Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Egypt: Towards a Safer City Report

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From our friends at HarassMap in Egypt:

“After two years of hard work, HarassMap is pleased to share with you the publication of its study “Towards a Safer City”. This study is considered a pioneer one, as it examines the effectiveness of technologies in gathering data on incidents of sexual harassment in Egypt. The study utilized a triangulation of crowdsourced, qualitative and quantitative data to allow for greater accuracy and build a riches understanding of the phenomenon of sexual harassment in Egypt.”

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Viral Videos from Latin America Address Street Harassment

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Yes! More viral videos on street harassment, this time from Latin America. Via Global Voices Online:

“In Peru, street harassment is a reality that many women have to deal with, even on public transportation.Natalia Málaga, a former volleyball player who now coaches the Peruvian national women’s team, is the face of the “Sílbale a tu madre” (Catcall your mother) campaignagainst street harassment, sponsored by the organization Paremos el acoso callejero (Let’s stop street harassment) and fitness and sporting goods company Everlast.

In the staged video, men make sexual comments at women who pass them on the street (these guys are known as faltosos in Spanish, meaning disrespectful). But the men are rendered speechless when they find out that the women are their mothers in disguise, who then give their sons a verbal lashing for the behavior.

The video has gone viral, with more than 3.4 million hits on YouTube so far”

“In Chile, entertainment YouTube channel Woki Toki released a “social experiment” it called “La revancha de los agarrones” (Revenge of the touchers) several months ago, which has more than 4.2 million views. In the video, a woman gives men she passes an agarroncito (little touch) on the hand or bum, an unwelcome action that some men in the country inflict on women in the street.

At the end, the host says she is surprised that none of the guys who experienced the “little touch” felt uncomfortable (some even asked her out on a date). She tells male viewers not to give women agarroncitos because it makes them uncomfortable and isn’t funny.”

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USA: Nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men feel unsafe in their own neighborhood at night

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The results of the Gallup’s annual Crime survey, conducted Oct. 12-15, was released yesterday. More than one-third, or 37%, of U.S. adults say they would not feel safe walking alone near their home at night. Gallup says this is in line with the historical average for the question (39%), which dates back to 1965.

However, Gallup notes:

While the percentage of Americans saying they do not feel safe walking alone within a mile of their home at night has remained steady over the past decade, there has been a considerable shift in Americans’ views on this question over the past 30 years. While falling crime rates have not necessarily affected Americans’ perceptions of crime on a national level, they have been felt in neighborhoods and communities across the country.

Nonetheless, women are among the groups that feel the least safe, suggesting the benefits of falling crime rates have not been evenly felt by all. Other groups, such as the young and lower-income individuals, are also more likely to worry about their own safety.”

Indeed, nearly half of all women, 45%, said they do not feel safe walking alone at night, compared with 27% of men. Gallup also found that young adults aged 18 to 29 and individuals earning less than $30,000 annually (compared with those making at least $75,000) were most likely to feel unsafe.

Two years ago, Gallup conducted a similar survey globally and found that no matter the country – developing of developed – there was a gender gap in how safe people felt walking alone at night.

No country has achieved gender equality and no country ever will as long as more women than men feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods.

H/T Chai Shenoy

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