Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
Twyla is a student at South High School in Minneapolis, MN. For her humanities finals she did a “ripple effect” project where she choose something that’s important to her and do something to make a difference about it. She chose sexual harassment in Minneapolis, MN. Her group and she created an informational website about how street harassment effects their community and ways to stop it.
The Women’s Equality Party is a political party that was founded last year in the UK. One of their agendas is addressing violence against women, including street harassment. Last week I had the honor to Skype with one of their co-founders and their Head of Policy & Partnerships, Halla Gunnarsdóttir. We brainstormed possible policy solutions they could suggest or campaigns they could run.
Fortunately, the new mayor of London Sadiq Khan identified the issue in his campaign, specifically on public transit, saying: “Women face specific challenges on our transport network that are not currently being addressed.” He promised, “As mayor I will take these problems seriously.”
And the Women’s Equality Party has already taken measures to begin to address the issue. The have campaign called #WEcount: Reclaiming Our Streets for Women. Here’s info from their website, including how you can participate:
“WE are now extending #WEcount across the UK so that women right across the country can make their voices heard and say: this must stop,” said Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party.
“WE are asking our supporters to post photos of their hands on social media with the hashtag #WEcount, showing a postcode or place where they have experienced sexual harassment, assault or verbal abuse. Alternatively, they can email their photos to WEcount@womensequality.emailnb.com to be posted anonymously.”
The campaign also includes a film featuring Pavan Amara, who built the “My Body Back” project after being attacked and has helped hundreds of women who have been assaulted to reclaim their lives.
Women can mark their experiences on an interactive map of the UK (wemap.org) by dropping a Google-maps-style pin. In London, this map will be on display for the week on a dedicated billboard at Westfield shopping centre, Shepherd’s Bush.
And in a digital first, the campaign will be brought to life for Londoners with the use of a new visual browsing app, BlippAR.
WE have painted 10 physical markers – which show the Google maps pin transformed into an exclamation mark – at locations around the capital, from the Houses of Parliament to Parliament Hill. People who ‘Blipp’ the mark will receive a host of content and information about the campaign, as well as details of what support is available.
Walker added: “An estimated 400,000 sexual offences against women occur in the UK each year. Despite their frequency, the majority of these incidents are unreported, and women are left feeling unsafe and unable to walk without fear on their own streets. WE want to reclaim our streets.”
“WE are the only party who are making the sexual abuse and harassment of women a political priority. WE will show that women right across the UK are affected by this every day – and that every one of us counts.”
Cross-posted with permission from SallyOReilly.com.
You’ve probably already heard about the new Calvin Klein advertising campaign. It’s worked, that’s for sure, in that Twitter and Facebook can’t get enough of complaining about it. And of course the pro-sexism and creepy factions can’t get enough of defending it and lashing out at people who recognise it for what it is – blatant sexist glamourisation of and dismissal of sexual harassment.
It’s so depressingly predictable. I almost didn’t write about it because I don’t want to give the advertisers my attention when I have better things to do right now – like eat lunch for example.
However, I’m incensed. I’ll be brief (that’s not a pun).
This new campaign features butt selfies, dodgy slogans, curiously vagina-like grapefruit and ‘upskirt’ shots of a girl who is not only not annoyed but is kind of, pleased looking. Because it’s flattering to have an upskirt shot taken right? At least that’s what they want us to think. They want us to think that women should be pleased to be objectified, and that being available in this way is what female sexuality is about. That this is erotica (yes ..they’ve actually officially called it “Erotica”). After all, women are the target market – right? (!!??)
“Eat_in #MyCalvins”
#RollsEyes
This shot, despite vast amounts of complaints (which I’m THRILLED about) is still live on their Instagram account as I type.
It is appalling, and utterly lacking in awareness and basic empathy, that womens’ experiences of sexual assaults and sexualisation are being normalised and packaged as ‘Erotica’ in this way.
Erotic for whom exactly? Well, I think we can answer that..
But that’s Calvin Klein for you. I don’t know if you’re aware of this but if you have a teenage daughter who has recently insisted that you buy her CK underwear there is a very real chance that on her Instagram there is now a shot of her in said underwear, possibly with some sideboob showing and a host of ‘likes’ from strangers, hashtagged #MyCalvins or #meandmycalvins.
This is grooming.
At ‘best’, teenaged girls are being trained to view themselves as sexual objects without desires of their own. At worst the brand is encouraging underaged girls to pose in ways that will attract sexual predators and who will grow up to believe that their function is to look and be sexually available and to be OK with , indeed to like with being viewed as such. How is that erotic for them?
And now, these predators can feel more OK about it, after all the ads have gone viral and teens themselves are hashtagging away, blissfully unaware of the sinister side of their online activities.
I’m concerned, very concerned.
Please engage your teenagers in a conversation about this when you get a chance and consider signing any online petitions you can find. While there is the irritating reality that we are giving CK more publicity here, there is a more positive reality too – people are beginning to see how very real the threat of advertising is to the self esteem and sexuality of our women and girls. And people power is a real thing.
Meanwhile – #NotBuyingIt.
Sally O’Reilly is a psychologist, psychotherapist & clinical supervisor based in East Cork, Ireland. She holds the European Certificate of Psychotherapy from the EAP and is a graduate member of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Visit her websites and follow her on Twitter, @psychosal.
Do you have an idea for an anti-street harassment project in your community but need some funds and guidance? Then apply for SSH’s Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program. Groups anywhere in the world can apply.
Examples of past projects include: art projects, workshops in high schools, conducting community surveys, awareness campaigns and more.
Project proposals are due June 15, 2016 and the projects should take place between July 15 and November 30, 2016.
Each selected team will receive $350 for the project as well as advice, connections and publicity. Extra consideration is given to groups and individuals who may not have other funding sources available to them. Past recipients may apply again.