Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Male entitlement

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I was walking back to my apartment in Manchester (UK), having done some grocery shopping. It was winter time and very cold, so the only flesh showing was my face. I’m usually listening to music as I’m walking about, so I had earphones in, but I suddenly noticed there was a man behind me and that he was trying to talk to me.

I turned round as I caught the end of the sentence: “… I just had to tell you, you look beautiful.”

I said, “Okay, thank you” and carried on walking.

He continued to follow me saying, “I know it’s an inconvenient time and you’re in a rush but I just had to say that.”

I replied, “Yes it is really, but thanks anyway.”

The man seemed shocked and said, “Oh” as if I was going to entertain the idea of a conversation with him.

Of all the situations of harassment I’ve had I probably dealt with this one the best, but it still made me angry and frustrated. I couldn’t understand why he had picked me out from the crowds that were around or why he thought I would be flattered by that.

– HC

Location: Manchester, UK

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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Weekly Round Up Jan. 10, 2010

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Now that I’m done writing my book, I’m back to doing a weekly round up blog post on Sundays. This is my first edition since August, welcome!

Stories:

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.

In the News:

Announcements:

  • Want an easy way to report harassers from your phone or want to receive a report showing all the places harassment has recently occurred? Then vote for HollaBack 2.0! This is a proposed project by HollaBack NYC and RightRides and they’re in the second round of a competition for funding to make this a reality.
  • After more than two months, I updated my HarassMap with the stories people have submitted to my blog. Check out the map to see all the places where street harassment is occurring.

Events:

Resource of the Week:

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Bus Slap

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I had caught a bus in Manchester (UK) in the evening with a friend of mine and we sat near the back of the bus. A couple of stops later two young men got on and approached us and sat down behind us. One of them leaned forward and tried to start a conversation. I tried to be polite but indicated I didn’t really want to speak to them. He then asked if he could go with us to wherever we were going and where we lived. I told him I was obviously going to say no and my friend, who was panicking, asked if we could get off the bus suddenly so they wouldn’t have a chance to follow us or know where we lived.

As I got up to leave, the one who had been speaking to me slapped me on the backside and laughed. At the time I was just glad to be getting off the bus but found the whole thing very intimidating. My friend wanted to run home in case they got off at the next stop, which clearly showed how intimidated she was as well.

When I look back on the situation it makes me angry to think that he thought he had a right to touch me. I’d like to say I would deal with the situation differently if it happened again, but I can’t say I would know what to do.

– Hannah

Location: Manchester, UK

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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“Dressing Professionally Doesn’t Stop You from Getting Harassed”

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A friend and I decided to meet half-way between our respective offices in Manhattan for a weekly “professionals” lunch. The logical meeting point was 28th street and Broadway on the R/W line. When we both were vulgarly harassed (I hate it when people say “God bless” or “So sexy,” half under their breath but it’s somehow much more degrading when p**** and f*** are said loud and clear) within seconds of emerging from the subway we decided it would be better to meet at a stop that was slightly further for one of us. (This part of Manhattan is what I like to call “sketchy” Broadway as it’s about a 10-block stretch of nothing but open trash bag after open trash bag filled with “fake” DVDs, purses, etc.)

– anonymous

Location: 28th Street & Broadway, New York City

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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Vote for phone app & make it easier to report street harassers

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Cross-posted from HollaBack NYC:

Thanks to the 3,800 of you who voted for Hollaback 2.0, we made it to the second round of the Knight News Foundation. Now we are asking you to vote again.

If you want to stop worrying if you could run in those heels if you needed to, vote again.

If you want to slap the next man who tells you to “smile,” vote again.

If your head scarf, puffy coat, and winter boats still aren’t making you harassment-free, vote again.

Each story you submit is read by 1,000 people: now that’s leadership. Your stories, your vision, and your commitment got us here. Now it’s time to step up our game and build a platform that uses today’s technology to make even easier to Hollaback. We’ve never been able to do it without you, so we’re not going to try now. Vote again.

It’s your future. Make it harassment-free.

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