Search Results for: police violence

USA: Anti-Flirt Club and Hassle-Free Zones, 100 Years of Activism

October 1, 2013 By Correspondent

By Lauren McEwen, Washington, D.C., USA, SSH Correspondent

A while back, I read an interesting post by a male ally about street harassment in which he attempted to explain to other cis men why gendered harassment in public spaces is not OK. It basically amounted to him saying, “Hey, I know it’s hard to understand that some of the social norms we were spoon-fed as kids isn’t OK, but it’s the 21^st century, and we now officially know that street harassment is unacceptable.”

While I appreciate all positive support for something I believe in, here’s the thing: the anti-street harassment movement is not a new phenomenon. It can be argued that street harassment has been a problem since women began moving through public spaces on their own. There have been studies conducted, books written and protests waved to fight against street harassment for generations.

Today’s anti-street harassment movement has something that all of the other efforts did not – the power of the Internet. Each day, I come across about three to five stories about street harassment. I see tweets from people affected by it venting and comforting each other, in turn. The saturation of news and opinions and anecdotes about street harassment all over the web can make it seem like street harassment has been tolerable up until this new generation of overly sensitive, politically correct kids came of age, but it’s not.

This post is about times in the past 100 years when street harassment was both documented and fought.

Early 1900s: Mashing

Street harassment was called “mashing” in the early 1900s, and some women decided to take matters in their own hands, stabbing mashers with their hatpins, and punching or hitting harassers across the face with their handbags. They also reported harassment to the police and in some cases, were successful in getting the masher arrested.

While it’s not advisable to get into physical altercations with street harassers, these accounts prove that there was not a time when street harassment was universally viewed as a “compliment.” It was threatening enough in the 1930s for these women to attack their harassers, and one can only assume that the actual words and actions that present-day street harassers employ are can be even more vulgar than those used by their predecessors.

[Editor’s Note: Stanford professor Estelle Freedman’s new book Redefining Rape includes a chapter about mashers/street harassers from the 1880s to 1920s.]

1920s: The Anti-Flirt Club

In the 1920s, a group of D.C. women formed the Anti-Flirt Club and held the first and only Anti-Flirt Week. During World War I, it became common practice for men to offer female pedestrians rides when they saw them walking down the street as part of their civic duty. But soon, those offered rides became tainted by aggressive flirting on the part of the driver. Although the group’s secretary acknowledged that here were other “flirts” about, the drivers were the most worrisome.

The Atlantic reprinted excerpts from a 1920s Washington Post article that detailed the rules of the Anti-Flirt Club, and although some of the advice seems sound enough, (“Don’t accept rides from flirting motorists—they don’t all invite you in to save you a walk.” “Don’t let elderly men with an eye to a flirtation pat you on the shoulder and take a fatherly interest in you. Those are usually the kind who want to forget they are fathers.”) some of the rules were tinged with slut-shaming (“Don’t flirt; those who flirt in haste oft repent in leisure.” “Don’t use your eyes for ogling—they were made for worthier purposes.”)

The trouble with the Anti-Flirt Club was that, once again, the onus for preventing “flirting” (or rather, street harassment) was once again placed on women. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t smile. But be sure to keep your options open, because you never know where your future husband may be hiding.

The Manhattan-based version of the Anti-Flirt Club was run by men, and placed the burden of ending street harassment on women in another, slightly less oppressive, way. They wanted “to educate public opinion to the point where a woman will consider it her duty to prosecute the masher who attempts to force his attentions upon her. The association intends to have its own counsel, who will aid in prosecuting all masher cases.” (More on “mashers” in a bit.)

According to The Atlantic, it isn’t clear what charges could have been drawn against these early 20^th century street harassers, but interestingly, two politicians tried (and failed) to get anti-street harassment bills passed in 1897, and in 1931, the Chicago Tribune quoted the Acting Police Commissioner John Alock saying, “This street flirting has got to stop in Chicago. No longer may young men in automobiles edge over to the curb and honk their horns at pretty girls on the sidewalk. They must quit ogling women from loafing places in front of drug stores, cigar stores and other public hangouts.”

Eventually, the efforts seemed to fizzle – fewer articles were written about the anti-flirt movement – but police and politicians from generations ago at least appeared to take sexual harassment seriously. Seems like we have regressed quite a bit over the years.

1940s: “Hands Off! Self Defense for Women”

In 1942, a book by Major W.E. Fairbairn was published that sought to teach women “basic methods of attack and defense” in order to help them defend themselves should they be attacked. It served as a sort of wartime manual to teach readers some of the self-defense tactics Fairbairn picked up while serving with the Shanghai Municipal Police.

In the foreword, Fairbairn explained what motivated him to write the book. As more American women began to work outside of the home, taking the places of men who were away at war, they would be in new and unfamiliar situations, and should be able to defend themselves in case their safety was threatened.

1980s: The Hassle-Free Zone Campaign

In 1985, several community organizations, including the D.C. Rape Crisis Center (the first rape crisis center in the U.S.), the D.C. Women’s Law Center and D.C. Men Against Sexual Violence teamed up to organize an effort to convert the District into a “hassle-free zone.”

Marty Langelan, the former president of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center and the author of Back Off: How to Confront and Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers, detailed the 1985 campaign in her book and talked to me about it in an interview.

Posters and flyers were created by Linda Leaks and the African American Women’s Committee for Community Education, local law students researched ways to potentially prosecute harassers and self defense instructors from the D.C. Rape Crises Center taught women confrontation classes.

In September 1985, they focused on street harassment during the Take Back the Night March and the annual Anti-Rape Week program, and got then-Mayor Marion Barry to issue a proclamation asking that all Washingtonians strive to make the District a Hassle-Free Zone. A resolution supporting the campaign was passed by the City Council.

The following spring, the campaign hosted speakouts in street harassment hotspots, like parks and Metro Stations, after work and during lunchtime, when there would be more people on the street. There were skits, speeches and “open mike sessions to give women a chance to sound off about their harassment experiences.” They held their final public speakout during October 1986.

It’s hard to say if it is inspiring or disheartening to realize that groups have been fighting to end street harassment for generations. It does, however, serve as a reminder that we are not battling a non-issue, but something that has hindered the happiness and safety of people for longer than we would like to imagine.

Lauren is a recent graduate of Howard University where she majored in print journalism with a minor in photography. You can check out more of her work at laurenmcewen.weebly.com and follow her on Twitter at @angrywritergirl.

USA: “My ‘Brother’ Would Respect Me”

August 30, 2013 By Correspondent

By Lauren McEwen, Washington, D.C., USA, SSH Correspondent

I came here today to write about street harassment and race. How it affects me as a black woman, personally. How it distorts the way we speak about street harassment, as a whole. How I feel that my sexuality and freedom of gender expression are circumscribed by forces that I cannot control: history and bigotry and sexism.

The internal conversation that I have with myself each morning: Will this outfit draw too much attention? Can a black girl walk down the street in gym shorts without being harassed at every corner? I think all of these things and then I change into something that will leave less room for comment.

Regardless of how many anti-slut-shaming lectures I give myself, I know that my sexuality is not my own, but is tied to a history of excusing violence against black women and dehumanizing black women by portraying us as innately sexual beings with no feelings, virtue or value.

It’s a legacy that has been passed down since slavery and like many perverse tools of subjugation that were created back then, still affects our everyday.

For this reason, I get furious when I am harassed by black men on the street.

I understand that most street harassment is intra-racial, stemming from a blend of proprietary delusions and a sense of comfort while degrading women with a shared racial heritage. But, as I listened to the speakers in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington, as I feel these feelings of camaraderie and hope with people who share “my struggle,” it reinforces old feelings of disappointment and anger that I feel each time I am harassed by a black man.

I expect better from them, and I cannot shake it. As potential victims of racial profiling and police harassment, I expect black men to be cognizant of what it feels like to be unable to walk down the street without fear, or worrying about the way your appearance or body language may be perceived.

That was why this tweet from @brokeymcpoverty, during the height of the #BlackPowerisforBlackMen hashtag’s popularity rang so true that I must print it here: “#BlackPowerIsForBlackMen because when i explain not wanting to be bothered on the street, im accused of misandry/conceit/rudeness.”

That entire trending topic spoke to the myriad of ways that women have been silenced by black men in the Black Power Movement. From women standing on stage with Dr. King 50 years ago in silence, to far too many black men refusing to acknowledge black women’s problems, while expecting us to stand behind them when called.

And yet, when Stop and Frisk was finally ruled unconstitutional, I cheered along with many others. I had spent months retweeting articles about the NYPD’s discriminatory program, tapping my touchscreen violently in outrage. I shed tears watching YouTube documentaries about the effect Stop and Frisk had on black and brown men, and how police officers were forced to harass these young men in order to stay in good standing at work.

But I have literally had a black man tell me that I “don’t love” myself because I am bothered by street harassment. A strong black woman isn’t easily bothered by constant threats and leers and groping from strangers, apparently.

That hashtag, no matter how firmly rooted in truth, was called “divisive” by some loud voices. I started seeing women friends of mine, tweeting how they love black men and disagree with everything that is being said. Others began to argue that the conversation “took away” from what we are trying to accomplish as a race. That we should continue to ignore sexism in the black community just like we should ignore racism in the feminist movement.

It directly parallels the guilt trip that I have had harassers try to employ when I refuse their advances. I am sometimes accused of “being afraid of brothers,” not being attracted to black men out of some fault of my own – usually, because I am a light-skinned snob. It’s frustrating because the black community became insular out of necessity, and in my mind, using that background to justify harassing black women perverts that history. Pet names like, brother, sister, queen and king were meant to build a sort of fellowship, and now that is distorted to place the blame on me when I am turned off by street harassment.

I expect more from black men because their sexuality has had limitations placed on it by racism, as well. The oversexed man of color is the boogeyman in too many articles that I have read about street harassment. I cannot tell you how many times I have come across comment section standoffs where women of all races swear up and down that they are harassed by men of color at disproportionate rates, unaware of how strongly their comments echo assumptions made about black male sexuality from the Nadir of American Race Relations.

Studies and my own personal experiences (I tend to be harassed by black men more frequently, but not exclusively.) tell me that that is not true, but perception and reality are two separate animals.

Some feminists who have studied street harassment argue that mistreating women is one of the only spoils of patriarchy in which black men can engage. That may be true. But it does not stop me from shaking my head in disappointment every time I’m accosted by a black, male harasser.

Am I being unrealistic? Maybe. But I have also been told that it’s foolish to dream of a day where gendered harassment in public is no longer the norm. And yet, here we all are.

Kyrgyzstan: The Problem of Street Harassment in Bishkek

August 30, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Aikanysh Jeenbaeva, in collaboration with Salidat Hamilova, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, SSH Correspondents

Street harassment is a tremendous problem in the city of Bishkek: girls and women experience it every single minute of each and every day. We get stared, whistled and honked at, grabbed, touched, splashed with water. We constantly hear degrading comments about our appearance, bodies, the degree of ‘hotness’ and the way we should be treated, if the harassers would catch us alone.

Instead of being properly addressed, street harassment is romanticized in popular culture and presented as flattering to women. That is why when I complain to the people around me about these encounters, they often laugh and say I should be glad that men find me attractive. “Take it as a compliment,” people say, “It as a sign of admiration”, “He just likes you”, or “How else will people meet, if no one approaches each other in public?”

Quite often they justify such behavior by saying that, well, you probably asked for it, your cut was too low, your skirt/dress too short, you wore too much make up and so on. People are willing to use any excuse to rationalize harassment and make it seem normal, while words of support of understanding are almost never offered. Even law enforcement representatives actively practice street harassment: when passing a member of our “valiant” police on the streets of Bishkek, you will almost surely hear him muttering something about your looks.

The question that I then ask people in response to their comments is: how can one feel glad about being objectified as something, the value of which is measured only in the so-called “hotness”? How can I feel happy about being treated like an object that can be stopped, judged, criticized, grabbed or pushed at any moment? Every time I face harassers on the streets and hear their whistles and insults, I cringe inside. I feel violated, angry and disgusted. And I want to come right up to the harasser and simply spit into his face.

What the majority of people still do not understand about street harassment, apart from its obvious insulting facets, is the expression of power behind it. Street harassment does not just objectify and degrade women, but also serves as a constant reminder to us of our vulnerability and evokes fear of more serious sexual attacks, i.e. rape. In this way, harassment on the streets can be seen as another way of keeping women ‘in line’, that is, away from public spaces.

And it does keep us in line, doesn’t it? In an attempt to avoid being sexually harassed on the streets, we have to constantly police ourselves. When choosing what to wear for the day, I have to think whether this outfit will attract unwanted attention or not, pick long skirts or pants, avoid wearing revealing, tight or short clothes. When going down the street, I put in the ear buds; turn the volume up to the max to block out catcalls and whistles and walk down the street, ignoring lewd smiles and stares. I avoid using certain “unsafe” streets and alleys. When seeing a large group of men approaching, I sometimes even cross to the other side of the street, or change direction and go back, all the time avoiding eye contact with them. I avoid, avoid and avoid…

So how is it possible to be content with harassment that limits my self-expression, restricts my freedom of movement and keeps me in constant fear of an attack? And why should I suffer and police myself all the time? I always feel extremely angry and frustrated about having to use these tactics, because it is not my fault, and the other party needs to change their attitude, and not me who is being harassed.

Of course, there are strategies of resistance for instance: going up to the harasser and staring him down, taking the cellphone out and threatening him with calling the police (a quite useless tactic though, given the above-mentioned behavior of police officers), shaming him and cursing loudly to attract attention of the passersby (especially in public transport).

But these strategies are limited and only work in some cases, since the overall culture and acceptance of violence, discrimination and objectification of women and girls cripples all attempts to fight harassment…

Aikanysh graduated from the University of Freiburg with a degree in European Literatures and Cultures and recently from the Diplomatic Academy of the KR with a degree in International Relations. Aikanysh is a co-founding member and coordinator of the Bishkek Feminist Collective SQ. Salidat is an undergraduate student at Kyrgyz National University and a dedicated volunteer at the Bishkek Feminist Collective SQ.

Bishkek Feminist Collective SQ was founded in 2012 by activists from various communities of Bishkek city. Follow BFC SQ on Twitter, @bish_feminists and on Facebook.

В России

Уличные домогательства в Бишкеке – проблема огромного масштаба. Девочки, девушки и женщины сталкиваются с этим каждый день, каждый час, каждую минуту. Мы постоянно ловим на себе оценивающие взгляды незнакомых людей на улицах города, нас освистывают, настойчиво сигналят вслед, отпускают в наш адрес мерзкие “шуточки”, грубо хватают, обливают водой. Мы постоянно слышим унизительные замечания о своей внешности, фигуре, степени привлекательности и о том, что с нами следует сделать, если мы окажемся наедине с пристающим(и).

Вместо того, чтобы бороться с уличными домогательствами, наше общество романтизирует и пытается представить их как лестное отношение к женщинам. Поэтому когда я жалуюсь друзьям и близким на случаи домогательства, они смеются надо мной, говоря, что я должна радоваться тому, что мужчины находят меня привлекательной. “Принимай это как комплимент, – говорят они, – Это знак восхищения” – “Ты ему просто понравилась!”, или же – “А как еще люди смогут познакомиться, если никто не будет подходить друг к другу на улице?”

Очень часто они обосновывают такое поведение, говоря что “ну, ты, наверное, сама напросилась: твой вырез был слишком глубок, ты слишком сильно накрасилась, твоя юбка/платье были слишком коротки” и т.д. и т.п. Люди готовы использовать любое оправдание, чтобы рационализировать домогательства и представить их как что-то нормальное, в то время как слова поддержки и понимания произносятся крайне редко.

Даже сотрудники правоохранительных органов активно принимают участие в нормализации уличных домогательств: проходя мимо представителя нашей “доблестной” милиции, нередко можно услышать, как он бормочет тебе вслед что-то о твоей внешности.

Вопрос, который я обычно задаю в ответ на эти комментарии, следующий: как можно радоваться тому, что меня воспринимают как обьект, чья ценность измеряется лишь в так называемой “сексапильности”. Как можно радоваться тому, что к тебе относятся как к предмету, который можно в любой момент остановить, схватить, толкнуть, потрогать, оценить… Каждый раз, когда я сталкиваюсь с домогательствами, слышу посвистывания, поцокивания и выкрики вроде: “Айиии, чон кыз”, “Девушка, девушка” и “Какая самочка!”, я съеживаюсь внутри, мне становится мерзко и противно. Я чувствую себя униженной, оплеванной и в то же время испытываю сильный гнев. Хочется подойти и плюнуть в лицо пристающему.

Большая часть людей до сих пор не понимают, что помимо того, что домогательства оскорбительны, они также являются выражением властных отношений в обществе. Уличные домогательства не только объективизируют и унижают женщин, но также служат нам постоянным напоминанием о нашей уязвимости и вызывают страх более серьёзных нападений на сексуальной почве, т.е. изнасилований. Таким образом, домогательства в общественных местах можно рассматривать как еще один метод контроля над женщинами, как способ держать нас в «узде» и подальше от общественных мест.

И это действительно держит нас в «узде», не так ли? Чтобы избежать уличных домогательств, нам приходится постоянно контролировать и ограничивать себя. При выборе одежды в начале дня, я думаю о том, привлечет ли наряд нежелательное внимание или нет; выбираю брюки и длинные юбки; стараюсь не носить обтягивающую, открытую, короткую одежду. Когда я выхожу из дома, я вставляю в уши наушники, ставлю громкость на максимум, чтобы не слышать различных посвистываний и поцокиваний и, идя вниз по улице, пытаюсь не обращать внимание на пристальные взгляды и ухмылки окружающих. Я избегаю ходить по определенным “небезопасным” улицам и переулкам, держусь подальше от определенных мест. Увидев группу мужчин, двигающихся в моем направлении, я иногда даже перехожу на другую сторону улицы, либо поворачиваю назад, все время избегая зрительного контакта с потенциальными обидчиками. В уме постоянно крутится инструкция – избегать, избегать, избегать…

Конечно, есть и тактики сопротивления, например, подойти к пристающему на улице и медленно окинуть его с ног до головы изучающе-нахальным взглядом; вынуть сотовый телефон из сумки и пригрозить звонком в милицию (довольно-таки бесполезная тактика, учитывая поведение самих милиционеров, но время от времени срабатывает); громко пристыдить и обругать его, таким образом привлекая внимание окружающих (особенно в общественном транспорте). Однако такие тактики ограничены и действуют лишь в некоторых случаях, так как повсеместная культура и приятие насилия, дискриминации и объективизации женщин часто сводит на нет все попытки бороться с домогательствами…

New Book Tackles Street Harassment, Other Feminist Topics

August 27, 2013 By Contributor

By: Julie Mastrine, USA

In the fight against street harassment other gender inequalities, our voices are our most powerful weapons.

This is something I’ve always believed. The fight for social justice is difficult and fraught with roadblocks, chief among them flawed cultural attitudes. The best thing we can do to create change and end issues like street harassment is to fight the fear in our bellies and give a face to these incidents. Stories have power, and they can provide the groundwork we need to help others understand the links between personal injustices and how they connect to a broader, global issue.

This was the thinking behind the creation of my new ebook, Make Your Own Sandwich: A 20-Something’s Musings on Living Under (And Smashing) The Patriarchy. Plenty of people have pegged Millennials as lazy, entitled and narcissistic, but the truth is, our generation has championed the use of new technologies as a way to create lasting change in the world away from our computer screens. Opening up about our experiences online through ebooks, blogging and social media has proven an effective and pervasive way to ignite the change we want to see.

And just what change do we want? My book delves into the more subtle ways we harm and oppress others, like creating conflicting media messages about how women should look or act, using language that pegs femininity as weak or trivial, criticizing how — or if — women wear makeup, taunting women who engage in self-portraiture like the selfie, and yes, street harassment.

The following excerpt from Make Your Own Sandwich delves into the issue of street harassment:

“At some point in their lives — often starting at a very young age — 99 percent of women will experience street harassment. One in four will experience it before the age of 12. Some will endure it every day. Some will experience hateful and sexualized comments. Some will be threatened with violence. Some will be assaulted. Some will replay the incident in their head for years, wondering how they could’ve retaliated, what it was they’d done to deserve being the victim of such behavior…

Too often, women and LGBTQ persons are told street harassment should be taken as a compliment, that it’s just “boys being boys.” But street harassment is not a compliment — it is scary, threatening, and a human rights violation.

Men and women have competed for access to public spaces since the beginning of time. Now that women are no longer expected to stay at home tending to house and children, we’re seeing these power struggles being doled out on the streets. And consequently, it’s made plenty of women afraid.

When I told my mother about my first street harassment incident at age 11 — I was catcalled while walking my dog — she brushed it off, saying, “Oh, that’s always happened around here.” We’ve created a culture in which women are often told to take harassment as a compliment, and if we don’t like it, to watch what we wear, travel with a companion, or otherwise police our own behavior to avoid being targeted. And plenty of women and LGBTQ folk simply accept that they should “choose” to restrict their actions to avoid harm…

“It wasn’t until I started to get wind of the anti-street harassment movement — efforts fueled nonprofits like Stop Street Harassment and Hollaback! — that I learned this wasn’t just an isolated incident, but an issue happening on streets worldwide. As a volunteer for Stop Street Harassment, I learned how powerful it can feel to share these incidents with others to take the power back, whether that means standing at a demonstration with the comment scribbled on a sign or simply sending out a tweet. Just telling other people what happened can be an effective tool that affords the incident less strength over our consciousness and sense of self. It opens up others to the idea that this isn’t something we should tolerate, but should fight back against.”

I hope you’ll give my book a read, and hopefully come away not just with an understanding of the complex sociopolitical landscape of gender issues, but with a sense of empowerment to affect change. Make Your Own Sandwich is available for download here.

Julie Mastrine is an activist, feminist, and writer working in the PR industry. She holds a B.A. in Public Relations from Penn State University, and is a social media volunteer for Stop Street Harassment. You can follow Julie on Twitter.

UK: New Campaign Addresses Transit Harassment

August 13, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Tilly Grove, London, UK, SSH Correspondent

As a student at a London university, the city’s transport system is something I use daily during term time. Consequently, I stand alongside the 15 per cent of women who responded to a Transport for London (TfL) survey and reported that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault on the London transport network. In fact, I consider myself to stand alongside a much larger percentage of women. That 15 per cent is only of the women who responded to the survey, and only those who felt comfortable talking about what had happened to them in the first place. Often, women do not even realise that what has occurred to them is sexual harassment. Either way, 90 per cent of the women in that survey said that they had not reported what happened to them to the police, and TfL have rightly identified that this is a huge problem.

Project Guardian is the initiative that seeks to change that. The British Transport Police (BTP), working closely with TfL, Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police, have recognised that sexual harassment on public transport is a major concern for travellers, and vastly under-reported. Having studied a similar exercise in Boston, and with guidance from women’s campaign groups like the End Violence Against Women coalition, Everyday Sexism, and Hollaback London, Project Guardian will see all 2,000 of the officers working on the public transport network receive training in victim awareness, and selected officers given extra training on sexual offences courses.

The core aim of Project Guardian is to increase awareness of sexual offences, and encourage victims to come forward. By clearly outlining what constitutes a sexual offence, the BTP are taking a good first step. A lot of women – myself included – will likely not have been aware, for example, that any comments or actions that make them uncomfortable on their journeys constitute harassment. When I have had men actively stalk me across platforms and through carriages, or make obvious efforts to stare up my skirt, or make sexually charged comments about my appearance, I would certainly never have thought that this was something I should report, and not just something I had to shrug off. The BTP insists that any offence of this nature will be taken “extremely seriously”, and urges anyone who has witnessed or experienced something to come forward.

While not the primary objective of the initiative, a reduction in instances of sexual assault would certainly be desirable too, as has been seen in Boston. Project Guardian seeks to deter offenders by deploying up to 180 officers to stations at a time, using undercover officers, creating a high police profile at vulnerable times and places (like quiet stations late at night), working in partnership with railway businesses, using CCTV footage, and publishing details of all successful prosecutions. Judging by the figures from its first week, it might be set for success: reporting of sexual offences increased by 26%, and 10 arrests were made. This may see the initiative rolled out elsewhere across Britain.

The Twitter hashtag #ProjGuardian illustrates clearly that experiences of sexual harassment are not a rarity, and not a one-off. There are thousands of women sharing their stories, all of them demonstrating that this has become an accepted part of our experiences as women in public. Even when it is not physically happening to us, the possibility of it is always hanging over us. If Project Guardian can change one thing, it can change the idea amongst so many of us that it has to be this way, that we must be silent and accept it. Ideally, it will change more than that. When Ellie Cosgrave had a man ejaculate on her on the train, she took matters into her own hands and put on a brilliant and intelligent protest, Take Back the Tube; she did this because she had reported it to TfL, who did not even respond. Women deserve more than this. We deserve organisations that listen to us and take us seriously, and most importantly, we deserve to be able to use the public transport network without constant fear and anticipation of someone violating us in the first place. Let’s hope Project Guardian is the start of that.

To report sexual offences to the British Transport Police, talk to staff or officers at the station, text 61016, or call 0800 40 50 40.

Tilly is studying for a BA in War Studies at King’s College London, where she is writing her dissertation on the effect that perceptions of gender have on the roles which women adopt in conflict. You can follow her on Tumblr and Twitter, @tillyjean_.

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