abuse Archives | Stop Street Harassment

LB Klein, Georgia, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Gender-based violence is currently ingrained in our society, and only true culture change will eradicate it. While we want to believe that organizations and groups working to end this violence and advance social justice are immune, abuse happens in these spaces as well. What happens when though when spaces that have a mission to end violence are actually perpetuating it? What happens when the perpetrators are our colleagues, our fellow activists, our leaders?

Enter Shine Squad, a tumblr space by and for folks who have experienced harassment and abuse while they’re working within these movements. As Shine Squad’s first video mentions, we often expect that abuse will be “overt and straight out of Mad Men.” However abusers, particularly those who know the language and values of our movement-building spaces, use more subversive strategies. Shine Squad’s tumblr is full of stories from women and trans folks whose colleagues and supervisors used these spaces against them in overt and covert ways.

It can be challenging to “rationalize [perpetrators’] work in the movement with their abusive behavior.” Because it is so disarming and surreal to experience violence in these spaces that are supposed to be safe, survivors can feel “on an island.” This cognitive dissonance leads to isolation, silencing, and self-blame that shifts the focus from what the perpetrator did wrong to blaming the survivor.

The painful consequences of violence in these spaces can be overwhelming to face alone, so Shine Squad provides a platform for “story sharing, expressing needs, and action taking.” Through their online form, anyone can submit anonymous stories of the harms they have experienced in activist communities and social justice organizations. These reports encompass a wide range of behaviors from subtle workplace discrimination that was “gross but you can’t quite put your finger on it” to intimidation to financial threats to digital harassment to sexual assault and abuse.

Shine Squad is not stopping with story sharing, however, they are also providing connections. They’re introducing survivors to others who have also survived abuse, even connecting those who might name the same perpetrator. They’re offering emotional support, connections with journalists, legal referrals, and opportunities for activist and organizing opportunities around addressing the “systematic problems of discrimination, harassment, and abuse in social justice movements.” They also give opportunities for members to help others through hosting conversations, sharing skills including legal and HR, or offering opportunities to advance the public conversation.

By building networks and sharing stories, Shine Squad is addressing a valuable need. This activist space provides a powerful reminder that for our movements to be successful, we must start at home, by fostering organizational environments that support survivors, prevent violence, and hold perpetrators accountable.

LB is an Atlanta-based researcher, advocate, and educator dedicated to ending gender-based violence, supporting survivors, and advancing social justice. You can follow her on twitter @LB_Klein.

When serious street harassment and assault occurs, it’d be nice to think we can call the cops or run and find an officer to help. I can recall about a dozen or so people whose stories I’ve read who have asked for help from cops and they’ve found responses to be mixed, from hearing “what do you expect” to complete indifference to concern to receiving active help in trying to catch the perpetrator. So the (unsurprising) lesson I take away is there’s a chance you’ll get the help you need and there’s a chance you won’t (so we need to educate cops and hold them responsible for helping so that the chances of getting help improve)!

In this context, the following story caught my eye because it shows the kind of luck you may have if you approach a cop in NYC for help with a street harasser. Via Gothamist:

“Greenpoint resident Chrissie Brodigan says she was riding on the L train between Bedford and First Avenue when her pug, who has health problems, overheated and began vomiting in the tote bag she was carrying him in. As she was leaving the subway station with the dog in her arms, she says a police officer’s attempt to issue her a ticket turned ugly, and when she became upset the cop began saying, “If you’re going to act like a woman I’m going to treat you like a woman.”

[In a second article, Gothamist reports witness Jason Wagner said the officer told her, “Do you wanna talk like a woman? Do you wanna get knocked around like a woman?”]

According to Brodigan, the arresting officer’s name is Witriol (badge number 942838). After seeing a photo, she identified him to us as Joel Witriol, who in 2006 became New York’s first Hasidic cop. Brodigan, 32, says Witriol would not accept her explanation that she was carrying the pug because it was sick, and she believes that the disturbed crowd that gathered to witness the arrest only made him angrier. She tells us, “He punched me in the back (there are bruises), he handcuffed me, and in the scuffle grabbed my breasts and pinched them.”

: Via Gothamist. Photos from the subway are on the link too

Melissa Randazzo, a speech language pathologist who lives in Williamsburg, witnessed the arrest and tells us, “something about it seemed very wrong. The cop’s tone seemed really inappropriate and he kept saying things like, ‘Are you going to act like a woman?’ She tried to walk away, and then he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall outside the turnstile.” Randazzo ran up to the street level to call 911 to, as she says, “call the cops” on Witriol, and soon some 20 officers had descended into the Bedford station. They then ordered the witnesses to disperse.”

Brodigan was arrested, handcuffed and jailed and the cops threatened to take her dog to the pound to be put down. She received three tickets for failing to produce ID, disorderly conduct, and failing to have dog in a container. When she was released she asked for a pen to write down their badge numbers but they refused. They did return her pug.

The New York Post printed a similar story, though it says one witness claims Brodigan made anti-Semitic insults to the officer, however, other witnesses and Brodigan deny this. Hopefully this is untrue, but even if it was, would it justify physically harming her?

On the other hand, no one denies that the officer spewed misogynistic filth or that he left bruises on her body. It’s quite chilling for women to realize there are men with these attitudes out there who are supposed to be “protecting” us from harassers, but in reality, they are harassers too, just with badges and authority.