Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Afghan men promote women’s rights, Indian men harass girls

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Via Huffington Post

Via HuffPost:

“A group of Afghan men marched through the capital, Kabul, on Thursday to draw attention to women’s rights by donning head-to-toe burqas that for many people worldwide have come to symbolize the suppression of women.

The hardline Taliban forced women to wear burqas in public during their rule in the 1990s and concern is growing in Afghanistan and among its allies that gains for women made since the 2001 U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban are at risk. The men marched under a leaden sky, with the bright blue burqas falling over their heads down to muddy sneakers and boots.

The demonstrators, associated with a group called Afghan Peace Volunteers, said they organized the march ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.”

Meanwhile, in India, 8 young men on bikes harassed 20 schoolgirls who were riding a bus on their way home from their Board exams. The bus drivers stood up for the girls and the young men escalated their actions, injuring the bus drivers. One girl was also injured when the young men pelted the bus with rocks.

Parents of the girls registered complaints and two of the young men have been found and arrested.

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Kabul Woman was Forced to Flee

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Images and news of Kubra Khademi’s protest in Kabul, Afghanistan have been spreading online. She explained in an interview for this article why she chose to walk through the streets wearing metal armor:

“She first experienced street harassment when she was only four or five; a man touched her backside and she couldn’t say or do anything about it. At that young age, she wished she had an armored shirt so she couldn’t feel the touch of the man. As she grew older, she realized there was another body part of her that caught the attention of men: her bosoms. She says she experienced more street harassment on the streets of Kabul as she grew older. Her experience with street harassment motivated her to make the armored costume, adding that ‘I want people to remember my work, and they will remember my work…I wanted people to start talking about street harassment,’ and she succeeded in that.'”

Today I found out that a lot was happening that we didn’t see in the photos. Men were harassing her, insulting her, throwing rocks at her, and groping the female friends who came to support her. She planned to walk for 10 minutes but after just 8 ran into a taxi to escape the harassment. And even then, men hit the taxi with their hands. That wasn’t the end of it: “After her performance, angry men showed up at her door. Since then, the young artist has been forced into hiding at friends’ homes in the suburbs of Kabul.”

It takes a lot of courage to speak out in the face of that level of backlash and hate. I applaud her efforts, hope she can feel safe soon, and that her bravery will ultimately contribute to a cultural shift in how women and girls are treated in public spaces.

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Peru’s Congress Approves Street Harassment Bill

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Yesterday Peru’s Congress adopted the bill proposed last summer against street harassment!! Now it goes to the president for his signature. Congrats to our friends Paremos el Acoso Callejero who were instrumental in making it happen.

Via their Facebook page:

¡VICTORIA HISTÓRICA EN LATINOAMÉRICA! ¡El Congreso de la República del Perú ha APROBADO EL PROYECTO DE LEY de Rosa Mavila que PREVIENE Y SANCIONA EL ACOSO SEXUAL CALLEJERO sin ningún voto en contra!

Hasta hace tres años era normal que nos faltaran el respeto en la calle y tocaran a niñas en espacios públicos, ¡hoy el Estado reconoce que hay que tomar medidas para erradicar este problema!

Ahora continuemos trabajando por hacer efectiva la ley, que se enviará al Presidente para su promulgación. ¡No más violencia en las calles!

Representatives from the groups that worked to draft and get the law passed:
Como Paremos el Acoso Callejero Asociación Apala La Marcha de las P.U.T.A.S. la participación y compromiso de la congresista Rosa Mavila León asumido en el Un Un Billón de Pie – Perú del 2014
Image by: Diana Portal Farfán
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Kenya: Undress Me Not

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Linnet Nyawira Mwangi, Kisumu, Kenya, SSH Blog Correspondent

A screenshot of the woman stripped because her miniskirt was “ indecent”

I recently watched the widely viewed street harassment video “Ten hours of walking in NYC as a woman” where a young woman wearing jeans and a crewneck t-shirt walked through Manhattan, and I couldn’t help but notice the countless times she was harassed on the streets.

This made me realise there is more to street harassment than just the mode of dressing. See, in Kenya, towards the end of last year there was a wide spread campaign dubbed #MyDressMyChoice. This was as a result of women being stripped naked on broad daylight by men who gave the excuse of indecent dressing.  Since when did a miniskirt become indecent dressing? Stripping a woman who is supposedly indecently dressed does not make her more decent but robs her of her dignity. The most appropriate action would be giving her a ‘kanga’ to cover herself.

Looking at the issue of dressing keenly, we find that even the women who were attacked were not actually indecently dressed but they were attacked because they tried to defend themselves from the comments made by the harassers. It is not uncommon that some of the comments made are bound to make you angry  but sometimes it seems that the more you argue with them and challenge them, the angrier they become and behave indecently towards you. I am happy that the government and human rights activists intervened and some perpetrators of the acts were caught and charged. The issues of stripping women in public is now unheard of and I hope this continues.

But street harassment is not just about clothing. Even women in hijab get cat called on the streets too. Street harassment occurs because many of us let it happen. We watch as the men perpetrate the act and assume that it is none of our business. Some of us even stand back to listen and giggle at the comments made by the street harassers instead of helping the victims. I would like to challenge each and every person to stand up for the women in these situations.  

For the men out there, you should know that the woman you harass is someone’s sister or mother and they could also be your sister, mother or wife. I am sure you would not like it if the same was done to them.

Linnet is a student at Maseno University in Kisumu, Kenya pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociology with IT. Follow her on Twitter @Shantel_lyn and Facebook @lynnette Shantellah.

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