Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
Have you ever shut up or confused a street harasser, gotten an apology from one, or successfully reported one?
Then I want to hear your story! Please fill out this form.
Your story may be included in a forthcoming book featuring 50 empowering stories about stopping a street harasser.
Please also email a photo of yourself (any kind, but please send the highest resolution you have) to go along with the story and send it to StopStreetHarassment AT yahoo D O T com.
I was walking to the locker room at school after a hard workout. I felt confident and fierce and healthy, generally just really good about myself. However, a few boys didn’t seem to understand that I looked and felt good for MYSELF, not for anyone else, especially not strangers with absolutely no respect for anyone, and took it upon themselves to physically prove to me that I met their standards by “pushing” their friend straight into me where his outstretched hands just so happened to curl over my breasts, squeeze, then run away howling before I had a chance to express my disgust.
I now feel incredibly guilty knowing that if i had just acted instead of being taken over by shock i could’ve really done something, shout, embarrass this guy, slap, punch, I don’t know. Just something to let him know that I am not here to please him. It also makes me really embarrassed for walking down the hall like i was: good posture, just confident and showing off that I felt good about myself. Almost like I was asking for something to happen to me. I hate that I’ve learned to think like that.
– SF
Location: Mountain Ridge High School Glendale, AZ
Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Since January 1, 2012, at least 63 transgender individuals have been hatefully murdered. Today we remember them on the 14th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day of commemoration started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith. Today she wrote in the Huffington Post:
“We’ve seen an increase in legislation that helps prosecute those who participate in anti-transgender violence, including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. We’ve seen a much greater awareness of the issue of anti-transgender violence. We’ve seen successes in other battles for transgender rights.
Yet we still see anti-transgender violence. Every year, we still find ourselves with a list of people who have been violently murdered for simply being themselves.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is not an event for fundraisers and beer busts. It’s not an event we “celebrate.” It is not a quick and easy one-day way for organizations to get credit for their support of the transgender community. It’s not something to trot out on the 20th of November and forget about. We should be working every day for all of us, living and dead.”
Transgender individuals face some of the most vicious forms of street harassment, including murder. Earlier this year, I attended a vigil for Deoni Jones in the Washington, DC area, along with several other anti-street harassment activists. Deoni was a young woman who was murdered at a well-lit bus stop at 8 p.m. earlier this year. It was heartbreaking to hear from her loved ones and to hear from so many people who were angry, discouraged, and tired of hearing about the murder of their friends.
In response to the alarming trend of murder, recently the DC government launched a “Gender Identity Respect” campaign (on image is included on the right). It’s sad that this kind of campaign is even necessary — everyone should be afforded respect, dignity, and the right to live — but I am glad to see the DC government address the issue head on.
Each of us must do our part every day to speak out against discrimination and hate. And today, we remember those who’ve been unjustly taken from this earth this year:
Popinha
Unidentified person
Carla White
Crain Conaway
Brilli
Guilherme Augusto de Souza
Maicon Roux
Mateo Vicente
Sabrina
Peter “Hair” Tamiarana
Paola Cristiano
Deoni Jones
Tiago da Silva Garcia
Paulo Roberto Campos
Montserrat Pineda
Carla
Junior Richardo de Jesus
Agnes Torres Sulca
Chiquinha
Soraya
Rene “Rosita” Hildalgo
David William de Oliveira Cândido
Coko Williams
Tyrell Jackson
Menakshiammal
Paige Clay
Rebekah
Leandro Eduardo Campos Ferreira
Brandy Martell
Unidentified person
Anil Aayiramthengu
Jaime Antonio Lopez
Lorena Escalera
Chrissie Azzopardi
Thapelo Makutle
William Geovanni Aguilar Pérez
Alison
Unidentified person
Jeimy Tamara Perez
Unidentified person
Camila de Mink
Tracey Johnson
Seçil Anne
Sapphire
Barbarita
Tania
Silva
Tiffany Gooden
Sirena Paola
Unidentified person
Unidentified person
Laryssa Silveira
Tiago da Silva Oliveira
Robson Franco Pereira
Dewayne “Deja” Jones
Unidentified person
Kendall Hampton
Kyra Cordova
Victoria
Unidentified person
January Marie Lapuz
Madonna
Cassandra
I was walking to get something to eat on a cold November afternoon in Georgetown. I crossed the street when I came upon a group of movers who were moving furniture into a shop. As I walked pass a worker slyly commented: “Hi beautiful” without making eye contact or even stopping as he whispered the comment. When I was done eating I had to walk pass this same spot and this time another worker passed me and whispered, “You look sexy” without stopping, almost to irk me. I quickly snapped and told him to “stop harassing me” and “get back to work.”
– NA
Location: Georgetown, Washington DC
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Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Wow, what a great idea — check out this site that just went live a few days ago (here’s introductory text from their site):
“Welcome to CATCALLED, a collection of women’s stories about street harassment in New York City. For two weeks this August, 11 women in the city kept a log of their harassment experiences, and how the presence (or absence) of catcallers affected their actions. Their experiences may surprise you—they certainly surprised each other, and at times, even the participants themselves…..
CATCALLED is an attempt to give that struggle a voice. Over on the right you can see 11 different badges, one for each of our 11 participants. The women who wrote for this project live in four different boroughs and have a range of sexualities, ethnic backgrounds, and life experiences. There is no one place to start reading, no one person to focus on. Each participant has an introduction from me, giving you a sense of what you might get out of reading those entries; each woman has additionally highlighted her own entries, to reflect what she has found most valuable. After the project was over, all 11 participants responded to someone else’s logs for their exit interview, beginning a conversation about different experiences that we hope you continue. You can add to the dialogue by clicking respond. In addition to publishing questions, comments, and ideas on our blog, we will also be featuring readers’ daily logs—a single-day entry about street harassment. And of course, if you would like to contact us more directly, you can find out how to do that here.”
(H/t to Hollaback!)