Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“[Feel] hurt that nobody would help me”

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I recovered from Ovarian cancer a year and a half ago and wear a wig due to my hair just growing back. I was walking today in Seattle going to work, and I crossed the street and a jittery man tapped me uncomfortably and I told him to please leave me alone.

I then heard him say he should remove my headgear, ran up behind me and snatched my hat and wig off my head. I was humiliated. He was about an inch from my face and I grabbed my wig and hat from him, and pushed him off me and ran to my building and luckily it is a key entry. I was so scared and angry.

There were about 50 people around and nobody helped me. I was so distraught, I had to leave work in a taxi a few hours later.

I am so mad at Seattle, and so hurt that nobody would help me, and all I was trying to do was go to work.

– Anonymous

Location: On the corner of 4th Ave S and Jackson St, right by the bus stops. Seattle, WA

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Check out the new book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers!

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Meet Our Newest Board Member!

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I’m so excited to announce that Patrick Ryne McNeil has agreed to join the SSH board of directors!

I first met Patrick almost three years ago when I spoke to his class at George Washington University, where he was a master’s student in the same public policy/women’s studies program I went through a few years earlier. Soon after, he submitted a street harassment story to the SSH blog and decided to write his master’s thesis on the street harassment of gay and bisexual men, a groundbreaking topic.

Since then, he’s written for the SSH blog, been featured on the blog, and we’ve collaborated on events and focus groups. In addition to being a smart and compassionate person, I am excited he will bring so much knowledge about the street harassment of gay and bisexual men to the board and to SSH’s work.

Meet Patrick:

Patrick Ryne McNeil

A native of Pennsylvania, Patrick Ryne McNeil works in communications at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, where he writes on a range of social justice issues. After completing a bachelor’s degree in English and Communications with a minor in Sociology at Marymount University in Arlington, VA, Patrick went on to The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. for a master’s in Women’s Studies, where he wrote his thesis on the street harassment of gay and bisexual men. Patrick has written for the Huffington Post, Washington Blade, Feministe, Fem2.0, Role/Reboot, and the Stop Street Harassment blog, and was awarded SSH’s Safe Public Spaces Trailblazer award in 2013 for his street harassment-related work.

“I am beyond excited to start working with Stop Street Harassment in this more official role and to join a board with so many incredible activists. While I’ve helped in the past year with tweet chats, blog posts, and a focus group, joining the board has already sparked within me an even greater passion for organizing around this issue and affecting meaningful change.” ~ Patrick

Welcome, Patrick!

 

 

 

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Our Goals for 2014

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Phew, 2013 was a banner year for SSH as we expanded our programs and network of volunteers.

We have few initial goals going into 2014, and I’m sure more will come up in the coming weeks. If you have suggestions for what else you’d like us to do, please let us know!

1. Get the 1st-ever national study on street harassment funded and the national report done!!! (You can donate to help make the study happen.)

2. Have three cohorts of volunteer blog correspondents whose members each write four monthly articles. (Applications are due on Monday for the first cohort.)

3. Run a successful International Anti-Street Harassment Week, March 30 – April 5. (Find out how to participate.)

4. Make SSH language and work more inclusive of the various populations that face street harassment.  (Look for an announcement on Monday that is a first step toward this goal.)

5. Work with 10 Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Sites.

We look forward to working with you this year to make public places safer for everyone!

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