Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“I was dumbfounded that someone would actually say that”

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My earliest interaction of catcalling came when I was 12 years old. My friend was gorgeous and physically mature for her age, and told me she got catcalled a lot. Once, we were walking downtown together, and a 30-ish man yelled from a car, ʺHey baby, you lookin gooood today,” equipped with kissing noises. My (keep in mind, 12 year old) friend just frowned, looked at her shoes, and sighed. I was dumbfounded that someone would actually say that, and thinking back, it’s quite disgusting.

– Anonymous

Location: Los Angeles, CA

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

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DC’s New Mayor is a Safe Public Spaces Champion!

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I’m so excited that our Safe Public Spaces Champion awardee Muriel Bowser is MAYOR of Washington, DC!

Via NBC News:

“”It’s my charge to make [D.C.] greener, healthier, safer and more fiscally stable than we find it today,” she said.

Formerly D.C.’s Ward 4 councilmember, Bowser is now just the second woman to lead the District. Early in her inaugural remarks, she thanked the female mayors of other major cities, saying, “Today, because of you, I am one too.”

It’s in large part thanks to her that the Washington Metropolitan Area has an anti-harassment transit campaign. In 2012 when I was part of a group organized by Collective Action for Safe Spaces (I was one of their board members at the time) that testified about harassment before the DC city council and the all male WMATA leadership responded by saying harassment wasn’t a problem, Bowser told them “as a woman I feel differently” and told them to do something. And they did. #WomenLeaders

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Harassment in North Korea and Jordan

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Two quick news hits ~

 Via UTNE.com:

“’Harassment is a culture,’ says Khadra, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Jordan in Amman. Physical, verbal and cyber, harassment happens in the streets, in parks, on public transportation, and at schools and universities.

Despite its prevalence, official research and statistics on street harassment in Jordan do not exist, according to Asma Khader, secretary general of the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW). Manal Sweidan, head of the gender statistics division at the Jordanian Department of Statistics, confirmed that the department did “not have … any official data regarding sexual harassment.” Khader estimated offhand that 80 percent of women face harassment, and “it is increasing.” The lack of formal data makes quantifying and addressing the issue difficult.”

Via NK News:

“In February the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea published its report. Its findings included large-scale sexual abuses, mostly directed at women, across all sectors of society.

“Witnesses have testified that violence against women is not limited to the home, and that it is common to see women being beaten and sexually assaulted in public,” the report officially said.

Regardless of who you speak to about North Korean women – researchers, activists, journalists, academics – one thing is clear: North Korean women are subject to abuse on a monumentally large scale.

This is not a new phenomenon in North Korea; rather this long-standing history of silent persecution of women’s sexuality is based on the strong foundations of a patriarchal system where women are expected to overcome any challenge at work or home with absolute loyalty towards the Great Leader, as mothers of the nation.

The social expectation and pressure exerted on these women, particularly in the post-famine period where the private economy has seen women enter into new realms of society, has created new problems and threats both in the home and workplace.”

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Thank You, 2014 SSH Volunteers!

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Many many thanks to the more than 100 people who donated money or time this year, including by helping with the research report, managing the SSH social media accounts, serving as a Blog Correspondent, serving as a board member, and running projects through the Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program. Thank you to the more than 200 journalists who cited SSH’s work and to the campuses, community groups and conferences that hosted us for talks, presentations and tabling. All we’ve achieved this year is because of you!

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