Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

New Resources from Australia

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“Conceptual understandings and prevalence of sexual harassment and street harassment” is a new publication by Bianca Fileborn, a Research Officer with ACSSA at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Here’s the overview:

“This Resource Sheet provides an overview of the existing research on women’s experiences of sexual harassment and street harassment. It also considers conceptual models of sexual violence that are inclusive of these experiences.

Women’s experiences of street harassment and sexual harassment are focused on in this paper. It is acknowledged that men can also be the victims of this behaviour. However, street harassment and sexual harassment are highly gendered occurrences. Women are overwhelmingly the victims and men the perpetrators. The language adopted throughout this Resource Sheet reflects this gendered reality.

Further, the conceptual model of sexual violence discussed later in this publication (the continuum model of sexual violence) applies more specifically to women’s experiences of sexual violence across their life course. That is, women experience a broad range of sexual violence (ranging from the relatively “minor” to severe forms of sexual violation) at rates considerably higher than men. Further, while rates of victimisation remain relatively steady for women across their life course, rates of victimisation against men tend to decline across their life course (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2006).

Key Messages:

* Sexual violence, as a form of violence against women needs to be conceptualised in a way that reflects women’s actual experiences, ranging from relatively “minor” forms of sexual violence through to sexual assault and rape.

* The harm of sexual violence is not always directly correlated with the perceived seriousness of the behaviour. Individual women experience forms of sexual violence differently. The context behaviour occurs in also plays a role in mediating its harm.

* All forms of sexual violence are interconnected, and are underpinned by the same social and cultural attitudes.

* Sexual harassment and street harassment are highly prevalent and common experiences for women. They are often not talked about and not taken seriously as harm (particularly street harassment).

* Sexual harassment and street harassment need to be included in policy and legislation targeted at preventing or responding to sexual violence.

* Information on current responses and disclosure mechanisms is also provided towards the end of this resource.”

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Internet Game: Choose Your Own Adventure

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“Good morning! Isn’t it a beautiful day to be a woman? It’s time to get up and go about your business doing lady things, but you can’t do that it your pyjamas – you need some clothes! “

So begins an Internet game created by Alyson Macdonald in Scotland. You choose what you want to wear and where you’re going, but… then see what happens as you try to go about your day as a woman (hint: street harassment).

She kindly wrote to me about the game and where the idea for it came from —

The original idea came to me after reading an article about some ridiculous internet games about hair care and facials that are aimed at women. The idea of “women’s interests” – in magazines, games, or anything else – really annoys me because it lumps all women together as a homogeneous group who are only interested in gender stereotyped activities.

The women I know aren’t like that. Yes, some of my friends do enjoy having their nails done or own a huge collection of eye make-up, but that’s one tiny part of who they are. So I decided on a whim that I wanted to parody these games about Lady Things with a game about experiences which are common to most women.

The idea of making an unwinnable game about sexual harassment pretty much appeared in my head fully formed, and even though I’d never actually made a game before, this idea made me want to give it a go. I did a bit of online research and discovered a piece of software called Twine, then a couple of days later I was releasing my first game on the internet.

The reactions so far have mostly been positive, from both feminists and indie game enthusiasts (and the two aren’t mutually exclusive). A couple of anti-feminists have left comments telling me to “man up” and stop treating women as if we’re too delicate to cope with being catcalled or groped. But I’m not saying that women can’t cope with harassment, what I’m saying is that we shouldn’t have to.

Alyson Macdonald lives in Edinburgh and has been a feminist since the day she heard a teacher explain what the word means. She is a co-editor of the blog Bright Green and tweets as @textuallimits.

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No Dog Pooping? No Street Harassment!

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Whenever I see a “no dog poop” sign, it always makes me think about how street harassment is this huge social problem yet there are no signs against it and no fines to deter harassers. So, I decided to make two signs myself 🙂 What would you put on a street sign against street harassment?
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BMC’s “Street Harassment Spectrum” Chart

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Brooklyn Movement Center is doing A LOT to address street harassment this summer. They’re holding regular meetings with community members to discuss the issue – and possible solutions. One of their current initiatives is working with community members to create a chart listing different types of street harassment, reasons why the harasser may be doing them, and ideas for responses.

Via Village Voice:

“On July 20, they released the first draft of their Street Harassment Spectrum on their website. It charts harassment on an “intensity score” of 1-10, from non-aggressive verbal communication at one end (“Hey beautiful”) to groping at the other. For each type of harassment — making gross sounds, staring, walking too close, non-sexual touching, following, masturbating openly like a perverted chimp with no boundaries — they suggest why the harasser might feel entitled to do such a thing, as well as potential responses from the harrass-ee.”

Here’s an excerpt of the draft (here’s the link to the full version):

Partial Screenshot of their Street Harassment Spectrum
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Talk 2 Q Radio Show: Street Harassment

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Cross-posted from SSH Board Member Relando Thompkin’s blog

This past Sunday, I had an opportunity to be a guest on the Talk 2 Q Radio Show with my colleague Holly Kearl, founder of the non-profit organization Stop Street Harassment, to discuss the issue of gender-based street harassment.

Check out our interview below, and share your thoughts in the comments. (Warning: Some language might be offensive).

Full disclosure: As a current board member of this organization, and a man who is passionate about engaging other men about this topic, I was excited to take this opportunity.

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