%), which dates back to 1965.

However, Gallup notes:

While the percentage of Americans saying they do not feel safe walking alone within a mile of their home at night has remained steady over the past decade, there has been a considerable shift in Americans’ views on this question over the past 30 years. While falling crime rates have not necessarily affected Americans’ perceptions of crime on a national level, they have been felt in neighborhoods and communities across the country.

Nonetheless, women are among the groups that feel the least safe, suggesting the benefits of falling crime rates have not been evenly felt by all. Other groups, such as the young and lower-income individuals, are also more likely to worry about their own safety.”

Indeed, nearly half of all women, 45%, said they do not feel safe walking alone at night, compared with 27% of men. Gallup also found that young adults aged 18 to 29 and individuals earning less than $30,000 annually (compared with those making at least $75,000) were most likely to feel unsafe.

Two years ago, Gallup conducted a similar survey globally and found that no matter the country – developing of developed – there was a gender gap in how safe people felt walking alone at night.

No country has achieved gender equality and no country ever will as long as more women than men feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods.

H/T Chai Shenoy

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#Ferguson and #StreetHarassment

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Via NPR:

“A grand jury did not indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson for any crimes related to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in August.

Wilson, who is white, shot and killed Brown, who was unarmed and black, in an Aug. 9 incident that has stoked anger and debate in Ferguson and beyond”

Resharing this article about the connections between #Ferguson and #streetharassment on this sobering night —

“A group of women in skirts doesn’t provide the grounds for catcalling anymore than black kids hanging out on the sidewalk warrants police harassment and violence….You can’t have a true democracy if one group lives in fear of another.”

See also: http://tinyurl.com/qdoaph7

#BlackLivesMatter #NoJusticeNoPeace

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San Francisco Man Stabbedy by Harasser

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Trigger Warning.

Via Jezebel

“A San Francisco man was stabbed and sustained life threatening injuries simply because he dared to ask a catcaller to leave his girlfriend alone.”

This is one of several stories from the past year where a father, boyfriend or male bystander stood up for a harassed woman and was hurt (or killed, as a father was in Chicago when he stood up for his teenage daughter). We have a SERIOUS problem on our hands that 1) street harassment happens and 2) that some harasses feel so entitled to women’s attention they will hurt anyone who challenges them.

Thank you, Ben, for speaking up and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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