Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Weekly Round Up: October 3, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

In the News, On the Blogs:

Announcements:

Upcoming Events:

10 Tweets from the Week:

  • Elderta I just love that the guys at the automobile shop have taught their parrot to catcall women as they walk by. NOT.
  • khanyisile Street harassment. RT @Yo_lin: These guys called me names last time, now they wanna talk to me.. Mxm.. I wish there was another route home
  • SuzBomb I am so unimpressed with the kind of Vancouver street harassment &assaults I keep hearing about from friends/witnessing myself
  • msmagazine RT @Anti_Intellect: Sexual harassment on the street virtually never happens 2 me. #MalePrivilege You’ll get over it
  • rightsandwrongs So my pitbull was a victim of #streetharassment by a man in a car making kissy noises & yelling “what’s the matter, boy?” What.
  • DianeMassage to the man in the livery cab on washington and st marks, do not make me stop my bike to tell you to stop catcalling me! #streetharassment
  • HKearl & your sons not 2 harass rt @sfxmaven @mkylemiller It’s never too early to train your daughter about what to do about street harassment.
  • clembastow @ruminski plenty of men seem to think unwanted attention/street harassment is “okay” if they’re “polite” about it.
  • notesandrainbws Was wondering if dying my hair bright red would increase street harassment…yep. Decidedly yep. Ugh.
  • BLANK_NOISE attn GUYS! did you intervene? tell us how. we want stories of guys intervening to stop street sexual violence/ #eveteasing #bnguy
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Street harassment in El Salvador & Costa Rica

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Hi! i’m half Costa Rican, half Salvadorean, i’m surprised that this happens in so many places! and how often!

In both countries El Salvador and Costa Rica you’ll listen the same story, we all women are tired of this situation!!!! no matter if we wear a garbage bag (those big black ones) the only fact of being a girl it’s enough for them to say something to us!!!! this is disgusting!!! and i can’t stand it. This makes me angry when i go walking on the streets, i’m on a bus or even driving my car. It’s sad to feel this way every time you leave your house.

– Andrea Muñoz

Location: El Salvador/Costa Rica

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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So many men think they’re entitled to women’s attention

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I was walking to work today (which, ironically, is working at a nonprofit devoted to ending domestic violence), and on the way there, got hissed and whistled at. I brushed this off, didn’t think about it really anymore. Then on my way home, 2 men stared at me and one leered and said, “Miss, you dropped something.”

I turned around quickly without bending over, as I thought it was a trick. There was clearly nothing on the sidewalk, so I said, “Nope, nothing of mine,” and continued walking. Another man behind me did nothing to help. At this point I was very angry and almost starting to cry.

I reached the next corner and 2 different men said I should cross the street now, as no cars were coming. Then one held his hand up and said, “I can carry you across the street.” to which I said “No thank you, I’m fine.” They then purposefully walked behind me for the next 2 blocks shouting, “Sure are fine” and, “Shake that” and hootin and hollerin.

– Anonymous

Location: Franklin Avenue and Nicolette Avenue, Minneapolis

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Is Stop Street Harassment available at your library?

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I love visiting libraries and checking out books.

Growing up, on Saturday afternoons my sisters and I usually accompanied our dad while he ran errands. Often the first stop was the local library.

My sisters and I would pick out several books and start reading them as soon as we got to the car. Sometimes it was hard for my parents to get us to put them down again. In one family photo, I’m captured on film at age 10 vacuuming the house (one of my Saturday jobs) with a book in hand, trying to read and vacuum at the same time.

In college, I felt the best part about writing research papers was having an excuse to walk up and down the library stacks. I spent hours browsing through books, not infrequently finding myself sidetracked from the paper topic.

Today I still visit my local library at least once a month to stock up on books to read during my 2-2.5 hour round-trip daily work commute.

I appreciate that over my lifetime, I’ve been able to read hundreds of books for free. If I had had to buy every book I wanted to read, I simply wouldn’t have been able to afford it (what book lover would)?

And now my love of books has led me to write my own about a topic I am very passionate about: street harassment.

My book is relatively expensive (you can find it for 20% off online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble), and I know that $35 or $45 for a book is not realistic for everyone.

Thank goodness library books are free!

Does your library carry Stop Street Harassment in its catalog?

If not and if you want to become better informed about street harassment and learn how you can help stop  it, & if you want people in your community to as well, consider requesting Stop Street Harassment:  Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women for your local library.

On your local library’s website, they likely will have a page called “Suggest a Title” or “Suggest a Book.” To request the book, you will need to provide your library card number, the book title (above) and author’s name (Holly Kearl). If they need an age range, it’s for teenagers and adults.

“Golden Silence,” a woman who has shared several of her street harassment stories on this blog, requested Stop Street Harassment for her library and she just informed me that the library agreed to order it. So, folks in Arlington, VA, you can check it out in 4-6 weeks 🙂

I hope that you, too, will request the book for your library. It’s a fast, easy, and free way to help make this information accessible for everyone in your community.

(And if you happen to have an extra copy or are done with yours, you can always donate it to the library. When so many libraries, including mine, are facing budget cuts, that is one way to ensure your library can carry a copy.)

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Weekly Round Up: September 26, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

In the News, On the Blogs:

Events:

Announcements:

12 Tweets from the Week:

  • dyanti Dear members of so called progressive community,careful when u harass a girl in the street. U might pick a wrong one,like me 🙂
  • jennifercwang Lovely. Street harassed by two obnoxious brobros last night. inappropriate! Hate this mantype. #iHollaback #streetharassment
  • LEVYandMarie Just another a-hole harassing me on my block #streetharassment on Twitpic twitpic.com/2rliv3 (cc @MarianneDiNaps)
  • CircaJoyLynn Wondering why I chose this bright red dress today. I really don’t want attention from strangers… #streetharassment
  • starlipswriters @rightsandwrongs The worst part of #streetharassment might be that harassers expect our silence. So speaking up & out is the thing to do.
  • TheUndomestic Yelled a nice “fuck you” to livery cab driver who slowed down to make kissing noises at me. #streetharassment
  • El_Amster Am surprised at lack of street harassment in Malaysia. Been here for 2 wks & not so much as a sidewards glance. I feel so free
  • KristyKakes Can’t I just go for a peaceful run without getting honked at, whistled at, or a catcall?
  • smartbunny When I saw a guy catcall a jogger, I yelled @ him, “Ooh a GIRL! I better yell something stupid 2 show what a MAN I am!”
  • SpreeWilson Street harassment is out of control here in NYC according to my female friends…An aquaintance even did a one woman play addressing it
  • DesiSanchez @iHollaback Random stranger feels it’s “sad” he can’t talk 2 pretty women in the street. Told him I feel it’s sad he feels the need to 🙂
  • ton_o_fun I just witnessed some creepy dude cuss out this girl walking down the st. bc she didn’t respond 2 his catcall. I don’t get men
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