Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Street harassment snapshot: February 27, 2011

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Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

Street Harassment Stories:

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You can read new street harassment stories on the Web from the past week at:

Street Harassment in the News, on the Blogs:

Events:

Announcements:

New:

On-going:

10 Tweets from the Week:

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Car tries to run over woman, passengers yell, “We don’t stop for ugly bitches!”

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I have been harassed an infinite amount of times. The most painful, however, are the occasions where instead of “complimenting” my appearance, the men criticize it.

Just a few days ago on my campus, I was crossing at a crosswalk. A car that was idling rather far down the street suddenly sped up and tried to hit me; as I looked over my shoulder, I saw two male students leaning forward and smiling as they nearly hit me.

I was shaken, but tried to not lose my cool. I continued walking as the car sped away. After a couple minutes, I reached the next crosswalk and heard a car pull up and stop: it was the same men. They had seen that I was headed for the next crosswalk and had waited for me. I motioned for them to pass but they gestured for me to go. I was furious at this point, but noticed that other cars had began to line up behind them and didn’t want to make others wait. I began to cross the street and the car charged me again, yelling out their window, “We don’t stop for ugly bitches!” and holding down their horn, making a spectacle.

I dodged the car and it sped off. As I walked away, I was more distraught to realize that the people surrounding me (almost entirely male engineering students working on projects in the park), were laughing uncontrollably.

I called to police once I got home, and the male police officer took down my report incredulously. I called back later to see if anything had been found on the men (I had a description of the car) and was essentially laughed off.

I haven’t left the house in days, I feel too ugly to be in public… or, or that matter, to live. I don’t have a car so I need to walk places and it feels like a punishment. I just want a mask to wear on my face so no one can judge it as ugly and try to run me over. I feel no protection from others, neither the police nor my peers; no one will stand up for ugly girls.

– Anonymous

Location: On Campus

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Repeat motorbike groper in North Vietnam

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Today is the second time that a man on a motorbike has driven past me and grabbed my breast. The first time it happened I was so shocked that I didn’t have time to do much more than scream before he had disappeared from view. I spent many days after the first incident nervously checking my surroundings whenever I left the house and contemplating how I would catch this man if he dared tried do something similar.

Alas I now feel like a complete fool for not being able to prevent the same thing happening again just a few feet from my house. I am in an Asian country where people on motorbikes frequently wear scarves across their face to prevent inhaling fumes, so I was unable to recognize this person on sight and by the time I did, of course it was too late. I managed this time to swear at the cowardly, vile male responsible before he drove off, but given that he doesn’t speak my language, my guess is that he could care less.

I am comforted that other brave women here have experienced similar events but I can’t help worrying that this man’s actions could escalate into a more dangerous attack and I am not sure what steps to take next.

– Anonymous

Location: North Vietnam

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It’s time to audit your city, Washington, DC!

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On Sunday, I declared March 20, the First Day of Spring, to be Anti-Street Harassment Day. Already more than 120 people have RSVPed to participate via Facebook, plus many more via Twitter. I hope you will, too. I’m excited to reveal what I’ll be doing on March 20 and I invite everyone who lives or works in Washington, DC, to participate, too!

What’s happening?

HollaBack DC! and I are organizing the FIRST Community Safety Audit to be conducted in Washington, DC, and the first to be conducted in the US in the past 15 years. This means we are organizing groups of people, training group leaders, and giving everyone a checklist of items to look for as they walk a few blocks in DC. Participants will be looking for specific items that will help indicate if the area is safe and inclusive for everyone.

In order to conduct audits in all 8 Wards, we need at least 80 volunteers. The time commitment is about two hours on March 20 and two hours on March 23.  Please sign up and ask your friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers who work or live in Washington, DC, to sign up too.

Where did this idea come from?

Women in Tanzania who conducted a community safety audit

When I attended an international conference on safe cities for women held in India last November, I learned about the community safety audits and immediately wanted to bring the initiative to the USA. People have conducted Community Safety Audits since 1989, when the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence against Women & Children (METRAC) developed it in Toronto. Since then, they’ve been conducted in cities across Canada and internationally in cities in Russia, the UK, India, South Africa, and Tanzania. Our audit is adapted from METRAC’s.

This is your chance to be part of history!

Please sign up to volunteer for this important initiative in March. We want volunteers from all demographics and we will work to ensure that individuals with special mobility needs and/or childcare needs can participate.

The outcomes of the audit will be used to make recommendations to the DC City Council and other local decision-makers.  In April (date TBD) we will announce those asks at an anti-street harassment rally, which we hope will lead to the first ever DC City Council hearing on street harassment, following in the footsteps of New York City. So participating in the community safety audit is an opportunity to be part of history and to help establish a model for other cities to use.

Let’s all work together to take a good look at our city and see what we’d like to fix!

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40-year-old perv to 16-year-old on subway, “You like to dress slutty like that. I’d love to give you an orgasm.”

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I was on the Q train going downtown. I was out with friends but alone on my way home at like 1 a.m. I got on the third car and sat in the corner. The doors were about to close and this guy gets on and looks at me right away. We were the only 2 people on the train and he sits right across from me.

I’m 16 and this guy was probably like 40 attractive and well dressed. So he starts talking to me saying, “Wow you look really good, do you want to go out for a drink?”

I’m 16, duh…Then he’s like, “No, you you don’t look good, you look sexy. Do you have a boyfriend?”

I am ignoring him at this point.

Then I notice he has his phone pointed right at me and i got really pissed and scared. We got to the next stop and he got up like he was going to get off the train but he didn’t. The doors closed then he is standing up right in front of me and he puts his camera right in front of me.

He’s like, “Baby you look so good. You like to dress slutty like that. I’d love to give you an orgasm…Does your boyfriend get you off?” I notice he is rubbing his dick with his other hand and flicking his tongue at me. I got up and stood by the door. Then he goes, “Well be that way you little c*nt. I thought you were a whore the way you were dressed! Does your dad know you go out like that you little whore”

I got off the train and he still had his phone pointed at me and was flicking his tounge at me as the train pulled away. WTF is wrong with people. I mean he looked so normal. Does he like go home to a normal family? He had a wedding ring on.

Can I not look nice and be out in public in this city? I am so angry this morning…This guy was blond like 6 feet and had glasses on. He had on all black a wedding ring and a Rolex. I know because I saw it when he had his phone right in my face. What as ass.

– Marissa

Location: Q train, NYC

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