By: Talia Weisberg, SSH Correspondent

When I was at the 2012 NOW Conference in Baltimore, I had the privilege of hearing Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues and women’s rights activist, deliver the keynote address. She discussed One Billion Rising, her campaign to end violence against women on the global level. It is so named because one billion women – that’s one out of every three women in the world – will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. On February 14, 2013, Ensler wants the world to rise, end the violence, and create a better, safer, happier world.

After hearing Ensler speak, I was rallied to action. I decided on the spot to rise along with her and millions of other women across the globe. One of the many reasons I am rising is to stop street harassment. It’s such an insidious form of violence against women, since most people don’t even know that street harassment is an actual issue. Considering that almost every woman and LGBT+ individual has experienced street harassment at least once in his or her lifetime, it’s surprising that this is something that activists have to raise awareness about.

As someone who was born and raised in Manhattan, which contains 1.5 million of New York City’s total population of eight million, it’s hard not to experience street harassment. It’s gotten to the point that I’m desensitized to it, at least in its milder forms (leering, catcalls, etc.). My mother always gets really creeped out when she sees men – especially those significantly older than me – looking me up and down on the street, but I don’t even notice it anymore. Street harassment has just become part of my life, a necessary hazard of living in a city and walking on the street all the time.

That is a huge problem. It is not acceptable that street harassment has become no big deal in our society, that men and women alike trivialize it. Street harassment is a serious issue in itself, making women feel unsafe, humiliated, and threatened in their own neighborhoods. It can also be a precursor to even worse crimes, like sexual and physical assault. Those of us who understand the brevity of street harassment need to educate the world about this pressing issue. We need to raise awareness and make sure the public understands what street harassment is and how we can stop it.

“We are rising because we are over girls being trafficked and sold and reduced and objectified,” Ensler said at the NOW Conference. I can certainly empathize: I am over standing by as womankind is objectified by street harassment. And that is why I’m rising.

Talia Weisberg is a Harvard-bound feminist hoping to concentrate in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her work has appeared in over 40 publications and she runs the blog Star of Davida blog (starofdavida.blogspot.com).

By Natasha Vianna, SSH Correspondent

A few nights ago, I went to a club to meet friends. After a guy friend had a few drinks, he walked over to dance with me. I was happy to dance with him. It was fun, until he decided to slap my ass. Immediately, my heart sank and I turned to him in anger and that moment of fun was ruined. I was embarrassed, offended, and upset.

When I told him to keep his hands off me, he laughed and told me he was “just dancing”. Here I was, in a situation where I had to not only teach this guy to keep his hands to himself (something we learn in the first grade) but I also had to define for him what is dancing and that slapping me did not fall in that category.

Why? Why am I left with this responsibility?

Trying to explain how disrespected I felt is something I can’t put into words. If I want to shake my ass, if I want to wear a tight dress, if I want to wiggle around to my favorite music, I should be able to do so without worrying whether some guy will have enough self-control to respect my body. Unfortunately, I do have to worry. I have to worry that if I’m having too much fun, I’m sending some creep the nonexistent signal.

Once upon a time, I was eager to turn 21 so I could go to clubs, bars, and lounges. Having drinks with friends in cool places was something I looked forward to, and when I imagined having cocktails in my little black dress, I couldn’t wait for a giggly girls-night-out.

After I turned 21, I learned that a girls-night-out at a club was never really just that. While I started off planning what I would wear and what color lipstick to put on, when my first club experience included lots of tugging on the arm, boners on my back, and strange men giving me pet nicknames, I quickly realized there was much more planning involved in a night out that I ever imagined.

In the beginning, I assumed this was just how men behaved. Was this the norm? As a young woman, was this just how we were supposed to be approached?

From their behavior, I learned that whenever I decide to wear a dress and heels, I am instantly telling male strangers that:

1. I am here for your visual pleasure.
2. I want my arm tugged on until I turn my head.
3. I need new pet nicknames.
4. I enjoy stiff boners rubbing against my back.

Gosh. It’s sad that I now have to prepare how I will maneuver through crowds of men or plan witty responses for new nicknames or discover how to remove the erection from my spine.

I’ve been out to clubs many times in the past few years and I’ve learned what does and doesn’t work. Sadly, some men won’t take no as an answer and attempt to aggressively persuade you into giving them a chance. I’ve discovered that making them feel awkward without offending them is the safest method for me to remove myself from these situations. Yes, safest. So I resort to pretending I know them from long ago or I do strange things that make them lose interest.

If guys would respectfully approach women, accept “NO” when they hear it, and never put their hands on us unless we allowed it, I would be able to enjoy my nights without paranoia. Since this still isn’t a universal understanding amongst men, I decided to speak out and share my stories.

Natasha Vianna, a fearless activist and young feminist, is a freelance writer and blogger based out of Boston, MA. Follow her on twitter!