Search Results for: police violence

* @Shefunionwomcom We are collating stories of women’s experiences of street harassment. If you have a story please email it to womens.committee@shef.ac.uk

* @TheBuSSyProject 8-9 October in Egypt. Stories from childhood, adolescence & adulthood … I highly recommend it http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/282741105174997/ … #EndSH

* There’s a new, creative video about street harassment from SlamPow! Production

Reminders:

* Stop Street Harassment welcomes and announces its new board of directors!

* New York is considering a bill that would make harsher punishments for engaging in unwanted sexual touching in public spaces.

* A Russian activist group made a viral video about street harassment and has proposed anti-harassment legislation.

* Harlow Project Seeking Participants For Street Harassment Web Video Series

* METRAC released a free “Not Your Baby App” to provide responses you can use when experiencing harassment

* Sign a petition about ending street harassment in Egypt.

* Stop Street Harassment recently incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Please donate so we can conduct a national street harassment study and gather much needed data documenting the problem.

* Contact Bowlmor and the New York City Transit to complain about this offensive subway ad.

* Activists in South Africa launched a website about street harassment

* The anti-sexual harassment public service announcement signs are now up in several Washington, DC metro stations!

* The Stop Street Harassment book is available in paperback for $15.

* Submit art about street harassment for the VoiceTool Product exhibit in San Francisco, CA

* The Adventures of Salwa campaign has a hotline for sexual harassment cases in Lebanon: 76-676862.

* In Bangalore, India, there is a helpline for street harassment 080 – 22943225 / 22864023

* Report #streetharassment in Pakistan at @NameAndShamePk, email nameandshame@ryse.pk, SMS 0314-800-35-68 or online at http://www.nameandshame.pk

20 Tweets from the Week:

1. @RobbyDran Real men never catcall or harass a women. It is not ok.

2. @laurenaissance sometimes i worry that avoiding the homeless guys in my neighborhood because they catcall me is just disguised classism

3. @LauraBaginski A catcall I actually appreciated: “Girl, you look SUCCESSFUL.”

4. @brittneyg CNN interviewed me about being groped on the bus & blogging it. Read: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/06/living/street-harassment/index.html … Listen here: http://cnnradio.cnn.com/2012/10/04/cnn-radio-news-day-october-4-2012/?hpt=hp_c2 … (min 12:05)

5. @zosiasztyk The WH Equal Futures Partnership will address #streetharassment as a barrier to opportunity for women & was launched ON MY BDAY this year

6. @yosoypao Street harassment is not a compliment #endSH #fem2

7. @FeministPrncess How does #streetharassment differently affect women with #hearingimpairment or #visualimpairment? Anyone have perspective on this? #VAWG

8. @SafeSpacesDC @WHLive @vj44 Over 80% of #women & #LGBT people worldwide report face #gender-based #streetharassment. What can we do? #WHchat #fem2 #endSH

9. @eMokhalfa #FF goes to @harassmap for contributing with us. Now u can report on any sexual harassment by any vehicle on http://emokhalfa.com #endsh

10. @clear_red Women calling for rights in the constitution at a demo at pres palace in Cairo #EndSH #Egypt pic.twitter.com/a0pGebaJ

11. @irincarmon Dear all the men asking me if street harassment is still a thing: ask the women in your lives.

12. @irincarmon I hate how street harassment makes me less likely to engage w people on the street.

13. @Reem_Abdellatif Meanwhile, as women protest sexual harassment & a discriminatory constitution at the pres palace, #Egypt‘s state news covers soccer. #EndSh

14. @PhotoSonny Just emailed Oakmont Construction about their workers disgusting behaviour at the Strand. #streetharassment @hollabackLDN

15. @Karnythia How do you hear a line like “You say meet me half way Cause brothers been popping that game all day ” & not think of #streetharassment?

16.@Mirandaaa831 “Hey chick, you got a lovely walk. Keep it up.” Well, at least that’s almost a polite way to comment on my legs. #streetharassment

17. @TESOLartist I like them thighs #streetharassment Uhmm. So???

18. @LoyolaWSGS How do you build community in the face of street harassment? This article discusses the importance of community: http://buff.ly/M7WAnV

19. @RanyaKhalifa URGENT! #Egywomen r called upon to show-up today for an anti-sexual harassment stand at 5:00pm in front of presidential palace #EndSH #Egypt

20. @SharkDancing Cycling instead will not end the street harassment. Woman cycling in Toronto encounter street harassment most days. @yasmine_nagaty @hkearl

Judge to survivor: “Bad things can happen in bars”

September 7, 2012 By HKearl

Robb Evans, former police officer and sexual abuser (Josh Biggs/Arizona Daily Sun)

Sadly, we know that sexual harassment and assault is rampant in our culture, including in public spaces like our streets and the town bar. Here’s an example: Last summer, a drunk 43-year old male police officer named Robb Evans walked into a bar, walked over to a woman, and reached up her skirt and assaulted her. The bouncers threw him out.

Horrible.

A jury convicted him of sexual abuse (a class 5 felony) and, after an internal investigation, thankfully he was fired from the police force.

But that’s not the end of the story.

Via Think Progress:

“Arizona trial Judge Jacqueline Hatch, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ), decided that Evans’ actions did not warrant jail time — sentencing him probation and 100 hours of community service. Evans also will not have to register as a sex offender. Yet, while Judge Hatch apparently did not view the disgraced former cop’s actions as particularly serious, she had some very harsh words for the woman he assaulted:

Bad things can happen in bars, Hatch told the victim, adding that other people might be more intoxicated than she was.

“If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you,” Hatch said.

Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.

“I hope you look at what you’ve been through and try to take something positive out of it,” Hatch said to the victim in court. “You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability.”

Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.

“When you blame others, you give up your power to change,” Hatch said that her mother used to say.”

The Arizona Daily Sun reports that the judge also said that “even going to the grocery store after 10 p.m. can be dangerous for a woman.”

When a cop sexually assaults a woman and then a judge practically supports him, is there any wonder so few survivors of sexual abuse or harassment want to report it?!

The survivor of the assault is not standing for this kind of victim-blaming and is calling for an apology from the judge. Someone else started a Change.org petition you can sign calling for the judge to step down.

Here’s contact info if you want to tell the judge how you feel about victim-blaming:

Honorable Jacqueline Hatch
Judicial Assistant: Kathy Sandstrom
(928) 679-7551
200 N. San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Sadly, the judge’s comments show just how pervasive victim-blaming is in our culture and how even women, especially older women, help perpetuate it. In my own experience of giving talks about street harassment, it has only been older women who have made inappropriate comments to me like, “Well, with the way girls dress these days…” I know that they were raised in a different era when that was the dominant mentality, but times have changed and their unhelpful comments need to stop.

When I hear women victim-blame each other, I also feel badly for them. Their attitude suggests that they think men sexually assaulting and harassing women is so inevitable that the only way women can be safe is to stay home/dress conservatively/have a male protector.

I’m not so cynical, nor do I have such a narrow picture of sexual assault.

I’m glad to be part of a generation that by and large doesn’t want to “prevent” sexual assault by blaming women and telling them to stay home after 10 p.m., but instead understands that sexual violence happens in homes/schools/workplaces/bars/streets/subways to women and men, boys and girls. We want to change the cultural acceptance and normalcy of sexual violence and harassment and we do our best to work with allies of all genders, ages, and backgrounds to make that happen. There are many older people who agree with us and work with us and I hope that one day people like Judge Hatch will too.

Quick Catch Up

July 18, 2012 By HKearl

I’ve had very unreliable internet access the last several days while traveling through Egypt. I finally have a great connection but only have it for 30 more minutes until I fly from Luxor to Cairo. There are so many anti-street harassment articles and initiatives I’ve missed blogging about!!

Here are a few:

* This evening in Carbondale, Illinois, at 5 p.m. the Women’s Center will show The War Zone documentary about street harassment.

* Via Collective Action for Safe Spaces (I’m a board member): “Last Wednesday, July 11^th, DC resident Liz Gorman was sexually assaulted in DC’s Dupont Circle. On Thursday, Liz, who immediately reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police Department, wrote about her experience on our blog. By Friday, the post had set off a viral reaction, both locally and nationally. So far, it has been republished by The Washington Post, Jezebel and Fem2.0. It has been reported on by The Washington Post Local (front page Metro section!), WJLA, WTTG FOX, DCist, DCblogs and the Washington City Paper – with more interviews with CASS in the works. (Stay tuned!)”

* Sign a petition addressed to the Commissioner of Police in Delhi, India, asking that police do more to prevent and stop street harassment and rape.

* “”S.H.O.W You Care” (S.H.O.W. = Stop Harassment of Women) is a project that spearheads a campaign for respectful treatment of women. Sexual Harassment is a big issue not only in Sri Lanka, but around the world and it’s time we show that we care and we will stand up for the rights of women, men and humanity. This campaign is initiated by a group called Sri Lanka Unites which is a grassroots youth movement aimed at empowering the youth of Sri Lanka to be the driving force of social change in the country….

To show our support for this campaign and campaigns around the world, this video montage was created for anyone who is spreading awareness about women’s rights. The world does care, and we support you!”

* Monday, youth gathered outside a mall in India to protest against the lack of women’s rights. Via Times of India: “Wake Up India Foundation, an NGO run by college students, organized a street protest on Monday to highlight issues of eve teasing…The activists danced to the tunes of ‘Hai junoon’ and ‘Rang De Basanti’ holding placards with messages like ‘Respect my body, respect my mind and respect me, stop street harassment.’ Large number of people witnessed the performances making the event a success.”

* An article about public masturbation in Lebanon.

* Via The Indian Express (Trigger Warning): “A young girl, who was celebrating a friend’s birthday at a local bar, protested lewd remarks made by a man. As she stepped out of the premises, he and a group of men encircled and sexually assaulted her, in full public view. More men passing by joined the attack. For an awful half hour, nobody intervened — save a TV news reporter, who recorded the event. The video was broadcast on Guwahati’s News Live, and went viral. Amid the outpouring of disgust and anger, many brought up that unresolved quandary — should the cameraperson have recorded the crime, or tried to save her?” VIDEO

Snapshot of street harassment stories, news, announcements & tweets: July 8, 2012

July 8, 2012 By HKearl

Egypt Human Chain — Nefsi chains against sexual harassment in Egypt

Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past few weeks.

** Sign up to receive a monthly e-newsletter from Stop Street Harassment ***

Street Harassment Stories:

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

Stop Street Harassment Blog

HarassMap in Egypt

Bijoya in Bangladesh

Resist Harassment in Lebanon

Ramallah Street Watch in Palestine

Name and Shame in Pakistan

Safe Streets in Yemen

Many of the Hollaback sites

Street Harassment In the News, on the Blogs:

* International Herald Tribune, “A History of Mob Violence“

* The Guardian, “Sexual harassment on public transport must stop“

* Gradient Lair, “Me. Black Men. Street Harassment. White Audience.”

* Mercury News, “Opinion: Egypt’s new president faces a test on violence against women“

* Sapphire Unbound: A Black Womanist Scholar Speaks her Mind, “Sexuality and Hair: The Day I became unwomanly and a butch“

* Trust.org, “Health and Science – The unromantic truth about ‘Eve-teasing’”

* Pygmy Loris, “Intimidation should not be a normal part of a woman’s daily routine“

* The Hindu, “Police to take steps to curb eve-teasing“

* The Nation, “Eve teasing in public parks on the rise“

* The Daily Star, “Egypt women speak up against sexual violence“

* Gradient Lair, “6 Common Derailment Tactics Used In Conversations About Street Harassment and Sexual Assault“

* Pro-Feminist Bro, “Street Harassment“

* XO Jane, “It happened to all of us: why casual sexual assault needs to stop being ‘just one of those things‘”

* Grazia Daily, “From Cat-Calling to Groping, Street Harassment is Everywhere…And It Happened to Me“

* Capitol Hill Style, “Discuss: The Catcall Conundrum“

* Al Jazeera, “Sexual violence rises in Egypt’s Tahrir“

* Al-Ahram, “Speaking up and speaking out“

* Egypt Independent, “Egypt women speak up against sexual violence“

* Ahram Online, “Breaking the silence: Mob sexual assault on Egypt’s Tahrir“

* Global Voices, “Egypt: Protest Sends Message Against Sexual Harassment“

* Heather is Desperate for Something, “Street Harassment”“

* Daily News Egypt, “Protest against sexual harassment encourages public dialogue“

* Bikya Masr, “Cover up, he can’t help himself“

Announcements:

New:

* Write about your first street harassment experience as part of Blank Noise (India)’s Recall event.

Reminders:

* If you’re in London and are willing to share your street harassment experiences, contact a student doing research there! INFO.

* @RapeCrisisSth New research project on #streetharassment for the women off South London. Interested? Contact @rosie_ts or visit http://bit.ly/LabScF

* If you’re in Winnipeg, Canada, take this survey on street harassment.

* Activists in South Africa launched a new website about street harassment

* The anti-sexual harassment public service announcement signs are now up in several Washington, DC metro stations!

* Help fund a new film about street harassment

* The Stop Street Harassment book is available in paperback for $15.

* Submit art about street harassment for the VoiceTool Product exhibit in San Francisco, CA

* The Adventures of Salwa campaign has a hotline for sexual harassment cases in Lebanon: 76-676862.

* In Bangalore, India, there is a helpline for street harassment 080 – 22943225 / 22864023

* Report #streetharassment in Pakistan at @NameAndShamePk, email nameandshame@ryse.pk, SMS 0314-800-35-68 or online at http://www.nameandshame.pk

20 Tweets from the Week:

1. @PsteinND Ladies, if you get in a taxi in #Cairo & the driver has a broken middle finger, get out. Was just groped in #Zamalek, he deserved it. #EndSH

2. @YLigtelijn . @monaeltahawy The only way men stop SH is when public and political leaders openly and firmly denounce it and punish aggressors. #EndSH

3. @sotsoy brilliant! “@IbnLarry: The Egyptian government should establish the same program #endSH http://yfrog.com/ocrn6ngj”

4. @ClareBonnet when will people GET that ‪#streetharassment‬ is a violation and it is not acceptable? will it be in my generation? or will my future kids

5. @SuzeMarsupial I think pub harassment is probably as endemic as ‪#streetharassment‬ . Just cause we’re making merry, doesn’t mean we deserve it.

6. @MaduduzoR Policemen harassing women on the street!! ‪#streetharassment

7. @HollaBackBmore Wanna tell the MTA about ‪#StreetHarassment‬ on the bus? ‪#RateYourRide‬ call or text: 410-205-4559. http://ow.ly/c2M8f

8. @ghazalairshad Pls RT & help @noornoor1 find the Egyptian sexual harasser who drives a navy VW Jetta w/plate # ط ق ل ٧٨٤ https://www.facebook.com/noor.ayman/pos … ‪#endSH‬

9. @sallyzohney To avoid harassment and wear her sleeveless shirts my friend pretends 2 b a foreigner and it works! Men let her be. Insane ‪#endSH

10. @NihalSaad male: I am a human being, not an animal female: I am a human being, not a bra. ‪#ENDSH‬ pic.twitter.com/CXi1JYZb

11. @michabalon Don’t tell me its my clothes and don’t tell me its hard for ‘them’ to get married and don’t tell me it doesn’t happen. It happens. ‪#endSH

12. @suzeeinthecity Anyone blaming ‪#egypt‬ sexual harassment on religious conservatism should take walk on Tripoli streets &experience the theory refuted ‪#endSH

13. @cliffcheney ‘Safe Tahrir for Women’ Protest begins chanting. ‪#endSH‬ ‪#Egypt‬ ‪#Tahrir‬ ‪#cairo‬ http://twitvid.com/KIC0B

14. @michabalon Standing with a gun filled with pepper spray in ‪#Tahrir‬ against sexual harassment. ‪#endSH‬ pic.twitter.com/1Lly5TrJ

15. @marxroadrunner Oh joy men trying to out macho each other and deciding to use street harassment as a way to do so.

16. @HermasFawzy For years, Egyptian ‪#women‬ have put up with ‪#sexual‬ harassment, simply for walking down the street. no more silence !!

17. @aliciapees so this just happened on fb. my reply didn’t post. probably lucky it didn’t tbf… ‪#streetharassment‬ ‪#MISOGYNY‬ pic.twitter.com/RcZY4o1i

18. @Nicole_Pandolfo Also, why does it seem like sexual harassment on the street is accepted by society as a fact rather than being seen as totally outlandish?

19. @ShareefaEnergy Love this street harassment placard held by a woman in Libya, this applies internationally http://yfrog.com/odhmhgbj

20. @Mkpinbrooklyn It starts early, and it is not a compliment ‪#streetharassment

Egyptian Women Refuse to be Silent

June 11, 2012 By HKearl

I’m cross-posting an article I wrote for Ms. Magazine’s Blog.

Violence against women demonstrators in Egypt erupted again on Tuesday when a frenzied mob of 200 men sexually assaulted a female protester in Tahrir Square. Then, during a rally on Friday to protest the incident, about 50 women and their male allies were themselves brutalized and chased away by another mob.

Journalist Ghazala Irshad, who was on the scene Friday, says that just as the small anti-harassment protest was gathering steam, the atmosphere shifted. “A few guys were like, ‘Why are you talking about this, there are more important issues to talk about?’ [Then] some guys started saying the women protesting were whores.”

Next, a phalanx of outside men overwhelmed the protective circle of male allies and cornered and groped the women. Rally organizer Sally Zohney says, “[The violence] started with individual cases of assaults against women in the march [and] then turned into beating and chasing everyone involved. Even men were badly beaten and attacked. It was very brutal.”

Participants were forced to flee for their safety.

Sadly, the violent scene is just the latest of many. Since the military took power last February, countless women–including journalists Lara Logan, Mona Eltahawy and Caroline Sinz, Egyptian actor Sherihan and the “woman in the blue bra“–have been groped and sexually assaulted by men in Tahrir Square. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other women have experienced verbal sexual harassment in a place that is supposed to symbolize freedom.

The lack of safety for women in the square symbolizes, instead, just how little women have benefited from the revolution they helped create. While pre-revolutionary Egypt was notorious for street harassment–a 2008 study by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights (ECWR) found that over 80 percent of Egyptian women had experienced it–the 18-day uprising in January and February 2011 was an unprecedented moment in which women could move freely in public space. Women seized the chance to become key players in the protests. “In 3 weeks of revolution we experienced no sexual harassment by men,” one woman told the Israeli paper Haaretz. “What civilization emerged! What culture!”

But that swiftly changed. Marchers in an International International Women’s Day 2011 demonstration in Tahrir Square were violently attacked. Months of assaults on women protesters followed. Some of the perpetrators have worn civilian clothes; others have been uniformed military police. During the violent government crackdown on pro-democracy protests this fall, which claimed more than 80 lives, over 100 women report being subjected to invasive “virginity tests” by the military.

Zohney believes that the attacks are systematic and fueled by unknown organized groups–whether by the military regime or others, she isn’t certain. She sees them as an attempt to discourage protests by intimidating revolutionaries and painting them in a bad light. Many of her friends have been attacked. Yet, she says, no serious security measures have been taken to stop the assaults. As a result, many women have avoided Tahrir Square, losing the opportunity to be full participants in the political process.

On the other hand, some women have spoken out against the violence. Logan, Eltahawy and others told their stories to the media. Women regularly share their harassment stories online. But, unfortunately, as on Friday, they, too, experience backlash and harassment.

If broad attempts to curb harassment in Egypt succeed, Tahrir Square may become safer for women protesters. Rebecca Ciao, a co-founder of Egyptian safe-streets organization HarassMap, says her group plans to continue conducting community outreach, spotlighting stories of harassment and allowing people to easily report incidents on an online map. Groups such as HarassMap, ECWR and the United Nations’ Safe Cities Programme have long spearheaded anti-harassment actions such as online story sharing, community safety audits, meetings, rallies, radio ads and, last month, a human chain against street harassment.

The attacks on women are also sparking anger among regular citizens. The “woman in the blue bra” became a national martyr, drawing thousands to march in solidarity in December.

No matter how many attacks they face, these brave women and men plan to speak out. Zohney and others are planning a multipronged response to Friday’s attacks that will include a larger, more organized march, as well as online testimonials by Friday’s victims and calls for more security in Tahrir Square. Activist Leil Zahra Mortada wrote in a Facebook post accompanying a photo album from the Friday march:

No matter how deep the wounds are, no matter how many times we get attacked or will be attacked, this will not stop nor silence us. More actions are planned, more noise will be made, and more proactive steps will be taken. We will see the end of sexual harassment and assault, both state-organized and individual! We will take down patriarchy, sexism and every form of violence based on gender or sexuality!

Brava. It is clear Egypt’s revolution will be incomplete until women win the streets.

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