Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Harassers to 16-year-old: “Damn, baby, you got a nice rack”

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This happened a couple weeks ago – I was walking down the street to a bus stop in order to go to a rehearsal downtown, and this car with two men (in their mid-20’s to early 30’s) pulled up beside me and slowed down a bit. The guys rolled down their window and began yelling things out to me. Things like, “Damn, baby, you got a nice rack,” “You wanna come with us? Hey, girl, you wanna come with us?” and “Come with us baby, we’ll give you a good time.”

I was creeped out by what they were saying, and I kept walking, only I sped up in an attempt to get away from them. An oncoming intersection forced them to pull into a lane farther away from me, and as I reached a crosswalk, they passed me once more, this time shouting at me “Well fuck you, bitch!” and other vulgarities.

I was shaken! I wish I had said something, but when it was happening my only thought was to ignore them and get away from them. It’s not like I was dressed becomingly either – unless baggy jeans are considered “becoming.”

I hated their comments on my chest, too. Not only do I hate references a girls chest as a “rack” or “tits” or anything like that, which I find vulgar, but I also felt degraded knowing that just walking down the street would get a 16 year old girl like me subjected to such comments. I hated hearing them tell me to “go with them” as if it would be enticing for me. I hated that intersection from that time on.

OH! And when I got on the bus I saw (to my dismay) that the same guy who I frequently saw was there. This guy stares at me every time I’m on the bus – no matter where I sit. And it isn’t glances, it’s him very blatantly turning and staring and smiling at me – and my chest. Reporting it doesn’t help, because he hasn’t said anything to me or in anyway “harmed me,” besides making me incredibly uncomfortable.

– Emmaline

Location: Madison, Wisconsin

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Employers should care about street harassment

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Should employers be concerned about the street harassment their employees face going to and from work?
Yes, while employers aren’t legally obligated to do anything about commuter harassment, they should care about it.

1 – Commuter harassment contributes to job turnover when people get so sick of the harassers along their commute that they decide to quit (this happened to 9% of respondents for a survey I conducted for my book).

2 – It can cause a decrease in work productivity if harassment in the morning makes an employee too upset and distracted to do their job.

3 – The harassment can also mean fewer people are willing to stay late to work or to attend networking events or meetings because of the fear of harassment on their way home.


I wrote about commuter harassment for Forbes.com last year and this past spring, Business and Legal Resource, Inc. (BLR), a leading human resources organization, wrote about it, too.

On Monday, while I was on a business trip in Connecticut, I had the opportunity to meet with some of the staff at BLR. We chatted for about 45 minutes about commuter harassment and they were very interested and open to the idea that employers SHOULD care about the harassment employees face during the commute. In fact, BLR was so interested in the issue that they conducted a short video interview with me for their website, where HR professionals across the country can view it and learn more about commuter harassment.

In the video clip, I offer a few recommendations for what employers can do. The Forbes.com article details a few, too. So view it and feel free to share it with HR representatives at your job.

Have you faced street harassment during your commute? What impact has it had on your job? Has your employer ever addressed that type of sexual harassment?

 

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“I hope he finds what he’s looking for”

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Mid-afternoon, I was walking alone down the street, when a man approached me from behind and told me I had a nice ass and asked if I knew where he could get a blow job, and offered me a hundred dollars. I ignored him for a minute until I could tell it wasn’t getting rid of him, so I told him, no, I didn’t know where he could get a blow job. He gave me another line that I don’t remember and disappeared.

I called a male friend of mine and told him what had happened. His only response was, “I hope he finds what he’s looking for.”

I then called a female friend of mine who immediately asked where I was, if I was some place safe and if I needed a ride. I told her, thanks, I was fine.

– Anonymous

Location: None listed

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Impact of 9/11: “You look like Bin Laden’s sister”

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Like most Americans, today I am remembering the terrorist attacks that occurred ten years ago. It’s a day that must be so painfully difficult for everyone who lost loved ones and I can’t even fathom how hard the last 10 years have been for them. No one should have to live through so much pain and sorrow.

During my reflection I’ve thought a lot about the impact of the 9/11 attacks. As we keep hearing over and over in the news, our country and our lives were forever altered, from the way we go through airports to the way we perceive our own security and sense of nationhood.

A few days ago when I was watching a powerful video clip featuring Linda Sarsour, director of the Arab American Association of New York, a few of her comments alluded to the impact 9/11 has had on the types of street harassment Muslim and Arab women face. It reminded me about some of the stories I’ve heard over the years.

Before 9/11, women who previously could wear a hijiab in public without facing harassment suddenly were told things like, “Go back to your country, stupid bitch,” by people they didn’t know on the streets. It didn’t matter to the harassers that there are plenty of “home grown” terrorists or that 99.9% of the population in every country around the world are not terrorists; they used 9/11 as an excuse and an opportunity to harass certain people, to engage in racial profiling. That is not okay.

One woman who shared a story for my Stop Street Harassment book said:

“As a Muslim woman who wears hijab (the headscarf and modest clothing), most of the feelings I have are due to religious discrimination and anti-immigrant sentiments. (Even though I am not an immigrant). I am constantly worried about being attacked verbally or physically because it has happened to friends of mine.”

And many women who do not wear hijabs but who simply have heritage in countries in the Middle East faced a different kind of street harassment after 9/11, too. I will always remember a story a woman shared during a workshop I attended at a Street Harassment Summit in New York City in 2007. She said:

“Street harassment is a huge part of my day and it makes me very angry and I think it’s always tied in with my racial identity. The worst thing that happened to me lately was I was on my way to work at a new job and I was very happy, and this guy said something to me and I kept walking and he came up around me in my face and said, ‘You look just like Bin Laden’s sister.’

My mouth was closed, and I was like, why aren’t I responding?  He continued to scream at me and I kept walking, and he said, ‘You should get home, women like you don’t work.  Don’t your men keep you locked up?  Oh that’s right; your men aren’t real men.  I’ll show you what a real man is.’

And he proceeded to tell me the actions that real men do to their women.  People on the street were stopped and were staring at me but no one said anything.”

She was visibly upset and shaken when she relayed this horrifying incident. It had layer upon layer of offensiveness and hate. Given the hostility that some Americans willfully feel toward people they perceive to be potential terrorists, these kinds of street harassment incidents can be very frightening.

So, today, as we honor and remember all of those whose lives were lost, let us also vow to make sure our country becomes free from harassment, hate, racial profiling, and hostility for everyone. Call out people who harass others, show that it’s unacceptable. Help out people facing harassment. Every person should be able to feel safe and un-harassed in public, hijab or no hijab, dark skin or light skin, gay or straight. That’s how America should be.

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