Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

City in Colombia Bans Street Harassment, Survey in Nepal & More

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Here are four notable news stories from the past day:

DECREE:

In Timbío, Colombia, a non-binding decree was made on November 25, 2016, to ban public-sector workers and contractors from making “lewd, coarse catcalling that offends ladies.” Those in violation will face verbal reprimand, sensitivity training, or counseling.

Along with the decree was the launch of a city-wide campaign against street harassment, including ads at harassment hotspots, like public transit and stadiums.

iwalkfreelysurveynepalnov2016The decree is supported by la Casa de Mujer, a local women’s organization.

Learn more here.

SURVEY:

More than 1000 people took the #IWalkFreely survey in Nepal and 98 percent of all women said they had been harassed. Besides the streets, 71 percent of respondents also reported harassment in public transportation, 63 percent said they were subjected to physical harassment of some form, and 20 percent reported sexual harassment. Nearly half the participants who said they had faced harassment were between 20-29 years old, and 41 percent were between 13 and 19.

DOCUMENTING:

Here are two efforts to show what street harassment is like globally.

Via BBC News:

“As part of the BBC’s 100 Women season we would like you to join in and help us build up a picture of street harassment around the world.

We would like you or any of your female friends or family who experience harassment between Friday 2 December and Sunday 4 December to share your story with us.

We only need a brief description of the incident and the city where it happened. Tweet it using the hashtag #mappingharassment or if you prefer, email bbc100.women@bbc.co.uk

Do not put yourself at risk or try to take any pictures of the incident. Also do not give us further elements that could lead to your full identification, like your name, or address. Only post a brief description, the city and the hashtag.”

Via Vice News:

“As a woman walking around the city alone at night, there’s not much you can do if some creep decides to follow you around and harass you. But many women try to find a way to deal with feeling unsafe – to project an aura that will stop the harassment from happening. A brisk and confident step, eyes on the pavement and a hand in the pocket of your coat, clutching your phone.

To see how women from different countries in Europe deal with street harassment, VICE offices across the continent asked women from 13 cities if and where they feel unsafe alone at night, and how they deal with that feeling.” Read more.

 

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Blank Noise Invites You to “Walk Alone” on Dec. 2

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From our friends at Blank Noise in India:

walk.jpg

  • Have you walked, not having to think twice about the width of your smile,the length of your blouse,  skirt, tee neck, sleeve.

  • Have you clenched your fist so hard ,worn a frown, sharpened elbows out ?

  • Does your daily list of every place, person, garment you ‘avoid’/ deny reveal a larger something- that you decide where to go, how to go, what time to go, what clothes to go in, with whom to go based on your safety?

  • Have you too been warned, just like me, about places, our bodies, our clothes, our cities, our streets?

    An environment that constantly reminds women and girls to be careful , is also messaging out “ you experienced violence because you were not being careful enough”. Warnings lead to blame, blame leads to silence and shame. Our environments need to be made safe and inclusive, rather than have women carry the weight of warnings and fear. #INeverAskForIt #WalkAlone Towards Freedom From Fear.

walkalone-dec-22016blanknoise100 Action Heroes #WalkAlone
Friday, 2nd December
anytime between
9 pm – midnight

Women occupy streets at night.
Alone. Wandering. Walking.
Stop To Gaze At The Stars
Smell the night blooming flowers
We are many
We are visible

Action Heroes co create safe spaces
We Walk Alone, Together;
Towards Freedom From Fear

Here’s how: identify site ( is it unfamiliar / unknown / desired?)
/ register / walk alone/ document / share

* Register

* Read event FAQs

Action Heroes and allies have registered from cities across India and beyond. A complete list will be out on the 2nd December morning.

Walk Alone was initiated in 2015 and has been built by Action Heroes and organisational allies from across cities/ towns/ countries including Ranchi, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Philadelphia, Braunschweig, Toronto, Karachi, Melbourne, Koppa, Kohima, Shillong.

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Late November 2016 News Round-Up

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November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and groups globally commemorated it with events, marches, and online campaigns.

nov2016bctransitpoliceharassmentposterPlan International Australia and CrowdSpot created a digital campaign “Known as Free to Be” and invited young women aged 15 to 19 to mark public spaces on a map as either “happy”, where they have had good experiences or “sad”, where they have experienced feeling unsafe or unwelcome.

Barbadian women have been using the hashtag #LifeInLeggings to share their personal experiences of street harassment, as well as sexual and other forms of abuse and now women in other Caribbean countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad are using it, too.

Student and faculty at the University of Belize donned orange clothing and marched against street harassment.

In Toronto, Canada, there were 577 reports of sexual assault on the transit company’s property or vehicles between 2011 and 2015.

A new anti-harassment transit campaign launched in Vancouver, Canada, with the posters reading, “Unwanted touching is a crime. Keep your hands to yourself.”

Prajnya Trust is highlighting street harassment by covering a mannequin with stickers (with slogans) in the Chamiers Cafe in Chennai, India.

Four young women have a Youtube channel “Morras” where they post videos in which they talk about street harassment in Mexico and show hidden camera footage of harassers.

A regulation has been proposed in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to make it illegal to “bother others buy jeering or offensive language, gestures, noises or behavior” in public spaces.

Women in New Zealand say no to street harassment.

Thousands of women in Turkey rode bicycles to claim public space.

A new poll of 14,000 students in the UK showed that 95% of women and 61% of men had been groped against their will at a nightclub.

A new bill in Georgia (USA) will outlaw “upskirt” photos and video recordings.

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Post-Election Map of Hate, Including Street Harassment

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splcnov292016The Southern Poverty Law Center released a new report yesterday on the more than 860 post-presidential election hate incidents that have been reported so far in the United States. You can see the breakdown and learn more about the types of incidents they are tracking here:

Here are examples of the Anti-Woman incidents, which they classify as street harassment.

“Since the election, the frequency and tone of street harassment of women seems to have changed. Women — about 5% of the total reports — reported that boys and men around the country are parroting the president-elect’s sexist and vulgar comments from the now-notorious 2005 audio tape.

In Minneapolis, middle-school boys leaned out of a school bus to yell, “Grab her by the pussy!” to a man walking with a female colleague.

A 50 year-old woman from Venice, California, reported that she had not been “catcalled” in over 20 years. The day after the election, three white men in a pickup truck bearing a Trump sticker shouted at her, “Do you want us to grab your pussy?”

In Arlington, Virginia, a woman crossing the street reported that two young white men yelled at her from their car: “You better be ready because with Trump, we can grab you by the pussy even if you don’t want it.”

In New York, a girl on her way to school reported that a man on the subway told her he was “allowed to grab my pussy because it’s legal now.”

A woman in Spokane, Washington, reported that she encountered young men who she described as being “‘liberated’ from normal behavior since the election.” They shouted “We’re going to rape you!” from a Jeep with the word “TRUMP” emblazoned on its side.

And in a Brooklyn, New York, restaurant, a woman who voiced her support for Hillary Clinton was punched in the face by a male patron.”

If you’ve experienced any of these types of harassment (e.g. anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-LGBT, anti-woman), you can report it via this URL or the hashtag #ReportHate.

Related, here is a Ms. Magazine article by Carly Lanning about how Trump is a “trigger” for sexual abuse survivors.

H/T our board member Patrick!

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Keep the Street Harassment Hotline “Going and Growing”

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125-callers-to-hotlineWe would be no where without our generous supporters! Thanks to donations made last year, we were able to launch the first-ever National Street Harassment Hotline and cover the monthly costs of running it since July.

Here’s what one caller shared with us (and she said we could share it here):

“I am very excited to find this program exists. It feels a niche that has needed to be filled for a long time. I spent days searching the Internet before I found this program and it is a beautiful thought. There isn’t much support for people who experience street harassment and even friends can have a difficult time coming up with words to say. I hope the program receives enough funds to keep going and growing forever.”

In its first four months, the National Street Harassment Hotline has served more than 125 people like her, all across the country. It is offered toll-free, 24/7, in English and Spanish, by phone and IM chat.

Today, for #GivingTuesday, please donate to help us keep the hotline going and growing!

All money donated beyond the hotline fundraising goal will help fund the 2017 Safe Public Spaces Mentoring teams and allow us to hire a consultant to update the laws relevant to street harassment that are listed state-by-state in our Know Your Rights Toolkit (which we released in 2013).

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. Everyone who donates at least $15 will receive these stickers! Our work is possible thanks to the generosity of people like you!

givingtuesdaystickers

You can also make donations by check to:

Stop Street Harassment
P.O. Box 3621
Reston, VA 20195

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