Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Kenyan program improves boys’ attitudes towards girls

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We need this kind of programming in every country, every school!

Via Reuters:

“The schoolboy watched as a man tried to remove the nappy of a little girl he was dragging along a Nairobi riverbank, suspecting that he was going to rape her. Having been trained to defend girls against sexual assault, the boy called other young men to help him confront the man and rescue the child.

“It would have been fatal,” said Collins Omondi, who taught the boy as part of a program to stamp out violence against women and girls in Nairobi slums. “If this man would have assaulted this kid, he would have thrown her inside the river.”

Omondi teaches a program called ‘Your Moment of Truth’, run by the charity Ujamaa Africa which encourages adolescent boys to stand up against violence toward women.

The training is “highly effective” in improving attitudes toward women and increasing the likelihood of successful intervention, researchers from Stanford University, University of Nairobi and United States International University-Africa said. The training increased boys’ successful interventions when witnessing physical or sexual assault by 185 percent, from 26 to 74 percent, according to their study to be published later this year in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.Interventions in verbal harassment also increased, and rape by boyfriends and friends of girls in schools where ‘Your Moment of Truth’ was taught dropped by 20 percent, from 61 to 49 percent, the researchers said.”

H/t Soraya Chemaly

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#YouthWill Tweet Chat Today

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All day today, thousands of people will be sharing ideas on how to end ‪#‎StreetHarassment‬ through an online conversation conducted by NGOs from various countries, including Stop Street Harassment We invite you to participate and share your ideas! Use: ‪#‎YouthWill‬

Participating groups:

Twitter:
@ocacchile @ocaccolombia @ocacnic @hollaback242 @equality242 @HollabackTC @HollabackHRM @hollabackmumbai @atrevetebogota @noacosocalles @StopStHarassmnt @ThinkOlga

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Second Street Harassment Study in Chile

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Posted with the permission of Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero Chile

* New study shows that serious street harassment practices such as touching, exhibitionism and masturbation affect two in every five people on average.

* High percentage of citizens agree that sexual harassment in streets should be punished.

SANTIAGO, 19 March.- This week (March, 16th), at the former Congress, the Observatorio Cotra el Acoso Callejero – OCAC Chile (Observatory Against Street Harassment) presented the results of its second study, “Is Chile willing to punish street harassment? Study of characterization and opinion about street harassment and possible sanctions.”

Among the findings of the study, notes that three out of four people have suffered street harassment in Chile in the last 12 months, which means 75% of the population. In the case of women, the percentage reaches 85% and of men 55%.

The study also revealed that cases of street harassment are common: two in five people have suffered rubbing, touching or groping in public spaces, and 23% of women have experienced some form of serious harassment (persecution, exhibitionism, public masturbation).

Regarding the perception of the public on this issue, the results show that 84% of people totally disapprove any practice of harassment, whether “compliments”, groping or exhibitionism.

Another surprising fact was the boldness of the result of the question “Are you willing to punish street harassment?”. The answer was a resounding yes: over 90% of people said they would sanction any for of street harassment. What, in the Observatory’s opinion, demonstrates the need to legislate.

“This study reinforces our policy action: analyze a type of violence that has been naturalized and do not accept to have 12 years old girls who need to be “used to street harassment. The results of our second study demonstrate that we are facing a significant social change, Chileans think street harassment is harmful and should be punished”, said María José Guerrero, sociologist and parti of the OCAC Chile’s Studies team.

To conduct this study, OCAC Chile was sponsored by UN Women and European Union.

 

Press contacts

Observatorio contra el Acoso Callejero (OCAC)
Javiera Contreras
comunicaciones@ocacchile.org
+569 8136 7869

Programa de Fortalecimiento de Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil que Promueven la Igualdad de Género ONU Mujeres – Unión European
Mónica Maureira M.
maureira.monica@gmail.com
+569 9959 4156

 

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ActionAid Report: Women and the City III

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Our friends at ActionAid have released their third report on women’s experiences in cities — including their experiences of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence. You can download the full report for free.

From their website:

“This report reflects the experiences of over 3,000 women and girls living in urban communities in Brazil, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Liberia, Nepal, South Africa and Zimbabwe. While the women and girls interviewed in this baseline study shared their views that cities can be places of choice and empowerment for them, they also spoke of the multiple challenges they face in enjoying their rights and freely making choices about their daily lives. Freedom of movement and expression within these urban spaces is severely limited by harassment,violence, fear of violence, lack of adequate and gender-responsive public services and stereotypical, negative perceptions about women and their place in society.

ActionAid works with some of the poorest women in city communities worldwide, including migrant workers and those living in slums. These women struggle to make a living in the informal labour market, fighting against forces that subjugate them socially and economically. Mobility means survival for many of these women and girls – many of whom walk miles in the morning and evening or use public transport to travel to and from work or school. Yet in going about their daily lives they are confronted by situations of sexual harassment, assault and violence that trigger feelings of shame, fear and distress.”

 

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New Study: Street Harassment in Australia

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The findings are very similar to other regions of the world.

Via The Observer:

“The survey of 1426 females found 87% were verbally or physically attacked while walking down the street and men were responsible for 52% of the attacks. 40% of women feel unsafe in their own neighbourhoods at night…In addition to verbal harassment, physical street harassment is also a relatively commonplace occurrence, with 65% of women experiencing physically threatening harassment. One third of women had been kissed without their consent and a quarter of women report being threatened after rejecting the sexual advances of a stranger.””

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