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Bonus Day: International Anti-Street Harassment Week

April 18, 2016 By HKearl

Even though April 16 was the official end of International Anti-Street Harassment Week, a few more events took place on April 17.

Women for a Change held a workshop for youth in Buea, Cameroon.

4.17.16 Women for a Change Cameroon youth workshop 3 4.17.16 Women for a Change Cameroon youth workshop 4 4.17.16 Women for a Change Cameroon youth workshop

Hollaback! Ottawa hosted a chalkwalk in Ottawa, Canada.

4.17.16 HB Ottawa sidewalk chalking, canada 4.17.16 HB Ottawa sidewalk chalking, canada 7 4.17.16 HB Ottawa sidewalk chalking, canada 3

Also, many virtual campaigns took place across the week:

OCAC Bolivia:

4.13.16 OCAC Bolivia 2 4.13.16 OCAC Bolivia 3 4.13.16 OCAC Bolivia

Hollaback! Cuenca, Ecuador:

4.12.16 Hollaback Cuenca - Ecuador 9 4.14.16 Hollaback Cuenca - Ecuador 2 4.14.16 Hollaback Cuenca - Ecuador 9

HarassMap in Egypt:

4.11.16 Imprint Movement - 'It's ok' won't help her getting her right back, an official complaint will get it 4.12.16 Imprint Movement - 'The law in on your side... Speak UP' 4.13.16 HarassMap Egypt - 82 percent of bystanders dont intervene bc they think SH is not a big deal

Stop Harcelement de Rue, Paris, France:

4.12.16 Paris, France 8 4.12.16 Paris, France 4 4.12.16 Paris, France 3

OCAC Guatemala:

4.13.16 OCAC Guatemala 2 4.13.16 OCAC Guatemala 3 4.13.16 OCAC Guatemala

OCAC Nicaragua:

4.17.16 Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero Nicaragua 7 4.17.16 Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero Nicaragua 4 4.17.16 Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero Nicaragua 5

Safecity India, #MySafeCity:

 4.16.16 Our Program and Outreach Officer in Mumbai, Anu Salelkar's safe city is one where more women and girls occupy public spaces. India, Safecity  4.16.16 Soumodeep's safe city treats accidents as crimes and not as political issues. India, Safecity  4.16.16 Elsa Marie D'silva. India, Safecity
Touching - India 4.14.16 Safecity India Verbal Harassment - India

Mexico. 20 women living in Mexico City from different ages, occupations and backgrounds worked together towards the development of a campaign against sexual harassment, “Space is public, my body is not”. The artwork consists of a series of photographs created by the visual artist Cerrucha :

Cronopio Azul ‏-Mexico Cronopio Azul ‏-Mexico 1

Nepal. #VoicesinCrisis:

4.12.16 Voices in Crisis Nepal 17 4.12.16 Voices in Crisis Nepal 12 4.12.16 Voices in Crisis Nepal 7

The Philippines, Stand Up, Speak Out- From Streets to Schools – a campaign of the Game Changers with the UN Safe Cities Metro Manila Programme:

4.13.16 Stand Up, Speak Out- From Streets to Schools - a campaign of the Game Changers with Safe Cities Metro Manila 4 4.14.16 Stand Up, Speak Out- From Streets to Schools - a campaign of the Game Changers with Safe Cities Metro Manila 5 4.13.16 Stand Up, Speak Out- From Streets to Schools - a campaign of the Game Changers with Safe Cities Metro Manila 8
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Filed Under: anti-street harassment week Tagged With: Bolivia, cameroon, canada, ecuador, Egypt, India, mexico, Nepal, philippines

#16Days of Activism: Hosting Youth Workshops (Day 13)

December 7, 2015 By HKearl

Nov. 25 – Dec. 10 are the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. To commemorate the week, we are featuring 1 activism idea per day. This information is excerpted from my new book Stop Global Street Harassment: Growing Activism Around the World (Praeger 2015).

Street harassment begins at a young age for many people. More adults are recognizing this and the importance of creating spaces, like workshops, for youth to talk about their experiences and brainstorm strategies of resistance. Youth workshops have taken place in countries like the United States, Cameroon, and Germany.

In March 2012 in the United States, female youth organizers at the Brooklyn, New York-based nonprofit Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) hosted “Bring Your Brother Day” to talk about street harassment. The young women of GGE “felt strongly about the importance of bringing the young men in their lives into their work to counteract sexual harassment and gender-based violence,” wrote community organizer Neferiti Martin and intern Katie Bowers for the SSH blog. “The workshop grew out of youth organizers’ concerns that the conversation around street harassment and gender-based violence is taking place primarily among women. By reaching out to the young men in their lives, youth organizers are working to build allies.”

The three-hour workshop explored gender stereotypes and how they impacted the lives of young people and included street harassment story sharing and a discussion about how young men can be allies to young women. “The young men were thoughtful, open, and engaged throughout the workshop,” wrote Martin and Bowers. “Their comments and opinions added new depth to the conversation and reflected the positive influence of the awesome young women in their lives.”

11.30.13-SSH-CameroonSPSMentoringsiteEvent3Wearing orange shirts that said “Stop Street Harassment,” 25 youth aged 15–19 attended a street harassment seminar in Buea, Cameroon, in December 2013 that was organized by Zoneziwoh M. Wondieh, the leader of Young Women for a Change, Cameroon (WFAC). In small groups, the youth shared their stories of harassment, ranging from whistling to grabbing and touching. “African baby,” “Fine ass,” “My size,” and “Pretty butts” were examples of verbal harassment the girls said they had faced. One boy shared how he had been sexually harassed by a man and how it made him understand better what his female peers experienced on a regular basis.

For six hours the youth listened to guest speakers, learned steps for dealing with harassers, and engaged in role-play and debates with the goal of being ready to mentor others and speak out against harassment in their community. As an outcome of the youth seminar, WFAC launched an SMS text campaign to send educational text messages about street harassment to anyone who wants to receive them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Wondieh posts tips and information over social media, too. She estimates that she has reached 1,000 youth through her various efforts, and she’s having an impact. For example, a young man recently told her that thanks to the information she shares, he has “reconsidered what he thinks is proper behavior toward women.”

In Germany, the women in the group ProChange recognize that the best place to start educating people about street harassment, sexual violence, and sexism is in schools, so in 2014, they created violence prevention and assertiveness workshop trainings for students ages 9–12 years old. So far, they have held one workshop and are working to secure more funding to be able to lead more. “We want to achieve a shift in their mindset so that the youth can be self-confident and free from role models and stereotypes,” they told me. “In our view it is important to start at an early age because they are already surrounded by stereotypes and influenced by sexist advertisements and media … [We want them] to be empowered to choose their own ways.”

Help fund our work in 2016, donate to our end-of-year giving campaign!

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Filed Under: 16 days, male perspective, Resources Tagged With: cameroon, germany, usa, workshops, youth

Today’s Events – April 12

April 12, 2015 By BPurdy

It’s the first day of Meet Us On the Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week, and we already have so much going on!

Virtual Events:

  • April 12 | 4 p.m. Indian Standard Time: @PintheCreep will focus their Tweet chat on encouraging people to report harassers.
  • Tonight: 7pm EDT  End Street Harassment: A Multicultural Perspective: Google Hangout

Please join Young Feminists and Allies, the National Organization for Women’s First Virtual Chapter, and Stop Street Harassment for a Google Hangout about Street Harassment from a multicultural perspective.

Holly Kearl, founder of International Anti-Street-Harassment Week, will moderate three brave women with diverse backgrounds as they discuss the similarities and differences in the ways they experience street harassment.

* Kasumi Hirokawa: TCK and trilingual feminist from Shanghai who currently lives in Japan

* MorningStar Angeline: Native American and Latina actress who lived in both the Southwest and West Coast of America

* Muneera Hassan: Bangladeshi-American, Muslim, college student from Boston currently living in Northern VA who wears hijab

There will be a Q&A section, so please send us your questions in advance or during the event at youngfeminists at gmail dot com or Tweet at at @nowyoungfems and please use the #EndSH hashtag.

International Events:

Cameroon: Young Women for a Change, Cameroon is holding a dialogue in Beau with youth and adolescents to address the different forms of Street harassment facing women and girls and how to intervene. [April 12]

Canada (Vancouver): Hollaback! Vancouver will be debuting their interactive campaign and art show “What’s Your Number?” It will enable people to record the frequency and emotions involved with street harassment for 24 hours. Clickers (or counters) will be distributed to initial participants along with a blank notebook. For 24 hours, they will click twice for direct street harassment, and once for an indirect impact. At the end of the 24 hours, the clickee is encouraged to creatively express the experience in the notebook provided through mediums like poetry, illustration or essaying before they’re passed on to the next one. At the end of the week, the notebooks will be collected by the Hollaback Vancouver team for compilation. In order to showcase the process behind What’s Your Number?, the art show will be a free event extended to the community at-large. Part education, part creative and part party, this night will get everyone together in a comfortable space to talk about the effects of street harassment and – most importantly – what can be done. [Campaign kicks of all over the city on April 12th, with the Artshow / wrap up party taking place April 30th 436 Columbia St Vancouver BC 7-11 pm]

Colombia: OCAC Colombia  is hosting SUNDAY, APRIL 12 – 9:00 a.m.: STOP THE STREET HARASSMENT: We will be in the Sunday’s Bikeway and we will will cross cycling the 7th Avenue from Plaza Bolivar to the National Park | DOMINGO 12 DE ABRIL – 9 AM. ALTO AL ACOSO. Estaremos en la Ciclovía y haremos un recorrido por la carrera séptima desde la Plaza de Bolívar hasta el Parque Nacional

Nepal: Hollaback! Kathmandu will be hosting a Stand Up Against Street Harassment event, displaying charts and boards that say street harassment is not okay. They will also be interacting with the local people about what the campaign is and what they can do to respond to street harassment and stop it. [April 12, 3-5pm at Basantapur]

USA Events:

Iowa: Hollaback! Des Moines is hosting their 3rd Annual Chalk Walk to End Street Harassment. [April 12, 1 pm at the Pappajohn Education Center]. Can’t be there in person? Sometime during the week of April 12-18, go back to a street where you experienced harassment. Reclaim that space by writing an empowering message; then take a picture and send it to them at dsm@ihollaback.org! They will post all the photos to their blog after the event.

Pennsylvania: FAAN Mail will be kicking off EndSHWeek with their 5th annual rally and community engagement event. [April 12, 2-5pm at Love Park, Philadelphia]

Virginia: Hollaback! RVA is hosting a Bystander Workshop discussing and presenting on how bystander intervention and street harassment intersect. They will provide “swag bags” and snacks to participants! [Richmond, April 12, time and place TBA]

Plus, some of our groups got an early start on things and hosted these fabulous events on Saturday, April 11th:

Bahamas: Hollaback! Bahamas hosted a meditation and stress relief workshop with the World Peace Initiative.

United Kingdom: Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Centre hosted street action focused on victim-blaming and rape culture (#ThisDoesn’tMeanYes) at Braithwait Tunnel, Braithwaite Street, London.

South Korea: Rok Gi Yeon Promotions hosted “Ladies Night Vol. 2,” a benefit concert to support the charity Disruptive Voices, in Seoul. Find the Facebook event here.

Pakistan: No to Harassment hosted a fabulous panel and discussion about how a woman is #notanobject.

New York: Hollaback! hosted the annual NYC Anti-Street Harassment Rally! The event featured local activists and speakers and include da series of workshops for folks to learn more and take action against street harassment. It also featured Hollaback!’s famous 12 foot inflatable #catagainstcatcalling cat.

Pennsylvania: University of Scranton is hosted a SHARE (Street Harassment Awareness Response and Education) Fair.

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Filed Under: anti-street harassment week Tagged With: #Endshnyc, #EndSHWeek, #thisdoesn'tmeanyes, Bahamas, cameroon, Chalk Walk, colombia, Des Moines, Disruptive Voices, FAAN Mail, hollaback, Iowa, Kathmandu, Nepal, New York City, No to Harassment, NOW Young Feminists and Allies, OCAC, Pakistan, pennsylvania, Rok Gi Yeon Promotions, RVA, Sayfty, South Korea, united kingdom, University of Scranton, Vancouver, virginia

Cameroon: Understanding the different forms of street harassment

August 9, 2013 By Contributor

By Zoneziwoh Mbondgulo, Buea, Cameroon, SSH Safe Public Spaces Mentee

“In many cities women and girls face violence not only in their homes and in relationships, but also in public spaces,” said Anna Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, in the Women’s Audit Safety Report findings, 2008.

In Cameroon, street harassment is still an overlooked issue. It is a common sight to see men and even young boys behaving as though it is right to publicly assault or harass a lady.  And for so long, women have been the victims and not the perpetrator of harassment, so much such that most of them deeply believe that such acts of aggression towards women is innate in men, more or less a norm rather than a social issue that needs urgent attention.

During first week of August, I launched an informal online and offline conversation project as part of my SSH Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program project to engage people in public conversation on street harassment. I collected individual stories of harassment experiences, the majority from Facebook and some from young women in my area. Likewise, I mapped out places/cities that are unsafe or feel unsafe for women and girls in my society. In addition, together with my teammate, Ngwentah Berlyne Ngwalem, we also observed critically how men and women both use the public space both in big cities and remote communities.

Inasmuch as it was difficult for some women to feel safe sharing their experience publicly. At least, it was obvious that many women have experienced one or two or more forms of street harassment, knowingly or unknowingly.  According to available research, as cited in Holly Kearl’s book Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women, it has been proved that “starting at a young age, as many as 80 percent of women around the world face at least occasional unwanted, harassing attention in public places from men they do not know; some women face it daily.”

Young Women’s Experience with Street Harassment

To begin, Berlyne said, “Sometimes I feel like being a woman sucks. You have no say over anything, over your own body, choices etc but people make it seem like you do. There are guys who will tap your ass, touch your chest/breasts, pull up your bra and smile at you before you actually figure out what is happening etc.”

Like Berlyne, another young woman said, “There is this attitude common with bike riders each time they carry a female passenger. They will ride with you and get at some point, they intentionally hold the breaks, clutching back and forth and each time they do that, it is obvious, you fall and lean on their back. But what most female passengers don’t realized is that the whole bike clutching is a trick to have women’s breast pressing over these bikers back.”

For some wicked bikers, she added, “They will position their elbow in a way that as you fall on their back and your breast presses hard on their elbows. And this is really painful. They have done that to me and I felt terrible! I recalled the last time; my breast pained me for closed to a month.”

For another young lady in her late twenties, she explained to us that, “Around the parking lots in her neighborhood at Nsimeyong-damas, in Yaoundé, Centre Region, Cameroon, there is always this particular groups of young guys idling around, throughout the day,” and she has observed that “Each time, a lady pass by, one of those guys must throw a comment, words and / or beckon at the lady or make some funny sound to pull the lady’s attention or provoke her. And in the night,” she added, “These guys can be very aggressive; they have been noted for always attacking / harassing women.

Laura R. Ivy also explained, “Men whistle when you pass and if you don’t answer they insult you. It seems to lessen as you age or maybe you don’t pay attention anymore. The worse is the bikers if one of them asks you where you are going and you don’t answer you receive threats and insults name calling etc.”

“I experience this every day, and honestly it sucks, can men not leave us alone? We have reasons why we don’t want all these primitive guys around, we want mature and responsible men around us,” said Patience Flora.

To another young lady, Konda Delphine, public harassment from men is something that she’s experienced a countless number of times.

From what Berlyne and I observed, the experiences cut across. We saw the same behavior everywhere –  in big cities like Douala, Yaoundé, and in parts of a remote community in Mutengene and /or Buea. We also realized a common behavioral pattern among men of certain profession across the regions. E.g. almost all motor bikers, park loaders, market hustlers, hawkers, have similar attitude and behavior towards women.

Zoneziwoh Mbondgulo

This is article is the first of my #SSH Efforts in raising awareness and campaign against street harassment in Cameroon. Next will be a focus group discussion with some selected people who have already been contacted. And thereafter, there will be a workshop and also a public poster exhibition and flyers distribution.

Updates on this project can be found at: Women for a Change- Cameroon, or via Twitter @zofem.

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Filed Under: SSH programs, Stories Tagged With: cameroon, research, street harassment

Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chicago: Meet SSH’s New Mentoring Sites!

July 15, 2013 By HKearl

SSH just launched a brand new Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program to advice/guide and provide a small amount of money to groups or individuals who want help with an anti-street harassment initiative in their community.

I’m excited to announce our three pilot sites for the program!!

Over the next three months we’ll work with activists in Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Chicago, USA, as they undertake projects they’ve designed to address street harassment in their communities.

Here’s an overview of each of their projects and you can look for periodic updates on the blog about their work!

1. “Training of Trainers: Raising Awareness Campaign about Street Harassment in High Schools in Kabul,” Kabul, Afghanistan

This project is based on a separately funded three-part workshop on street harassment. The SSH Mentoring Program funds and direction will go toward helping them develop an additional component to “train the trainers” who will conduct similar workshops.  The interested, prospective trainees will attend pilot sessions of the three workshops and will help to develop printed materials, identify weaknesses and provide feedback.

 Workshop #1 includes reading women’s narratives about street harassment so they can perceive sexual harassment from the perspective of the victims.

Workshop #2 includes short documentaries about street harassment and students will work in groups to discuss the documentaries and brainstorm some practical solutions to stop street harassment.

Workshop #3 will be activity-based with students making posters, singing a song, or performing a play with the topic of campaign against street harassment in their school. Then, students will be asked to tell their ideas and feedback about the whole campaign.

2. “Understanding the Responding to Street Harassment Safely,” Buea, Southwest Region, Cameroon

This project will have two phases. First, there will be two to three informal focus group discussion with young people around the city. Out of the focus groups, the project leaders will create educational posters and stickers containing messages condemning sexual harassment and will paste them on walls and strategic sites in the city to raise public awareness.

The second phase will be a five hours training seminar with 40 young women, girls and men from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Participants will be asked to share personal stories of harassment and solutions they sought. Participants will learn about literary works on harassment, how to differentiate street harassment from compliments,and they will engage in role playing to explore the issue and its solutions.

3. “End Street Harassment Campaign,” Chicago, IL, USA

Community members in Chicago will create street harassment scenarios for three,  light-hearted, satirical films.

* One film reverses the usual roles and portrays females as the catcallers and a male as the one being harassed.

* The second film features a women asking the catcaller questions from the catcaller questionnaire.

* The last film has a street harasser getting escalating warnings. For the first offense of street harassment one is sprayed with a spray bottle (similar to spraying your cat with a spray bottle when they try to steal your food), the second offense is to be sprayed with a small squirt gun, and the third offense is to be squirted with a super soaker.

The goal of the films is to start conversations about street harassment and show it is not a compliment. The films will be available online and there will be a screening in Chicago in September.

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Filed Under: SSH programs, street harassment Tagged With: Afghanistan, cameroon, chicago

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