UPDATE: THE BOOK IS OUT!
You can purchase it here. Google is selling ebooks for 20% off!
Read an excerpt from the introduction.
Out of the heightened media attention to the issue of street harassment last fall following the “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman” video, I signed a contract for a second book with Praeger Publishers, the publisher of my 2010 book Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women.
When that book was released exactly five years ago, it was one of the only books available on the topic and entities like the NYC City Council and United Nations immediately used it to inform new efforts to address the problem. Five years later, the landscape has changed a lot (for the better) when it comes to how people understand the issue, how it is covered in the media, and what is being done about it.
My new book looks at the time period of 2010 – February 2015 and highlights what individuals, grassroots organizations, international entities, and governments are doing to address street harassment. The final chapter suggests what else needs to be done. Around 75 activists are quoted, featured, or have essays in the book and it covers the issue on six continents and numerous countries. I am grateful to everyone who was involved.
GET THE BOOK:
You can purchase it here. Google is selling ebooks for 20% off! You also can request a copy or copies of the book for your local bookstore or library or personal use from Praeger directly. If you are a journalist who would like a review copy, please contact me, hollykearl AT yahoo DOT com.
BOOK EVENTS:
September 17, Washington, DC book launch event. It was at American University. I was joined by activists from Afghanistan, Egypt and the USA and local anti-street harassment groups had resources and were available to answer questions. Read the recap of the event and watch videos of my four co-presenters.
September 30, I will be a speaker at George Mason University’s Fall for the Books event in Fairfax, VA, 1:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
November 5: New York City book launch event. It will be at the famous feminist bookstore Bluestockings at 7 p.m. I will be joined by activists from the Netherlands, Nigeria, and NYC. The event is free and open to the public. Facebook RSVP page.
November 14: I will have a book signing at the Winchester Book Gallery, Winchester, VA, 4-6 p.m.
Contact me if you are interested in hosting me for a book event! Here is information about campus talks.
THE TWITTER CHAT:
On September 1st at 11 a.m. EDT/3 p.m. GMT, activists from around the world who are featured in the book tweeted about street harassment in their area and what they are doing to stop it. Read the Storify of the conversation.
BOOK REVIEWS:
“In Holly Kearl’s new book, she powerfully and compellingly analyses the scale and breadth of the problem of street harassment and presents the reader with an uplifting snapshot of the activism being undertaken to tackle it. This is a hugely important global exploration of a seismic shift in our attitudes and responses to a universal experience. For some readers, the scale of the problem as Kearl describes it will be shocking. For others, it will be horribly familiar. But the campaigns and strategies she outlines for taking back the streets will fill every reader with hope, energy, and a powerful urge to be part of the solution. This is an important book and a compelling call to arms.”
“This book represents a major breakthrough in exposing the pernicious, prevalent, but long-ignored form of oppression that is a barrier to freedom and full equality for women around the world. It offers comprehensive analysis and research, is clearly written, and presents useful tools and information for those seeking change. It addresses misogyny and the related issues of race, culture, and gender identity with great insight and originality.
In the mid-1970s when my colleagues and I were defining and organizing around the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, the problem of street harassment seemed too complicated and daunting for us to tackle. I am grateful to Holly and a new generation of women activists and researchers who have taken the fight to a new level to raise public awareness and change public policy and ingrained prejudice and behavior.”
“As Holly Kearl documents, street harassment is not a new problem. What is new is the strength of community activism and government support to end street harassment. This book updates us on the current fight against street harassment and the progress that has been made in the last five years. Understanding the role street harassment plays in perpetuating gender inequality and patriarchal power is crucial to improving women’s lives across the globe.”
“Stop Global Street Harassment is a sensitive and harrowing examination of the frequency, severity, and implications of a global pandemic disproportionately impacting girls and women: street harassment. Holly Kearl, activist and founding leader in the Stop Street Harassment movement, interweaves a powerful narrative combining global perspectives from social science research, personal narrative, and journalistic/social media accounts, resulting in an intersectional pièce de résistance. Kearl’s work is the most comprehensive work on the issue of global street harassment to date.
A compelling read and a brave indictment of hegemonic privilege, Stop Global Street Harassment represents a living account possessing the power to ignite a global audience by underscoring the experiences of untold activists, researchers, students, and parents throughout the world. This crucial work culminates with practical solutions and policy prescriptions that will not only inform NGOs and governmental entities, but also serve to inspire those individuals who live with street harassment on a daily basis, most of whom possess non-dominant identity statuses. This work is a call to action. Readers will be inspired not only to listen for the untold voices that have yet to be heard, telling their tales of the daily harassment they face in simply navigating public spaces, but also to work for change within their own communities. Stop Global Street Harassment is a must read.”
“What an excellent resource Kearl’s book is for activists and scholars! Stop Global Street Harassment: Growing Activism Around the World should be read by feminist leaders far and wide; it would be a great reading selection for those teaching courses that address global issues, social problems, social movements, and gender issues. Holly Kearl has written an easy-to-read, engaging book about street harassment and the movement she helped develop to document and end it.”
