Search Results for: police violence

2013 UN Comission on the Status of Women

May 28, 2013 By HKearl

“Whether walking city streets, using public transport, going to school, or selling goods at the market, women and girls are subject to the threat of sexual harassment and violence. This reality of daily life limits women’s freedom to get an education, to work, to participate in politics – or to simply enjoy their own neighbourhoods.

Yet despite its prevalence, violence and harassment against women and girls in public spaces remains a largely neglected issue, with few laws or policies in place to address it,” wrote the former executive director of UN Women and former president of Chile, Michele Bachelet.

“One approach [for addressing it] is the Safe Cities global initiative. This partnership of municipal governments, local communities and organisations, and the UN, is working to make urban environments safer for women and girls.

Initially launched by UN Women and UN-Habitat with five pilot cities – Cairo, Egypt; Kigali, Rwanda; New Delhi, India; Quito, Ecuador; and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – the initiative has expanded to more than 20 cities and continues to grow.

One of the most important lessons we have learned is that each city is unique and requires a local response. This can only be achieved by conducting a diagnostic study with data and evidence, and engaging community members. Cities have taken actions to improving the lighting and design of streets and buildings, training and sensitizing police, and hiring more women police officers. These practical responses can make a world of difference.”

This is one of the clearest and most concise articles I’ve read about the problem of street harassment/sexual violence in public spaces and what the UN is doing about it.

Even better news is that in March 2013, for the first time, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women included several clauses about sexual harassment in public spaces in its Agreed Conclusions, signaling a shift in how this issue is viewed and its level of importance.

For example, it expressed “deep concern about violence against women and girls in public spaces, including sexual harassment, especially when it is being used to intimidate women and girls who are exercising any of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

It called on States to “increase measures to protect women and girls from violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and bullying, in both public and private spaces, to address security and safety, through awareness-raising, involvement of local communities, crime prevention laws, and policies.”

It also called on States to “support the development and use of information and communications technology ….as a resource for the empowerment of women and girls, including access to information on the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls; and develop mechanisms to combat the use of information and communications technology used to perpetrate violence against women and girls.”

I am excited to share that I am now a consultant to the UN for their Safe Cities Global Initiative and will look for ways to elevate their work through SSH and learn from their efforts as they address street harassment strategically, on a global scale.

Digest of Street Harassment News: May 12, 2013

May 12, 2013 By HKearl

reclaim the night - Liverpool — Reclaim the Night – Liverpool

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Street Harassment Stories:

Share your story! You can read street harassment stories on the Web at:

Stop Street Harassment Blog

Collective Action for Safe Spaces

HarassMap in Egypt

Bijoya in Bangladesh

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Name and Shame in Pakistan

Safe City India

Safe Streets in Yemen

Street Harassment in South Africa

Many of the Hollaback sites

Everyday Sexism

Street Harassment In the News, on the Blogs:

* Ms. Blog, “A High Schooler Speaks Out on Street Harassment“

* Everyday Feminism, “What Men Can Do To Stop Street Harassment“

* Carbonated tv, “Egyptian Man Dresses Up As A Woman To Experience Street Harassment (VIDEO)“

* Bikya News, “New Egypt anti-sexual harassment battle provides “safe car” service“

* Consumerist, “Dad Complains To LEGO About Leering Minifig, Teaches Everyone About Brand Licensing“

*ABC News, “Lego Apologizes for Cat-Calling Sticker“

* The Atlantic, “In Egypt, Some Women Fight Sexual Harassment With Karate Chops“

* LS Media, “Guest post: Reclaim the Night challenges rape culture“

* Liverpool Echo, “Reclaim the Night march campaigns for women’s safety in Liverpool“

* Gurl.com, “Can What You Wear Prevent Street Harassment?“

* Tavaana, “Taking Back Egypt’s Streets: The HarassMap Campaign to End Sexual Harassment“

* Telegraph & Argus, “Campaign group holds free workshop against street harassment“

* AutoStraddle, “Butch Please: Butch and Boundaries“

* Huffington Post, “Street Harassment Is an LGBTQIA Issue“

Announcements:

* If you’re in the Washington, DC-area, come to the five-year anniversary Stop Street Harassment Happy Hour on June 5, 5-9 p.m. Info.

* “Cat calls” aren’t benign. Words can lead to violence. Support the documentary that tells that story: http://kck.st/XUZPmq

* New SSH Resource: Companies that Trivialize Street Harassment

* View photos from International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2013!

20 Tweets from the Week:

1. @dina_hosny After turning in 2 guys to CityStars security for verbal harassment, they turned out to be police officers. Thank u for your service. #endSH

2. ‏@SaladReloaded Let me tell you something: it is exhausting to have to constantly be on high alert. #StreetHarassment

3. @Hanna_Martine I used to think street harassment was a compliment. I used to believe it made me feel better about myself. Really I didn’t know a damn thing

4. @beingtherewith i wanna walk but i don’t want to deal with the summer day street harassment

5. @theresaxtine Man on the street: “happy Mother’s Day, mama – with that pretty ass” #ugh #nyc #streetharassment #kissyoumumwiththatmouth

6. @elmandobandito …and Im experiencing street harassment from KIDS… and now I’m a “faggot.”

7. @VintageVandal Its too early for street harassment. I will CUT you.

8. @alishahidy “As a woman walking down the street, you have to be in a constant state of alertness.” Waleed Hammad. #StreetHarassment

9. @ElleDesi Street harassment is not very rad.

10. @thesoulasylum I walk almost a mile everyday, just from going back&forth to work!Think about how much #streetharassment I&other women encounter DAILY. #NYC

11. @LenaWest Ladies, It’s street harassment/Cat Call season lets play a game: Lets run toward every dude who shoutsout screaming “I LOVE YOU!”

12. @annesaintanne One of the worst things about street harassment is that after a lifetime of rejection from men, I do sometimes find it slightly flattering

13. @msbrandiebrown Responding to street harassment. Be calm confident. Statement- Stop touching me. -That’s rude -That’s street harassment. #endsh

14. @valchanelle The weather gets warm & y’all act like you have no home training. I’m sick of it. This street harassment has to stop.

15. @heySMM neat thing re: street harassment is that it never happens when I have my kids with me. I guess men don’t want to be “just friendly” to moms.

16. @AmyRubinson Got ogled by a trucker; turned my umbrella on its side so it covered my entire body & I couldn’t see him. Score: Amy 1, #StreetHarassment 0

17. @charrr_e seeing a lot of tweets about cat calling and street harassment today when will the creepy men get the message we DO NOT ENJOY IT

18. @Jahmyacoincides Street harassment is so real. I need males to learn how to not be creeps.

19. @Deneannn There should be laws for street harassment and cat calling

20. @twitdemaria The self defense classes organized by @TahrirBodyguard helped me to feel more confident when walking in streets:with no fear. #endSH

Day 4 of #EndSHWeek: Media

April 10, 2013 By HKearl

Word about International Anti-Street Harassment Week is spreading! Here are four articles from today:

Ebony Magazine

“The issue of street harassment is directly connected with the issue of rape culture. “Street harassment is about exerting power over someone, treating them with disrespect, and it’s often about sexually objectifying someone without their consent. The same can be said about sexual violence and rape. Street harassment is on the same spectrum of violence as rape and it can sometime escalate into rape. For rape survivors, it can be re-triggering.

“The acceptance of street harassment, the portrayal of it as a compliment or a joke, creates a culture where it is normal to disrespect someone or to comment on them or to touch them without their consent. That culture helps make rape okay and lets rapists get away with their crime.”

Feministing.com

“Public places are less safe for women and girls worldwide; street harassment and the fear of sexual violence negatively impact our mobility and our access to public spaces. Yet too often, street harassment is dismissed as being no big deal or a compliment.

To bring attention to the harms of street harassment, Stop Street Harassment organized the second annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Anyone anywhere can participate by sharing stories, having dialogue –especially with men – about street harassment issues, and visibly reclaiming public spaces and engaging community members.”

Campus Progress

“On Monday, Hollaback! Baltimore lead a Twitter chat about street harassment experienced by LGBTQ and gender-non-conforming people, pointing out that though walking with your partner usually makes you safer if you`re a straight, cisgender woman, being in public with your partner if you`re queer or trans* often increases the chances that you`ll experience harassment. You can check out a Storify recap here.

Yesterday, Men Stopping Violence led another online discussion, this time about bystander responsibility and what men can to do unlearn the culture of silence and non-engagement surrounding street harassment. Check out a recap of what happened here.

These Twitter chats will continue throughout the week, and include discussions about how the objectification of women in the media relates to street harassment, the segregation of public spaces, and street harassment experienced on public transportation. The full schedule can be found here….

Erika Nicole Kendall has a powerful editorial on her blog about her history with street harassment, young motherhood, and reclaiming her safety as a black woman.

Over at the New York Times, Ginia Bellafante reports on police harassment experienced by trans* New Yorkers on the street.

Courtney Baxter’s grassroots street photography initiative is showcasing people’s experiences being queer in public to dismantle the culture of fear surrounding harassment and homophobia in public spaces.”

Minnesota Daily

“Street harassment is most commonly thought of as a problem for women, but it doesn’t confine itself to one group, said Paridise Valentino, who works for the Trans Youth Support Network.

Valentino is a transgender woman and said she and others in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community experience street harassment frequently.

When riding the bus, a man once yelled discriminatory comments about Valentino’s gender after she asked him why he was looking at her strangely.

“A lot of times when the LGBT community goes out and express themselves, it kind of brings a panic to society because they think we’re trying to rebel,” she said.

More than half of all transgender and gender non-conforming respondents reported being “verbally harassed or disrespected” in public in a 2011 National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force report.

Because street harassment is common for members in the LGBT community, they’re not able to be themselves in public, Valentino said.

Katie Eichele, director of the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, said harassers often oppress people who are LGBT because they see them as a target to dehumanize.”

Boston Launches 5 New Anti-Harassment Subway Ads

April 2, 2013 By HKearl

In 2008, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) launched the first-ever PSA campaign in the nation to address sexual harassment on public transportation. It released a second wave of ads in 2009. Overall, they reported a decrease in crimes.

At the insistence of activists and riders in New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., the transit systems in those cities followed suit and launched PSA campaigns, too.

Today, MBTA launched five really amazing new ads, in partnership with local groups like the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. One thousand of them are found across the system.

Via the Boston Globe:

“In one of the five posters, a man in a T-shirt crosses his arms over his chest, next to the admonishment, “No means no.” The three other signs feature women, posed next to phrases such as, “Keep your hands off me,” “Respect my space,” and “Keep your privates private.”

The posters also instruct passengers on how to respond to sexual assault crimes on the T: Use a cellphone to capture a photo of the perpetrator. Report the case on the T’s See Something, Say Something smartphone app. Alert a T employee.”

The inclusive nature of the ads is really ground-breaking and important.

Via the Boston Globe:

“Jessica Newman, counselor and advocate at the Violence Recovery Program at Fenway Health, explained that misperceptions that women are the only victims of inappropriate touching on trains and buses can lead men to be more uncomfortable reporting the crime.

“Generally there is a widespread societal myth that men don’t experience sexual violence,” Newman said.

Additionally, Newman said, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people may be more wary of reporting sexual harassment to Transit Police because they worry it will be taken less seriously because of their sexual orientation.

“Historically and currently, there has been a barrier for LGBT folks to report crimes that have occurred to them,” Newman said.”

I’m so excited to see this campaign! I hope other cities will take notice and consider launching one, too.

(Thanks to Caroline Lukas, Media Relations Manager at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for the news tip and for working to see Washington, D.C. have a great ad like this for the second part of their ad campaign.)

Egypt’s Circle of Hell

February 25, 2013 By HKearl

As more women come forward with stories about the sexual violence they’ve survived while trying to protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, we’ve learned that their assailants often use a disturbing strategy.

Via UPI:

“Many of the sexual attacks on women during protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square are organized with as many as 300 men participating, activists say.

Activists describe a tactic that has become known as the “circle of hell,” Ahram Online reports. They say the men form two long lines and move through the crowds in the square.

Once the groups find one or two women alone they form a circle around them, trapping them.

Masa Amir, a researcher at Nazra for Feminist Studies, said the attackers continue to work together.

“One takes her shoes off, another pulls her trousers off, then someone else takes her phone and watch,” she said.

Engy Ghozlan, the founder of Harassmap, said women sometimes find themselves surrounded with some men trying to help them and others to rape them: “The woman is confused and doesn’t know who to trust.”

And street harassment and sexual violence is not just localized to Tahrir Square. Women all over the city feel unsafe going places alone. In response, there have been many protests, rallies, and actions to try to make public places safer for women.

Via The Newstatesman:

“Egypt has tolerated a culture of misogyny for many generations. In the past year, however, there has been a change in mood. Women from all walks of life are afraid to go out in the street at all, whether they’re marching to bring down the government or popping to the shop for a pint of milk. Even Tahrir Square, the symbolic political heart of the nation, has become all but impassable to any woman without a hefty male escort.

One of the groups fighting back is Op – AntiSH – pronounced “Oppantish” and standing for Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment – volunteers, some of them men and many of them women who have been raped and assaulted. OpAntiSH physically stops assaults in Tahrir Square and the surrounding areas, using Tasers, spray paint, fists, force, sticks, anything they can put their hands on to protect women from “mob attacks”. They divide into task-teams with specific jobs: some to summon rescuers to the scene of an assault, some to grab the victim and take her to safety, some to distribute the contents of emergency packs containing spare clothes, water and blankets. It’s all down to them, because the police are far more concerned with attacking protesters than protecting women.

In a flat above Tahrir Square after Friday prayers, activists with OpAntiSH organise into teams to head down to the protest lines. “The significant shift is in how women see the issue,” says Reem Labib, an OpAntiSH member. “We’ve been violated and we will not be silenced. I’ve never seen it like this before. There’s always been this barrier of shame and fear.”

“We believe that a big part of this mob is organised – sexual assault has always been one of the means used by the state to intimidate women. But even so, it’s still relying on the deeper problem in society,” says Tarsi, an OpAntiSH spokesperson whose flat we are in. She makes tea for the shell-shocked women and men pulling on team T-shirts to go out and risk their lives again in the square whose name means freedom. These seven friends, students and charity workers in jeans are fighting a real war – a war for the soul of their revolution, as well as for the lives of women in the streets of Cairo.”

The volunteers of OpAntiSH are heroes. It’s a shame their work is needed at all, but clearly, it very much IS needed!! Bravo to them and everyone else who is taking a stand, speaking out, and trying to create a world where there are no more circles of hell.

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