Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

New Campaign in Costa Rica

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ItsaBigDeal6Launched this week for International Anti-Street Harassment Week, It’s A Big Deal campaign “aims to raise awareness about street harassment, worldwide.

“It’s also about getting men to talk about it, because they are directly involved and it affects them as well.

Most of the time not taken seriously, street harassment is seen as a joke or an inoffensive game. However, its consequences are much more important than we think. Street harassment is a sign of structural violence that exists toward women in most societies; it perpetuates gender inequality and is a source of insecurity.

Because it is the problem of everybody (women and men), we need to talk about it. It’s A Big Deal!

It’s A Big Deal campaign was born on the campus of the University for Peace in Costa Rica. It is a project realized by two students for a course in “Gender and Media”.

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Watch: “I Smile Politely”

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Newly released this week, check out Ness Lyon’s spoken word piece “I Smile Politely,” performed by actress April Hughes. Director of Photography & Editor: Luke Bartlett.

Ness wrote about the back story for The Pool, here is an excerpt:

“I’d been harassed in the street personally as a young woman, and professionally I’d handled sexual harassment cases as an employment solicitor, but it wasn’t until I experienced street harassment in my role as a mother that I felt compelled to publicly speak out.

Last year, on a family holiday in Southeast Asia, the part of the world I grew up in and which I adore, a man in the street made a sexual remark to my 10-year-old daughter that left her feeling terrified. I asked her how she reacted to the man’s comment and she answered, ‘I just smiled politely and quickly walked away.’ I felt a surge of anger: how dare that man make my child feel she had to respond to being sexualised with a polite smile. I told her that if someone made her feel uncomfortable, she shouldn’t feel she had to smile. But then I hesitated, remembering the times in my teens and twenties when I’d been subjected to humiliating, provocative and threatening comments by strangers. Sure, sometimes I’d sworn or glared in response. And on one memorable occasion, merely responded with a look of pure disbelief when a man shouted at me to “smile love for God’s sake, it might never happen’…. when I was in a hospital. ON CRUTCHES.  But a lot of the time, I too had simply smiled politely, not wanting to offend….

I wanted to explore this issue the best way I knew how: by writing about it. I started by having lots of conversations with a diverse group of women, hearing about the various ways they all ‘smile politely’.

I wrote a spoken word piece about it, performed by actress April Hughes (at WOW Festival and in a video to mark Anti-Street Harassment Week)….

My daughter’s phrase of ‘I smiled politely’ was a refrain echoed by nearly every woman I spoke to about street harassment. I want us to change that conversation: why, when we talk about politeness in these situations, is the word usually in relation to the woman in the scenario, and not the man? Instead of expecting us to simply smile, men need to learn to ‘speak politely’.

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100% of Women in Buenos Aires have Experienced Street Harassment

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International Anti-Street Harassment Week officially kicks off tomorrow, but the global activism is already starting…!!

Last year, there was legislation passed in Argentina to designate an annual day against street harassment, to coincide around the time of International Anti-Street Harassment Week.

The day was yesterday and The Movement of Women of the Motherland of Latin American released a new study showing 100% of women in the City of Buenos Aires have experienced street harassment. The full survey results are available in Spanish. They include the following:

“Half the participants reported being subjected to sexually explicit comments, 59 percent reported obscene gestures, 47 percent had been followed by a man and 37 percent reported having a man’s genitalia exposed to them unasked…

87 percent reported avoiding dark or deserted streets, 63 percent won’t walk in certain areas unaccompanied and 51 percent dress in a manner that ‘doesn’t attract attention.'”

April2016-BuenosAiresStudy

The survey is part of larger campaign launched by MuMaLá called #ParemosElAcosoCallejero (#StopStreetHarassment).

The campaigners have an up-hill battle as the country’s President once said, “All women like to be told compliments, even if if it’s something something rude like, ‘What a cute ass you have’… it’s all good,” but documenting the problem and showing the negative affects it can have is an important way to start changing public opinion.

 

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Next Week, Take the #Hollaback Challenge

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SelfCareCross-posted with permission from a Hollaback email:

“Harassment is ubiquitous. It can be the commuter getting into your space on the subway, the comment under the stranger’s breath as they walk past you on the street, and the too-long stare that makes you feel like someone’s watching you on your walk home.

Often, harassment leaves us questioning ourselves, asking “did that really happen?” or even wondering what we did wrong. You can feel uncomfortable, bugged, and “off,” but you push those feelings away to be able to function.

But what does it mean when harassment becomes normalized – and what happens to you? “

This International Anti-Street Harassment Week (April 10th-16th), join us in reclaiming the mental and physical space pushed aside by harassment with the #hollaback challenge: a week-long daily challenge of reflection, healing, and action. Join the #hollaback challenge today to re-center yourself and take control of your own narrative.

When you sign up, you’ll be entered into a daily draw for some serious HOLLA-Goodies, including tote bags, buttons, iron on #catsagainstcatcalls patches, and more. It’s a win-win-win. Stories and maps will be shared through our social media. And, of course, you can always choose to remain anonymous.”

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The Black Girl Movement: A National Conference

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BlackGirlMovementVia Girls for Gender Equity:

“In 2014 Girls for Gender Equity joined a planning committee of activists, scholars, and artists to plan “Black Girl Movement: A National Conference” a free, three-day public gathering at Columbia University in New York City that will focus on Black girls, cis, queer, and trans girls in the United States. Bringing together artists, activists, educators, policymakers, and black girls who are leaders themselves, this first national conference on Black girls seeks to address the disadvantages that Black girls in the United States face, while creating the political will to publicly acknowledge their achievements, contributions, and leadership.

‘The Black Girl Movement is more than a conference,’ says Girls for Gender Equity founder Joanne N. Smith. ‘It is an uprising, a declaration, a demand, and an affirmation. Black girls and women have been leading racial and gender justice movements for centuries, so our conference is a space for us to connect our multiple movement building goals and strategies as we continue to lead the way.'”

Joanne will moderate two panels on Friday, April 8th, Best Practices, Policy and Philanthropy and Sisters in Strength youth organizers will lead a School Pushout workshop and curate strategies for a Black Girls Bill of Rights. Registration is full so if you haven’t registered, you can watch April 8th via Livestream  https://livestream.com/accounts/557662   

Join GGE for the opening reception on April 7th! It begins with PICTURING BLACK GIRLHOOD EXHIBIT –At 5:00pm – The EXHIBIT is FREE, open to ALL and will display until Saturday.  Check out the event page.“

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