Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Day 1: International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2017

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It’s been an exciting Day 1 of the 7th annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week! Each year, I secretly wonder if anyone will participate and every year I am pleasantly surprised by the number of groups, organizations and people who end up taking actions in their communities. Thank you so much if that includes you! (Also, if you’re an individual reading this, here are 6 ways you can join.)

Here is a sampling of what’s happened so far & stay tuned for the daily wrap-ups each evening (EDT).

  • View photos of the actions in our photo album
  • Online Manager of the Week Britnae Purdy and I were guests on NYC radio station WBAI!

Bangladesh:

Development Action Program (PDAP) organized a campaign against street harassment that included a rally with our staff and young girls.

Brazil:

Women’s Forum of the North Zone of the City of São Paulo, Sampapé, Clímax Brasil held a Gender Safety and Walkability Quality Audit Walk.

Cambodia:

ActionAid’s Safe Cities program in Cambodia did street action.

Watch a video of it! .

Dominican Republic:

The Chapter of the International Law Students Association in the PUCMM did a poster/photo campaign.

 

Indonesia:

Hollaback! Jakarta hosted a chalk walk.

 

Maldives:

Nufoshey released cards people can give to their harassers.

Spain:

Levanta La Voz! Madrid hosted a chalk walk at Madrid’s Complutense University.

UK:

Hollaback! Oxford did a chalk walk and BBC South interview about their work.

USA:

Street action took place in states like Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Virginia.

Hey Baby – Art Against Sexual Violence launched an art/poster exhibit at Tucson’s main library in Arizona.

There was also a lot of online action, including in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Kenya, Pakistan and Romania.

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Six Ways Individuals Can Join Anti-Street Harassment Week

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We’re two days away from Meet Us on the Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week (which falls within Sexual Assault Awareness Month)! Groups in 36 countries are taking part…are you?

If you are hosting an action or event, let us know about it.

If you don’t have plans yet, you can still get involved. Here are six ideas:

  1. Join the Global Tweetathon ALL DAY on April 4 (use #EndSH) or join tweet chats on other days.

  2. Request the Stop Telling Women to Smile posters and put them up in your community.
  3. Write sidewalk chalk messages or hand out/post flyers in your neighborhood.
  4. Share your street harassment story (online or in person).
  5. Post some of our shareable images.
  6. Donate $10 or more to help fund the National Street Harassment Hotline.

No action is too small. Help amplify each other’s voices on this topic and speak out!

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Statement of Support for Jordyn Haime

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Image via The New Hampshire Digital

Jordyn Haime, a University of New Hampshire (UNH) undergraduate student, conducted a local street harassment survey among her peers and shared quotes and stats from it in a display on campus (with support from the campus sexual assault dept.) and it was going to be up for International Anti-Street Harassment Week. But campus administrators had it taken down within hours because the language was “offensive” (e.g. what street harassers said). You can read more here and read Jordyn’s great op-ed.

When I reached out to offer help, one thing suggested was for SSH to write a statement in support of Jordyn. Last night, the SSH board of directors drafted this statement.

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR JORDYN HAIME

Stop Street Harassment (SSH) applauds Jordyn Haime, a University of New Hampshire (UNH) undergraduate student, for her recent campaign about gender-based street harassment.

Her campaign began with documenting the street harassment experiences of her classmates and peers through conducting a survey. The results of this survey were powerful in revealing that the rate of street harassment locally was similar to that nationally.

Ms. Haime’s next step, taken with support from the campus Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program, was to share quotes from the survey — quotes detailing the real life experiences UNH students endured — in a display on campus alongside statistics, facts and resources. This is commendable. Sharing stories, engaging in public education and raising awareness efforts are crucial steps to take toward creating community-driven and localized solutions for safe public spaces.

If people were offended by reading the street harassment stories, imagine what the person who was targeted felt when she or he experienced it first-hand. How can we work to stop these comments from being spoken if we try to hide that they are said at all? Instead of censoring campaigns to raise awareness about street harassment — an issue that, as Ms. Haime says, she and others normally regard as something that “just happened to them” — the administration should celebrate one of its student’s efforts to bring attention to such an important issue.

Street harassment is offensive. It is deplorable. It is uncomfortable. It can cause real emotional harm and even pose health risks when it’s extreme and/or repeated. It is a human rights violation and a form of gender-based violence. But this does not mean we should ignore it or that it is too controversial to discuss.

SSH supports Ms. Haime and anyone else who works to bring attention to the issue of street harassment, especially when those efforts are done in such a thoughtful, measured, and well-researched manner.

Signed,

SSH Board of Directors
March 30, 2017

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These are Our Streets, Too!

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We’re just four days out from International Anti-Street Harassment Week! Groups in 36 countries have signed up to take part. There are plenty of ways individuals can join, too. Here are a few ideas. These are our streets, too, let’s demand SAFE public spaces!

Transcript:

The right to be in public spaces safely, without fearing harassment, is one that people all over the world are routinely denied, and that is not okay. I hope you can join us from April 2 to 8 for International Anti-Street Harassment Week as people and groups all over the world take a stand against street harassment and speak in favor of safe public spaces. You can join workshops, rallies, sidewalk chalk writing parties, flyering and tweet chats. You can learn more by visiting www.meetusonthestreet.org or www.stopstreetharassment.org. Thank you.

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10 Days Until Anti-Street Harassment Week!

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It’s an exciting time! We’re just 10 days out from the seventh annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Our numbers are growing daily and now groups and organizations in 35 countries will participate.

WHAT’S GOING ON
If you’re joining in, we need to know WHAT you’re doing! We post the info on our Events page so people who want to become involved in the Week can see what is happening near them. It also helps us when we pitch media and write articles to be able to report on the range of actions.

So help both you and us out by please completing this short form to let us know your plans! (A big thank you to everyone who has already informed us.)

STOP TELLING WOMEN TO SMILE
We’re excited that for a fourth year, Stop Telling Women to Smile is hosting an International Wheatpasting Night during the Week, April 7. To participate, complete this form.

PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE
Here’s a press release template you can use to announce your events/actions in your community.

GLOBAL TWEETATHON
Please join the Tweetathon on April 4! Tweet about street harassment issues any time that day (any time zone, any language) while using #EndSH in your tweets. Be sure to check out what other twitter events will take place during the week.

BLOGGING!
If you wish to guest blog during the week (or have an entry cross-posted from your blog), please email HollyKearl@yahoo.com and BPurdy@mail.umw.edu, with a short pitch about what the blog would cover and the preferred date or time range you’d like it published.

LOGOS, IMAGES, FLYERS
We have a selection of shareable images and downloadable fliers on our website! Feel free to use them however you would like.

Feel free to reach out anytime with questions, suggestions, or information!

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