Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“They continued trying to create a picture of me as the victim who deserved this act of violence”

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I was driving into an outdoor shopping center a little after lunchtime when two men who were walking in my direction looked at me and yelled, “Hey” in a loud and not-so-friendly way.

When I didn’t look in their direction, they hit my car with metal pipes and yelled, “Hey, Bitch watch where you are going.”

I drove my car to a different area of the parking lot. When I walked out, they followed me in their car and yelled,”Hey, Bitch you really need to listen to us. You’re not that important.”

When I reported this incident to the police, they advised me to stay in the same parking lot while they sent a patrol car, which never arrived. They joked about it and asked me what I had done to encourage their behavior. When I finally decided to drive to the police station in Canoga Park on my own, the police officers asked me if I like it hard in the middle of their interview with me of the incident. They continued trying to create picture of me as the victim who deserved this act of violence. They behaved in the same way with another woman who was filing a report against a man who had assaulted her.

However, they were far too patient with a man who was talking about real estate laws because it allowed the police officer to gloat about the house he owned. It showed the dichotomy between the way the police officers treated the women and men in their precinct. There was not one single female police officer in the precinct and as I and the other woman told our story, the police officers in the front and back chuckled and laughed, because that is how much they valued our words.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

Educate police personnel not to take this issue lightly. The police officers I spoke to on the phone joked about it and insinuated that it was somehow something I had done that caused the incident. Make sure there are enough female officers or well trained officers to deal with these types of incidents.

– Anonymous

Location: Shopping center on the corner of Topanga Ave in Woodland Hills

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas.

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USA: Street Harasser Shoots Into Women’s Shelter

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Kathleen Moyer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Past SSH Blog Correspondent

On Thursday, one Philadelphia man showed just how much street harassment can escalate, just how entitled some people feel to other’s bodies, and just how little regard some have for women’s lives.

Police are currently searching for a man who fired shots into a North Philadelphia women’s shelter Thursday afternoon.

According to investigators, the unidentified man approached a woman outside a Rite Aid and attempted to speak to her. When she refused, he followed her into the store and trailed her as she shopped. When the woman was finished shopping, she began to walk back to the women’s shelter where she lives and noticed that the man was still following her. Shortly after she entered the shelter, surveillance footage shows the man standing outside, then pulling a gun out of his pants and firing several shots into the building.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

This case shows that street harassment truly is a heinous act. Some people may dismiss it as a way of complimenting someone or guys just joking around, but it’s not. It goes much deeper than that. Think about what must have gone through that man’s head for him to get to the point where he was motivated to potentially kill people because a woman didn’t want to talk to him. He didn’t see a woman outside that Rite Aid; he saw an object he was entitled to conquer. When he failed, his pride was hurt so much that he felt the need to stalk her, instill fear in her, and assert his dominance over her. Then, when she finally got to safety, in a building filled with women who had possibly been treated like objects by other men with the same mentality, he decided that she didn’t deserve to live. None of the women, who were presumably safe, deserved to live. Even if the shots were only intended to be a threat, he knew very well that he could end up killing someone and he decided that was a fair outcome. Why? Because a woman didn’t want to talk to him.

Street harassment is not flattering, it’s not funny, and it’s not a trivial problem. Street harassment kills, and it’s time to acknowledge that horrifying fact. Luckily, no one died in this case, but far too many people have been killed as a result of street harassment. Someone who was stalked and shot at should not be considered lucky, because at least she’s still alive. It’s time for society to start addressing street harassment like the serious issue it is, so no other person has to endure what this woman did, and so no one dies in such a senseless way in the future.

No arrest has been made in this case yet. Anyone with tips should contact the Philadelphia Police Department.

Kathleen is a full-time graduate student studying professional and business communication. She plans initiatives to increase awareness of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other related issues through her university’s anti-sexual violence group, Explorers Against Sexual Violence.

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“Hey, I don’t like being treated that way and I want you to stop”

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Standing by the traffic light on my local college campus, I heard a loud scream behind me and whirled around to see two guys in a pickup. It was so random that I couldn’t think what to do–but next time I’d just go over and say, “Hey, I don’t like being treated that way and I want you to stop.” I don’t think it would actually stop them, but it would break the cycle where one person hurts another on purpose and nobody says anything.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

Having websites like this is a great start. But I think it really starts at home. If kids learn by example that respect doesn’t involve fear or violence, and that safe spaces are “the norm” while attacking people–including verbally and emotionally–is socially damaging in a real and long-lasting way, they won’t grow think it’s funny, cool, impressive, or harmless to make random gestures of aggression at strangers. Obviously nobody taught these guys using that kind of example, so they’ll have to figure it out for themselves.

– Anonymous

Location: Chapel Hill, NC

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas.

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Afghanistan and Canadian Efforts

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HarassMapAfghanistanAfghanistan:

Check out the new HarassMap campaign in Afghanistan where people in the country can share their street harassment experiences.

Canada:

Via CBC:

“With the Calgary Stampede just a week away, a social media campaign using the hashtag #SafeStampede is gearing up.

Organizers say they want to spark a conversation about sexual harassment, consent and respectful behaviour.
 
“I think changing attitudes is what’s going to change behaviour,” said Elizabeth Booth, one of the community advocates who started using the hashtag during last year’s event.
 
A lifelong Calgarian, Booth says she loves the Stampede, but she sees a dark side to the debauchery.
 
“There’s a lot of alcohol and just this long-standing tradition that it’s a time to misbehave,” she said.”
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“Are you really not ashamed at all?”

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I was wearing shorts, a little above my knee length, and coming back from college that day. It was a hellish experience so I wrote this:

Those eyes,
When they move,
Don’t you know I see them?

I see them as they plunder my legs,
And slowly,
my whole body.

My body is mine.
“MINE!,” rings a bell?!

Those eyes,
Shameless, lustful,
Can you look at you with those same eyes?

Those same eyes,
That same face,
Are you really not ashamed at all??

Just so you know,
I see them.

Don’t you know?
I see them.

I see them
And I’m furious.

– Adishi

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

I believe there is a desperate need for more women to reclaim public spaces and fight against the “Why are you here?” stares that we get.

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas.

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