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#NoEsMiCultura: Latin America join forces to launch the first continental campaign against Street harassment

April 22, 2016 By HKearl

Mapa-OCAC-LATAMThe following was provided by OCAC Chile.

En el marco de la Semana Internacional Contra el Acoso Callejero, Latinoamérica se une por primera vez para lanzar una campaña de alcance regional contra el acoso sexual en espacios públicos. La campaña #NoEsMiCultura es organizada por la red de Observatorios Contra el Acoso Callejero (OCAC) de Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua y Uruguay. Su objetivo es concientizar y visibilizar el acoso callejero como un problema que se sufre en todo el continente.

Durante la Semana Internacional Contra el Acoso Callejero, las sedes de OCAC Latinoamérica realizarán actividades para educar, sensibilizar y erradicar la idea que el acoso sexual en espacios públicos es parte de un folclore y típico de los países. La idea es transmitir que, más bien, es un problema transversal. Esta premisa se difunde en un video y en contenido en las redes sociales de la red de Observatorios.

“Queremos que en cada país se deje de justificar el acoso callejero como parte de la cultura local, queremos que se sepa que el acoso sexual callejero es un problema global y que nos afecta como región. Sabemos que nuestras voces unidas tienen más fuerza, por eso trabajamos articuladas para aprender unas de las experiencas de las otras. Hacemos entre los OCAC y también buscamos hacer redes con otras ONGs a nivel internacional”, señaló Alice Junqueira, Directora de Articulación Internacional de OCAC Chile.

Además de esta primera acción conjunta, en los últimos meses, cada Observatorio ha realizado acciones a nivel local. Junqueira destaca el proyecto de Ley contra el acoso callejero aprobado por la cámara de diputados en Chile, la campaña entre Action Aid y OCAC Nicaragua, la caja de herramientas que prepara OCAC Colombia, los talleres municipales de OCAC Uruguay, la articulación por una ley contra el acoso callejero de OCAC Costa Rica y los videos de sensibilización de OCAC Bolivia y OCAC Guatemala.

In English

In the context of the International Anti-Harassment Week, Latin America joined forced to launch the first regional campaign against sexual harassment in public places. #NoEsMiCultura [#NotMyCulture] is a campaign organized by the Observatories Against Street Harassment (OCAC, in Spanish) of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Uruguay. Its aim is to raise awareness and make street harassment visible as a problem in the whole continent.

During the International Anti-Harassment Week, the six OCAC branches developed activities to educate, create awareness and eradicate the idea of sexual harassment in public places as part of folklore or as a typical expression of each country. The idea is to communicate that street harassment is a transversal problem.

“We want each country to stop justifying street harassment as part of their local culture. We want the people to know that street harassment is a global problem that affect us as a region. We know that our voices together are stronger, so we work organized to learn from each other’s experiences. We do that as OCAC Latin America and with other NGOs all around the world.” said Alice Junqueira, International Coordinator from OCAC Chile.

Additionally to this first joint action, in the last months, each Observatory has done initiatives in a local level. Junqueira highlights the bill “Respeto Callejero” [Street Respect] against street harassment in Chile, the local campaign between Action Aid and OCAC Nicaragua, the tool box that OCAC Colombia is preparing, the municipal workshops held by OCAC Uruguay, OCAC Costa Rica’s activism for a bill against street harassment in the country, and the videos to raise awareness by OCAC Bolivia and OCAC Guatemala.

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Filed Under: anti-street harassment week, Resources Tagged With: Bolivia, chile, colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, LatAm, uruguay

Day 3: International Anti-Street Harassment Week

April 12, 2016 By HKearl

Join tweetathon april 12Hello Day 3!

Here are photos from the week so far! Here are the media hits.

Our board member Erin walks us through 3 street harassment myths.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Tweetathon ALL DAY using #EndSH —

(Note: By tweeting and using #EndSH, #SexObject or tagging @DeyStreet, @StopStHarassmnt, you can enter a drawing for a copy of Jessica Valenti‘s new book Sex Object. LEARN MORE)

Here are some of the events and actions that took place —

  • Brazil: Chega de Fiu Fiu created a video looking at how movies, series, music videos and songs try to normalize street harassment and help perpetuate it.

  • Chile: A law amendment to criminalize street harassment was passed unanimously today in the Chilean Chamber of Deputies! Read more (Spanish).
  • Egypt: Imprint Movement hosted an online awareness campaign across the week  [Cairo]

4.12.16 Imprint Movement - 'The law in on your side... Speak UP'“The law is on your side, speak up”

  • Nepal: Activista Nepal conducted a workshop on ” SAFE CITY & STREET HARASSMENT” at KATHMANDU MODEL COLLEGE (KMC), Balkumari Lalitpur District. Around 50 students took part in the workshop.
4.12.16 Activista Nepal conducted workshop on 'SAFE CITY & STREET HARASSMENT' at KATHMANDU MODEL COLLEGE 3 4.12.16 Activista Nepal conducted workshop on 'SAFE CITY & STREET HARASSMENT' at KATHMANDU MODEL COLLEGE 10 4.12.16 Activista Nepal conducted workshop on 'SAFE CITY & STREET HARASSMENT' at KATHMANDU MODEL COLLEGE
  • Papua New Guinea: The UN Women Safe Cities programme site will host an “Anti-Harassment Awareness Day” in Port Moresby at two venues and times. First, in the Gordons Market, there will be a community conversation animated by the Municipal Gender Desk and a youth group that promotes ending violence against women in public spaces through yoga (10 a.m. – 12 p.m.). Then, from 3 – 5 p.m., they will interview women commuters at women-only bus stops about their personal impressions and solutions to harassment in public spaces. During this activity also the repheral pathway, developed by UN-Women and the local government, will be shared and accesible to the women commuters. [10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. in Port Moresby]4.12.16 UN Women Papua New Guinea - doing yoga to stop street harassment
  • Illinois: University of Illinois hosted a keynote speech with Stop Telling Women to Smile artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh.

4.12.16 WCIA3 IL

  • Iowa: End Street Harassment – Iowa City is hosting a few events in Iowa City across the week, including sidewalk chalking. [8:30 p.m. Meet at the Iowa City Public Library]

Cat+Calling

  • Maryland: Hollaback Bmore is hosting a Self-Care Gathering at the MICA Wellness Center [6 p.m.]
  • Washington, DC-area: WMATA, SSH and Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) released the findings of the city’s first-ever transit harassment survey and co-hosted a flyering event at several metro stations. [4-6 p.m.]

4.12.16 DC flyering Clarendon

  • Washington, DC: CASS hosted a public workshop on responding to street harassment. $10 suggested donation.  [6-8 p.m.]

4.12.16 CASS street harassment 101 workshop in DC

There are various online campaigns too:

Nepal

Egypt – HarassMap

New song about street harassment from La Castor (in French)

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Filed Under: anti-street harassment week Tagged With: chile, france, Nepal, papua new guinea

OCAC Chile Supports an Anti-Street Harassment Law

January 31, 2016 By HKearl

Sharing via an e-mail from OCAC Chile:

“By sharing an impactful video, OCAC Chile (Chilean Observatory Against Street Harassment) aims to promote a bill for preventing street harassment. In a non-expected way, the video shows that girls start being harassed in public spaces when they are 10 years old. The organization is calling on civil society from all around the world to sign a petition to support the local bill. The petition can be signed here.

The Respeto Callejero bill was recently approved by the Chilean Citizen Security Commission of the Lower House and now will be discussed by the Constitution Commission.”

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Filed Under: Resources, street harassment Tagged With: chile, law, street harassment, video

Video: #JuventudSinAcoso: Nuestra generación puede erradicar el acoso callejero

January 5, 2016 By HKearl

Slavery used to be considered normal. Now it’s not. Women not having the right to vote used to be normal. Now it’s not. Street harassment used to be normal…. oh wait, it still is! But we can stop that. With our generation we can change things.

This is the powerful message conveyed in a new PSA by OCAC Chile. English subtitles and sign language interpretation are available. #JuventudSinAcoso

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Filed Under: male perspective, Resources, street harassment Tagged With: chile, video

#16Days of Activism: Street Demonstration (Day 6)

November 30, 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).

Initiating a street demonstration by holding signs with anti-harassment messages, asking people to write their own messages, and facilitating impromptu conversations are additional tactics growing in popularity among people wishing to challenge street harassment in their community. These types of actions have taken place in many countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Chile, India, and the United States.

Human chain in Jordan. Image via Al Bawaba
Human chain in Jordan. Image via Al Bawaba

In June 2012, more than 200 people in Amman, Jordan, formed a “human chain” from Al Hussein Sports City to the Interior Ministry Circle to protest various gender-based crimes, including street harassment, the practice of forcing rape survivors to marry their rapists, and honor killings. Women and men of all ages stood in a row, each holding signs that condemned these acts and called for behavioral changes and changes to laws. Weeks later in Egypt, the Nefsi (I Hope) anti-sexual harassment campaign also organized scores of people into a human chain along a busy road in Cairo. Some of the participants’ signs read “I wish I could ride a bike without anyone bothering me” and “I wish you would respect me as I respect you.”

Chile

In 2014, Observatorio Contra el Acoso Callejero en Chile held an open outdoor meeting at a plaza where more than two dozen women and men of all ages discussed street harassment, passed out pamphlets to passersby, and wrote anti-street harassment messages on signs like “Mi cuerpo no es un objeto” (“My body is not an object”) and “Yo me visto para mi no para ti” (“I dress for me not for you”). They held the signs for passersby to see and then attached them to strings hung around the plaza. They also attached small ribbons on which they had written their street harassment experiences, and people walking by stopped to read them.

India

In Bangalore, India, members of the volunteer group Jhatkaa spent a day in 2014 walking around the streets of the city with a whiteboard and asking women to write down their experiences with street harassment. People were eager to participate and wrote statements like, “Lots of times men have pinched my breasts and made passes at me on the buses,” “Been whistled and stared at wearing a pair of jeans,” and “The creepy stare.” The organizers wrote in a summary of their event: “Many women thanked us for doing it and told us they felt lighter after speaking about it and participating in fighting against it. On seeing photos of other women and their experiences-they also felt good knowing that they weren’t the only ones. We shared these photos on Facebook and Twitter and received positive comments for the work.”

Philadelphia, USA

Since 2011, Philadelphia-based groups like FAAN Mail and Feminist Public Works have held a demonstration in the spring. It includes drumming, chalking, and posting flyers and signs and discussing street harassment with passersby. In 2014, they framed it as reclaiming public space at LOVE Park and hosted chalking, street theater, music, art making, and double Dutch jump rope. People could write their answers to complete the phrase “A Safe Street is …,” and several chose to publicly share their street harassment stories while standing on a “soap box.” Around 50 people participated. “This year’s action in Philadelphia was our most dynamic action yet,” wrote FAAN Mail co-founder Nuala Cabral in a report of the event. We offered several activities that enabled people to reclaim public space and address this problem in creative ways. Children were a part of the event. Male allies stood with us. It was a beautiful day.”

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

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Filed Under: 16 days, anti-street harassment week, street harassment Tagged With: chile, India, jordan, street demonstration, usa

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