Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Do you have a “go-to” phrase you use when you’re harassed?

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Please share it in the comments.

If you don’t have a go-to response, that’s okay! It’s not necessary. But if you’re like me and often find yourself stunned to silence by harassers, a go-to phrase can be really useful.

So if you’re looking for a response you can practice and give without thinking twice, you may find a conversation that occurred yesterday on the Stop Street Harassment Facebook page helpful.

Stop Street Harassment: Do you have a go-to phrase when dealing with harassers?

Mine is, “Don’t harass women.” I like it because I can say it quickly and it applies to any situation. Plus the phrase allows me to identify the behavior and tell them not to do it and I feel like I’m standing up not only for myself but for all women who are harassed!

1. mine has become, “you can’t talk to women like that. you have no right to harass anyone. it’s gross.”

2. It depends on the context, obviously, but I’m a big fan of just yelling ‘NOT A COMPLIMENT’ or ‘NOT FLATTERED’. Also short and gets the point across.

3. Do you always walk with it in your hand – used this one a couple of times in Hindi

4.  Mine’s a little more….direct. Two words- the second word’s ‘off’.

5. i’ve said, “don’t talk to me like that,” “i didn’t walk by for your pleasure.” i want to start saying, “would you talk to your mama that way?” but i think talking about someone’s mama could get a little tricky in certain situations. oh, and my favorite finger.

6. no i don’t.my response depends on the situation and how i am feeling.

7. Mine is “go ___ yourself”. I change it to “leave me the f’ alone” if the situation is more precarious. With either, you must have a total ‘don’t f with me’ attitude to pull it off. I do.

8. I said this to a man once: He told me to smile and I said “stop harassing women.” He said – “I’m gay!” I should have asked him if being gay means it is impossible for him to treat women in a condescending way.

9. I sometimes say “Don’t talk to me (or look at me) like that – I don’t like it.”

10. “Effing perv” seems to be my standby, in the loudest voice I can lay my vocal chords to.

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“Stares”: Spoken Word by Philly Youth Poetry Movement Members

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This is POWERFUL. Hear Safiya Washington and Kai Davis perform “Stares,” a spoken word piece about receiving unwanted male attention in public and not receiving wanted male attention in public and the similar way it makes them feel about themselves.

Both of these articulate, passionate young women are part of the Philly Youth Poetry Movement, which is a non-profit organization committed to helping the youth of Philadelphia discover the power of their voices through spoken word and literary expression. Through free weekly workshops, monthly slams, national/local performance opportunities, mentoring and community service, PYPM provides a safe environment for at-risk youth ages 13-19 to use poetry as a vehicle to express and advocate for themselves, explore their identity(ies), enhance literacy and critical thinking skills, and become agents of social change.

Their piece reminds me how for many women (especially young women), interactions with men in public are either as the target of unwanted attention or nonexistent because we are invisible because we don’t meet the traditional beauty standards. The notion that women’s worth is based on how men view them is damaging; we are more than our bodies, we are more than what others think of us and how they treat us. We should be respected and we should be visible.

[Thank you @NualaCabral for sending the video]

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Pakistan: Two films about street harassment

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What does street harassment look like in Pakistan? Does wearing a burqa reduce street harassment?

Find out the answers in the two short films created by Naveen Naqvi, Executive Director of Gawaahi. In the text of the films “Stop Staring!” and “Stop Street Harassment,” she writes:

“Street Harassment is a global phenomenon that is largely overlooked, and even considered acceptable despite there being laws against it in many places including Pakistan. Street harassment includes making sexually explicit comments, ogling, whistling, following and groping.

In the making of these videos, we found that many Pakistani women, especially from the lower-middle classes began wearing burqas because they found the additional garment enabling in many ways. However, they find that the problem of street harassment has worsened, and even in burqas, they are harassed as they wait for buses, rickshas, taxis, or walk down the street. We found that this intimidation was experienced by women across class, age, religion and ethnicity.”

View the films (you can choose the “closed captions” option to read English subtitles) and stay tuned for an interview with Naqvi about her work to make public places safer for women in Pakistan!

 

 

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Employers should care about street harassment

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Should employers be concerned about the street harassment their employees face going to and from work?
Yes, while employers aren’t legally obligated to do anything about commuter harassment, they should care about it.

1 – Commuter harassment contributes to job turnover when people get so sick of the harassers along their commute that they decide to quit (this happened to 9% of respondents for a survey I conducted for my book).

2 – It can cause a decrease in work productivity if harassment in the morning makes an employee too upset and distracted to do their job.

3 – The harassment can also mean fewer people are willing to stay late to work or to attend networking events or meetings because of the fear of harassment on their way home.


I wrote about commuter harassment for Forbes.com last year and this past spring, Business and Legal Resource, Inc. (BLR), a leading human resources organization, wrote about it, too.

On Monday, while I was on a business trip in Connecticut, I had the opportunity to meet with some of the staff at BLR. We chatted for about 45 minutes about commuter harassment and they were very interested and open to the idea that employers SHOULD care about the harassment employees face during the commute. In fact, BLR was so interested in the issue that they conducted a short video interview with me for their website, where HR professionals across the country can view it and learn more about commuter harassment.

In the video clip, I offer a few recommendations for what employers can do. The Forbes.com article details a few, too. So view it and feel free to share it with HR representatives at your job.

Have you faced street harassment during your commute? What impact has it had on your job? Has your employer ever addressed that type of sexual harassment?

 

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Sri Lanka’s street harassment problem and the solutions

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When more than 95 percent of women feel it’s unsafe to travel alone in public spaces in Colombo, Sri Lanka, it’s no surprise that one in four women report sexual harassment on public transportation in the country, according to a new report from the Transport Ministry.

Via the Daily Mirror:

“The Minister revealed that a large number of women are being subject to verbal and physical abuse in buses and trains each day. He said that this has contributed to the decline in the use of public transport by passengers in recent times.

The Minister said the issue needed to be addressed in order to ensure that women are afforded their basic rights and to ensure the public transport system does not spiral downwards.

‘Steps have already been taken to introduce new programs and workshops next month for both Private and SLTB bus drivers and conductors to better educate them on the importance of providing better services for women without being subject to harassment and abuse in buses,’ he said. Ministry sources said that such programs will also be introduced for railway services in the future.

Ministry sources said that if bus passengers are subject to harassment when using public transport they could make their complaints to 011 7555 555.”

It’s great that they are creating programs, workshops, and trainings to address the issue, as opposed to creating women-only transportation, as have governments in more than 15 countries. Guatemala is the most recent example.

Via Sunday Times, Students pledge their support to end street harassment

More good news is that organizations in Sri Lanka called Reach Out and Beyond Borders are currently running an anti-street harassment campaign called Join the Fight Against Harassment. They recently held a “Man Up” event to engage boys and men in ending street harassment.

Here’s more about their campaign from the Sunday Times:

“Apart from consulting victims, psychologists and NGO’s, Reach Out took to the street and gathered research in a more dynamic way. ‘Reach Out, together with Beyond Borders (a youth led NGO), carried out various disruptive theatre performances at public places where we enacted scenes of harassment spontaneously in order to identify the public reaction. We even spoke to people on the streets and school children.’…

Reach Out’s approach is to instill moral values in the younger generation. ‘The whole problem in contradiction to the fight against harassment is the attitude and mindset that, harassment cannot be stopped. This needs to change. Harassment can be stopped, we just need to work hard and join against it.'”

Absolutely.

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