Reflecting on the number of people and organizations that worked hard to address and end street harassment is inspiring. This end-of-year list is longer than last year’s list, and that’s a very good thing. Given the length, it’s divided into four posts.
Post 1 (this one): significant successes overall (e.g. new laws or awards to anti-street harassment campaigns) and 8 SSH successes.
Post 2: New anti-street harassment campaigns.
Post 3: New creative anti-street harassment initiatives.
Post 4: People who stood up to harassers.
Significant Successes:
Many major legislative bodies, organizations, authors, and news media addressed and acknowledged street harassment, bringing the issue further into the mainstream.
Laws:
1. An anti-sexual harassment bill focused specifically on groping in public places was introduced in the Chilean parliament.
2. The Shoura Council drafted a new law in Saudi Arabia saying men who harass women in public will be fined and publicly defamed.
3. The Los Angeles City Council (USA) passed a law making it a crime for drivers to threaten or harass cyclists. It allows victims of harassment to sue in civil court without waiting for the city to press criminal charges.
4. The Bombay high court in India is considering “making section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with assaults or use of criminal force on women with the intent to outrage her modesty, a non-bailable offence.”
5. In Bangladesh, a court ruled that using the term “eve-teasing” to describe street harassment and sexual harassment makes light of a serious crime and ordered that it not be used anymore.
6. Plainclothes police officers arrested 100 street harassers in Kolkata, India, during a two day time period. All 100 men were caught making lewd comments to women in public places.
Studies:
1. A new study by ActionAid looks at issues of women’s safety in cities in Brazil, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Nepal. It concludes with recommendations for action.
2. The International Center for Research on Women released an International Men and Gender Equality Survey The report covers their three-year study of nearly 12,000 people in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India, Mexico and Rwanda. One of the most important findings is that men who report more gender-equitable attitudes are more likely to be happy, to talk to their partners and to have better sex lives.
3. A new study of women in Tel Aviv, Israel, found that 83 percent had faced street harassment
4. In South Korea, a new study shows that 1 in 4 women experience sexual harassment on public transportation.
5. In Islamabad, Pakistan, a new study showed women face high rates of harassment on public transportation.
6. More than 70 percent of women in Sri Lanka experience harassment on public transportation, according to a study by the Legal Aid Commission.
7. Four more studies were conducted in Afganistan, Iran, Wales, and West Yorkshire (UK) on street harassment, look for the findings soon.
Awards:
1. HarassMap, an anti-street harassment group in Egypt, won the World Summit Youth Award from the United Nations.
2. Nuala Cabral’s film Walking Home won the Speaking Out Award at the Media that Matters film festival (USA)
3. Tiye Rose Hood’s documentary Objectified received a nomination for best documentary in Academy of Art’s 2011 Epidemic Film Festival in San Francisco (USA).
Books:
1. Hey, Shorty! A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets was published by the Feminist Press. Written by Joanne Smith, Meghan Huppuch & Mandy Van Deven, the book chronicles the Brooklyn, New York-based organization Girls for Gender Equity’s efforts to address sexual harassment in schools and on the streets. (USA)
2. Why Loiter?: Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets was published by Penguin Books India and authored by Shilpa Phadke & Sameera Khan & Shilpa Ranade. After three years of research, they “draw from feminist theory to argue that only by celebrating loitering—a radical act for most Indian women—can a truly equal, global city be created.” (India)
Media Coverage:
There were scores of articles about street harassment this year, and here are some of the ones that brought the issue squarely into the mainstream media:
1. BBC Magazine, Why do men shout at women on the street?
2. New York Times, Keeping Women Safe Through Social Networking
3. Washington Post, D.C.’s fight against street harassment
4. ACLU blog, “Hey Baby:” Enduring Street Harassment
5. Marie Claire magazine, Gropers, Beware
6. Guardian, Argentinian writer sacked in sexism row
7. Hey, Shorty! author Mandy Van Deven wrote a 13-post series on street harassment for the Bitch magazine blog
8 Stop Street Harassment successes:
Addressing street harassment is not my full-time job, and that makes me extra proud of these successes. Big thank you’s go out to my parents, partner, friends, colleagues, and online acquaintances who helped make each one possible.
1. Early in the year, SSH launched a male allies series on the blog
2. In the spring there was a complete website redesign and new logo
3. In just four weeks, SSH organized thousands of people around the world to participate in International Anti-Street Harassment Day on March 20
4. SSH collaborated with Holla Back DC! to organize DC’s first ever community safety audits, Our Streets, Too march, and week of street harassment logging.
5. Last month, activism on the SSH blog led Togo’s sandwich shop in California to pull an offensive ad that trivialized flashing/street harassment.
6. SSH co-sponsored SlutWalk DC, the conference Sex, Power, and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later, the event Shine the Light on Domestic Violence, and participated in Pixel Project’s Paint it Purple Campaign
7. I gave 35 talks and did even more media interviews
8. Articles I wrote about street harassment were published in the Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, The WIP, and on the Ms. Magazine blog.
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