Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“This b*itch” was repeated frequently and loudly

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I take the bus every day to and from work. One day as I was waiting for the bus, this much older man that was waiting at the same stop turned to me and said, “You probably get this a lot, but you’re really beautiful.” I didn’t bother responding, because this type of thing happens a lot when I’m on or waiting for the bus, and saying anything at all only seems to encourage conversation.

Usually if I ignore the person, they stop bothering me, but not this time. The man made a few more attempts to get my attention, and then got angry, and pulled out his phone and made a call to some friend, who he very loudly complained to about “this b*tch” who was ignoring him. “This b*itch” was repeated frequently and loudly, and he would keep glancing over to see if I was paying attention to this.

I was very angry and even more concerned about who he could possibly be talking to and what that would mean for me. He was still on the phone and I was still debating the best course of action when my bus pulled up. He must have been taking a different one, as he did not get on.

– Anonymous

Location: Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas

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“She got long hair and a fat ass too.”

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I was standing on canal street. I was wearing a sundress and listening to music. A guy walked by and shouted, “Oh, wee, look at red (I’m light skinned). She got long hair and a fat ass too.” All of the white people turned to look at me. I wished that the ground would open up and swallow me.

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

I think there should be more bicycle cops patrolling the French Quarter.

– KDP

Location: New Orleans, LA

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

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“When you whistle at women, it’s incredibly offensive and demeaning”

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About a week ago, I confronted a couple of catcallers, for the first time in my life.

I was walking through the Scottsdale Hilton on the way to meet a friend who was visiting from Seattle. The open-air hallway took me past a portion of the pool patio, and as I walked by I heard whistling. A few times.

Not that it matters, but I was wearing conservative, professional, and loose-fitting attire and a pair of flats since I’d come straight from work.  Hair tied back, no makeup.

Normally I just ignore this shit because sometimes I feel like directing any energy, even negative energy, toward these idiots is somewhat of a reward system for them, but as I approached the building door I thought, “You know what, no.” I turned around, scanned the area and saw a single table with two late 20s/early 30s men sitting at it, surrounded by plenty of empty beer bottles. As I approached them, they smiled, half-drunkenly, half-incredulously; they must have thought I was going to give them my number or some kind of lap dance. I was almost expecting them to high-five each other because AW SHIT SHE’S COMING OVER, SCORE!

“Hi,” I said. “I notice you’re the only two people out here, and I’m the only person walking past. I just wanted to let you know when you whistle at women, it’s incredibly offensive and demeaning. I am a human being, not an object that exists for your viewing pleasure.”

“It’s okay, you’ll get over it.”

*commence internal rage*

“Well actually, no, you’ll get over it. Because as straight white males with enough money to stay at the Hliton, you have the privilege of being able to choice of how you address people around you. YOU get to make the choice. I don’t. So no, I won’t get over it. I’ve been dealing with it for years.”

At that point, I turned and walked away, and continued on to go meet my friend.  My heart was pounding, and my adrenaline was racing.  As much as those two douchecanoes made me want to SCREAM, it felt really good to be able to call them on it.  Honestly though, I wasn’t expecting such a quick retort from them.

So much work to be done…

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

Get more male buy-in to combat street harassment and blatant sexism.  Some kind of campaign that encourages men to call out their peers instead of letting thing slide or shaking their heads/rolling their eyes being the most common way of expressing disapproval.

I really wonder what the response from these two would have been if my male friend, who is 6’4″”, 260 lbs, and covered in tattooes would have called them out on their behavior.

– Greta

Location: Hilton Scottsdale Resort, pool deck, Arizona

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas

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USA: Phone camera shutters and women-only cars: Japan’s answers to chikan

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Kasumi Hirokawa, PA, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Recently, I ran into a friend of mine who graduated from Penn State in May. She was on a month-long graduation trip to various locations in the Middle East and Asia, including Japan. She shared her stories of exotic food and unfamiliar customs she came across and I listened eagerly. I always enjoy good travel stories.

She said she enjoyed visiting Asia but was bugged by leering from locals. She attributed it to her being one of very few white girls in the vicinity. People were probably curious, she said. Some would stand too close to her when they hiss “helloooo.” Others would try to take sneaky pictures of her, only to be caught because of their shutter sounds. Street harassment was there to spoil the fun, like always.

Ah, the camera shutters. They were doing something to curb chikan crimes after all. Chikan is a term for a sexual predator and crimes involving one, be it unwanted flashing or groping, in Japan.

I remembered that, in Japan, it is impossible to turn off the shutter sounds on camera phones. Women commuters filed complaints that chikans wouldn’t stop taking upskirt photos in packed train cars. A bill called the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which required all mobile devices to have camera shutter sounds that could not be turned off, was proposed in 2009. The camera shutters were sort of a follow-up to women-only train cars that were implemented in 2001.

I haven’t had the experience of owning a camera phone with a mandatory shutter sound or riding a women-only train car since I moved to China, so I am not in a position to say how effective they are in deterring chikans.

While I do not oppose the shutter sounds, I am not fond of women-only train cars. First, they are not always women-only. There are a certain number of designated cars on a train with pink signs on the windows with hours. During those hours (typically rush hours in the morning and the evening), do they become women-only cars.

I know women-only cars were proposed by well-meaning policymakers. However, limiting women’s presence in public spaces is at best reductive and at worst, downright sexist. It’s easy to tell women to ride on designated cars or sign up for self-defense classes. It’s easy to blame a victim that she should have known better than to not get on the women-only car. But women-only cars are not dealing with the problem at its roots: men who harass women on trains. I’d like to see “Beware of chikans!” billboards replaced with ones that say, “Don’t be a chikan! Make public places safe for everyone!”

Kasumi is a recent graduate from Penn State with a BA in journalism. Her writing has been published in Valley Magazine, City Weekend Shanghai, Penn State GeoBlog and Shanghai Daily. You can follow her on Twitter, @kasumihrkw

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Today at Noon EDT: #YouOkSIS? Tweet Chat

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Via News One:

“If you’re a woman, there’s a good chance you may have been harassed on the street. Have you ever wanted to someone to help you when you were in that most uncomfortable situation? Or if you’re a man, have you seen a woman being harassment on the street but wasn’t sure how to help her? Well, NewsOne interviewed some women in New York City and asked them to give their suggestions of ways someone could intervene in the event they are being harassed.

Also, NewsOne, along with special guest @FeministaJones, will host a town hall on Twitter TODAY, July 10 at 12 p.m. on the issue of street harassment and we’ll discuss practical ways we can all help stop it. Use the hashtag #YouOKSis?

For now, check out our video to see what women have to say about street harassment.”

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