Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Father dead after defending daughter from street harasser

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On rare occasions, street harassment escalates into murder. This is a case where that sadly, outrageously happened…to a witness/bystander to the harassment.

“Michael Tingling and his 15-year-old daughter Masharah were inseparable.

“He could’ve gave birth to her instead of me, that’s how close they were,” said Masharah’s mother, Yolanda Simmons. “They hung out like they were best buddies.”

On Wednesday, during one of their regular afternoons together, Tingling and his daughter were approached by a man who “made inappropriate gestures” to the girl, police said. The men got into an argument and Tingling, an ex-boxer, was punched in the chest and collapsed in front of his daughter. He died an hour later.

Police arrested Joseph Firek, who is 59 and on parole for residential burglary, and charged him overnight with first-degree murder and a hate crime, saying Firek kept making racial comments while attacking Tingling.”

More about what happened:

Firek “stared at them, looked at her up and down, and her dad grabbed her, put her behind him and he told him, ‘You need to walk away,’” Simmons said. “The guy was just standing there grinning.”

Firek then allegedly said “What, n*****?” and punched Tingling at least twice in the upper chest, said Assistant State’s Attorney Rita Infelise. The two men exchanged punches until an unknown male separated them.

Tingling, who family members said had a pacemaker, walked away with Firek pursuing him into the intersection of Clark Street and Estes Avenue as Masharah called 911. He eventually stopped following the two, who went into an auto shop where Tingling sat down, saying he didn’t feel well and had shortness of breath, Infelise said. Paramedics rushed Tingling in full cardiac arrest to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, she said, and police arrested Firek at the scene.”

SO HEART BREAKING. This dad was just trying to protect and stand up for his daughter and now he is dead. Street harassment is disgusting, vile, and can have very real consequences. It needs to stop NOW.  Our hearts go out to the 15-year-old girl and the friends and family of her father.

No one should ever be harassed or killed for standing up for a loved one who is harassed.

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World Bank Report: Gender and Transportation in Nepal

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The World Bank just released a new report, Gender and Public Transport in Nepal. They found that 83% of Nepali women work outside the home and one-third take pubic transportation. The main reasons women gave for using public transportation were to go to work and school and they preferred riding the nilo (blue) microbus.

Via World Bank:

“Whatever the mode of transport used, the number one problem for all commuters is overcrowding. In their quest to maximize profits, drivers cram in passengers who are forced to endure “disgusting and sweaty” journeys. Overcrowding is blamed for personal insecurity which ranks second among commuters’ concerns. One in three women and one in six men feel insecure on public transport. This includes the fear of pickpockets, sexual harassment and personal injury.

Young women aged 19-25 years are more than twice as likely as all other age groups of women to specifically relate their feelings of personal insecurity to fear of ‘inappropriate touching’ with 43% noting this concern. In fact, one in four young women aged 19-35 years had had direct experience of this in the previous twelve months. The main perpetrators are middle aged men and more than half of all women surveyed said they would avoid standing or sitting next to a middle aged man while travelling.

Inappropriate touching is not only a problem for women however, as one in ten men who mentioned insecurity as a concern had also experienced inappropriate touching by other men. Men are also twice as likely as women to have directly experienced pickpockets and abuse from drivers and conductors.”

The study was conducted from September to December, 2013 with funding from Australian Aid.

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Man charged for slapping a girl’s butt at store

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Good news in Pennsylvania, via Penn Live:

“A Marietta-area man has been charged with harassment for slapping a young girl on the behind “for no apparent reason” at a convenience store, Susquehanna Regional Police said.

The charge lodged Monday against Ronald E. Walton, 59, stem from an incident that occurred Thursday at a Sheetz in East Donegal Township, police said. They said Walton was a customer at the store.”

Find out what the public harassment laws are in Pennsylvania.

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Massachusetts set to ban upskirt photos

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The Massachusetts legislature moved swiftly this week to fix a law that resulted in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling it was legal for a man to take photos up women’s skirts in public places.

Via Al Jazeera America:

“The new law passed both houses of the Massachusetts legislature in startling quick fashion Thursday, and now goes to the desk of Gov. Deval Patrick, who is expected to sign it Friday.

“We can send a message out there, to the women especially, that this type of action will not be tolerated — now will be illegal under Massachusetts law,” said Speaker Robert A. DeLeo after the new legislation passed, according to the Boston Globe.

The legislation says anyone who tries to photograph another person’s sexual or intimate parts without that person’s consent would face a maximum penalty of more than two years in jail and a $5,000 fine. The penalty would jump to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine if the victim is under 18.

Distributing such photos of a child is punishable by a $10,000 fine or 10 years in prison.”

Wow, I guess legislators can move fast when they want to. I hope the governor signs the updated law.

But did you know, there are other states where non-consensual upskirt photos are legal? For example, they are legal in states like Alabama, Nebraska, and Oregon. Learn more in the SSH Know Your Rights toolkit.

It’s time every state that allows upskirt photos updates its law. They can get guidance on the best language to use from other states like Hawai’i and Washington.

Hawai’i’s law Violation of Privacy in the Second Degree says it is illegal if a person intentionally “covertly records or broadcasts an image of another person’s intimate area underneath clothing, by use of any device, and that image is taken while that person is in a public place and without that person’s consent;”

Washington’s Voyeurism law specifically states it is illegal for someone to take photos or videotape of the intimate areas of a non-consenting person’s body under circumstances where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, including public places.

No one should have to worry about someone taking violating photos of them in public spaces, but should that happen, everyone deserves the right to legal recourse, no matter where they reside.

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Massachusetts Court Rules Upskirt Photos are Legal!

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You’d think if you are walking down the street, riding the bus, or in a store, it’d be illegal for someone to take a photo up your skirt or down your shirt without your permission, right?

Well, when Stop Street Harassment produced a state-by-state Know Your Rights toolkit about street harassment and the law, we found that wasn’t always the case. One of the laws that varied across states were voyeurism-type laws. Typically, these laws protect you from being photographed or recorded against your will at your home and in places like dressing rooms, tanning salons, and public restrooms. Many states have updated these laws to outlaw “upskirt” and “down blouse” photos, such as if a woman is standing in a public space and a man takes a photo down her shirt, or if she is walking up stairs and a man takes a photo up her skirt. But not all states have.

Massachusetts was a state where the law seemed a bit open to interpretation. When SSH intern and lead author Talia Hagerty wrote that state’s page, their law was in fact making its way through the court system to bring forward clarification.

Unfortunately, today, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that upskirt photos are…. LEGAL!!!

Via Boston’s WCVB:

“The ruling came in the case of Michael Robertson, who was arrested in August 2010 by transit police who set up a sting after getting reports that he was using his cellphone to take photos and video up female riders’ skirts and dresses.

The high court ruled that the law that prohibits “Peeping Tom” voyeurism did not apply to pictures taken of people who are fully clothed.

“A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing,” the court said in its ruling.

The SJC says while such actions should be illegal, the way state law is written they are not….

“The ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court is contrary to the spirit of the current law,” said Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo. “The House will begin work on updating our statutes to conform with today’s technology immediately.”

Senate President Therese Murray said she was “stunned and disappointed” with the court ruling. She said the Senate will respond quickly.

“We have fought too hard and too long for women’s rights to take the step backward,” Murray said in a statement. “I am in disbelief that the courts would come to this kind of decision and outraged at what it means for women’s privacy and public safety.”

Gina Scaramella, executive director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, said such photos are a serious invasion of privacy. She said the law needs to catch up to technology.”

Yes, it does!

The good news is, many people recognize the need for a better law.

Via Boston Magazine:

“Sen. Katherine Clark submitted legislation on Beacon Hill to refine the language of the “Peeping Tom” laws to make them less ambiguous. In her proposal, Clark recommended adjusting the wording in the current state law so that it reflects technological changes such as the use of cameras on phones, and increases fines for those convicted of violating the law. Clark also wanted to include the words “intimate area” to the state’s law, so that even body parts covered by clothing—like underwear—would be protected. That definition would cover “human genitals, buttocks, pubic area, or female breast below a point immediately above the tip of the areola, whether naked or covered by undergarments.”

If you agree that people in Massachusetts should have the right not to have their private parts photographed without their consent, here’s a petition you can sign.

For more on this story, visit Hollaback! Boston’s blog and for more on the topic read an article on Time Magazine from a few months ago.

 

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