Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Big Bad Wolves in Connecticut

By

I remember when I was running errands for my grandmother in her neighborhood. The part of the city she lives in is a bit questionable, but I always felt okay moving around in familiar areas during the day time. I was walking across a plaza on the way to her senior living apartment home when I saw two men standing near their car. They were several years older than me, probably in their 50’s or 60’s. I planned to make some distance between me and them and make no eye contact. They saw me immediately and made moves to get me to talk to them.

They wanted to know how I was and how pretty I looked and what a pretty girl was doing all alone. One of the men in particular was very interested in me. I told them, “Im fine. I’m just doing errands for my grandmother, I have to keep going.” Of course, they ask me if I was taken. Yes I am, with a wonderful boyfriend. The man interested in me looks rather annoyed at my answer and tries to convince me that somehow my boyfriend isn’t worth anything and how I need to go with him instead. He “promises” he would take me all sorts of places and offers to drive me up to my grandmother’s house. All this time, my warning bells have been going off and I realize that I needed to leave immediately. I tell them briskly that I don’t need the ride and that I have to leave now. So I leave.

I quickly make my way up to my grandmother’s house, still feeling nervous. Then all of a sudden, the two men’s car pulls up close to me. Their windows are rolled down and the two are looking at me with lewd looks on their faces. They’re trying to convince me to get into their car and talk to me, and now Im starting to feel frightened. I cant allow them to see me heading towards my grandmother’s apartment, so I simply walk away from them on a sidewalk path that led to more senior living apartments, since they wouldnt be able to follow me that way. I hid behind one of the buildings and did not come out until I was able to see their car drive off. I was frightened. I didn’t allow myself to leave my hiding spot for at least a good 5 minutes before heading back to my grandmother’s house. I certainly didn’t go back out for the rest of the day.

– Anonymous

Location: Hartford, CT

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

Share

10 Things For Which I’m Grateful

By

During this week of reflection and gratitude, I want to take a moment to give thanks (by the numbers). Thank you to:

1. The 231,000 unique visitors to the website (since January 2014) and the nearly 20,000 Facebook fans and 10,000 Twitter followers who are educating themselves about this issue and engaging in important discussions.

2. The thousands of people in 25 countries that took action during International Anti-Street Harassment Week in April.

3. The approximately 300 people who are helping us document and better understand the issue by sharing their street harassment stories on the blog this year.

4. Our 200+ total donors to SSH who made the largest national street harassment study (released in June) and our 2014 Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program possible.

5. The journalists who wrote 200 articles citing SSH this year, bringing more public awareness to the issue.

6. Our 35 Blog Correspondents who collectively wrote more than 100 articles this year to highlight what street harassment — and activism against it — looks like in their communities.

7. The 30+ people who have volunteered time and talents to SSH over the year, including the SSH research report advisory committee and volunteers. We run on your generosity!

8. Our 16 board members (across the two board terms) who help with media interviews, take on street harassment projects, and give fundraising help.

9. Six Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Site groups who have taken on major anti-harassment programs in India, Kenya, Nepal, Nicaragua, Serbia, and the USA. 

10. The many, many organizations, groups, and individuals worldwide who are speaking out against street harassment. SSH is honored to be in your company, to collaborate, to cross-promote, and to do what we can collectively to make the world safer.

Wishing you a peaceful and Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate).

Share

Suggested Changes in the Philippines: Sexual Harassment Measures Beyond the Office

By

Angie Evans, Washington, DC, SSH Blog Correspondent

Halfway through our trip to the Philippines, I forced myself to change. I didn’t have a near death experience or attend transcendental meditation. I questioned myself because I was looking around a strip club that doubled as a midget boxing ring and realized that I hadn’t looked any of the female servers in the eyes. Eye contact is the most important nonverbal human interaction we can have with one another and I was unconsciously refusing to participate because I was uncomfortable. I forced myself to stop and talk with the next server who walked by. Half naked, she sat next to me, relieved for a moment to rest her feet.

The Philippines is simultaneously known for two cultural norms: matriarchy and male-domination. Although Filipino women have maintained a higher level of status than many other countries in Asia because of bilateral kinship, women continue to demonstrate these dueling norms. Based on a Grant Thornton International Business Report, 40% of senior roles in the Philippines are filled by women and 7% of the CEO’s in the country are women[1]. Why then has 1 in 5 experienced violence at home and 30-40% sexually harassed in the workplace?[2]

Power is closely linked with physical and sexual violence. “Sexual harassment is a subtle rape, and rape is more about fear than sex,” said Dr. John Gottman, a psychologist at the University of Washington. “Harassment is a way for a man to make a woman vulnerable.” And street sexual harassment is not just an annoyance; it’s a degradation that slowly chips away at your safety and self-worth.

The sex industry in the Philippines is world-famous and accounts for nearly 40% of male tourism there.[3] The single biggest factor in a man, woman, or child entering the sex trade is poverty. And 1 in 5 families in the Philippines fall below the poverty line.[4] This means that a family of 5 makes less than $175 a month. In 2012, analysts estimated that these families need about 26% more income each month to get out of poverty. That’s only about $45 a month for us but it’s an impossible amount for many others.

It’s not surprising then that in a city like Manila, with so many powerful women and such high poverty, an entire empire of sexual subordination has grown. Some estimate that there are nearly 800,000 Filipino prostitutes[5]. For these women and men, this is a substantial income for their families – keeping them out of poverty and providing for a good chunk of the remittances that are sent back to the Philippines. The economic base of sex work cannot be denied so how then can Congress deny the need to make it minimally safe?

Many cited that women’s safety as the reason for passing the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, the first of it’s kind in the country. Interestingly though, it makes no attempt to end street harassment or to make it better for women in their clearly growing sex industry. That is why after 18 years, many are calling for an expansion of the law.

National women’s groups, policy organizations, and a small group of unionized sex workers have each laid out measures that could strengthen the nation’s enforcement and protections against sexual harassment. The House and the Senate hasn’t pursued any of the suggested measures but my hope is that the Philippine government is able to humble itself and hear the plea from this diverse interest group. You never know what your impact will be when you pause your own habits.

[1] Grant Thornton International

[2] End Violence Against Women Now

[3] “Who is to blame for sex tourism?” Al Jazeera news

[4] The Philippine Statistics Authority

[5] Senator Pia Cayetano

Angie is a community organizer and social worker. Last year she quit her job to travel around the world with her husband. They have just returned and are continuing to write about travel and adventure at http://whereisseangie.com.

Share

“Getting in my face with a glass bottle in his hand’

By

I was trying to get a taxi home after a night out with a friend. Unfortunately I had to wait 20 minutes outside a cab office for the cab to come. It was not the safest area. There was a club near the cab station where an intimidating guy around 6ft who was not in the best state came towards the cab office with a group of youth. When I asked the cab controller where my cab was I was grabbed and pulled towards the guy who was intoxicated and who also wanted to make a move on me. I pushed him aside and told him ‘not to touch me please’ which then resulted into him getting in my face with a glass bottle in his hand and he started throwing verbal threats and insults at me stating ‘ Girls like you think your too F***ing nice’.

During this time two cabs that were passing the cab office who were meant to pick up my friend and myself both drove off without any intentions of stopping to help.  Luckily one of the youth was able to maintain and calm him down from things escalating further. The night then progressed further with me and my friend then being circled and intimidated by two youth on bikes, whom were both trying to make a move on us as well. Luckily a cab finally came, but because we felt so unsafe because of the area and what we experienced we put on the safety lock within the cab. I had an uneasy ride home just thinking about the fact that you can’t expect people out there to look out for you. You have to watch your own back.

– Michaela Graham

Location: Northeast London

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

Share