Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

DC Groper Admits to 8 Attacks, Will Likely Face Almost No Punishment

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In early July, Washington, DC resident Liz Gorman was sexually assaulted in DC’s Dupont Circle. The next day Liz, who immediately reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police Department, wrote about her experience on the Collective Action for Safe Spaces blog. By Friday, the post had set off a viral reaction, both locally and nationally. Fast forward to late August and we have some good and bad news.

The Good News: After Liz and then four other women reported the alleged assailant, the DC Police looked for him and found him.

Via The Washington Post:

“The police did interviews, took statements, watched hours of security video until they froze the frame there — right there! — and found the jerk on the bike, his victim screaming next to him.

Then they caught the guy they believe is responsible for the attacks. Oscar Mauricio Cornejo-Pena even told them: Yup, he did it. He was a most helpful suspect, even offering up some crimes the cops didn’t know about.

“He admitted that he committed numerous similar offenses, possibly eight or more,” according to the charging documents drawn up by Officer Alexander MacBean.”

Thank you, DCPD! This story illustrates just how often harassers are repeat offenders. Most people don’t harass others, but some people harass a lot of other people.

The Bad News: He wasn’t charged for assaulting Liz, only the other four women. Plus, his conviction is pretty weak.

Also via The Washington Post:

“He was charged with “misdemeanor sexual abuse (with aggravating circumstances),” which, according to D.C. Official Code, is punishable by jail time of “not more than 180 days, and, in addition, may be fined in an amount not to exceed $1,000.”

That means that terrorizing women who are walking down the street, roughing them up and grabbing their privates gets you the same punishment as attending a cockfight, impersonating a police officer, trespassing on someone’s lawn or selling a fake Gucci purse.

In the District, sentencing guidelines say that a person who breaks into a vending machine or a parking meter should get more jail time (up to three years) and pay a bigger fine (up to $3,000) than a sociopath who violates women on the street….

The truth is, he’s probably not going to get any real jail time, said Chai Shenoy, a lawyer who specializes in sexual assault and who runs a group in the District, Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

Of the cases she has taken on, the ones where women are groped on Metro, violated on the street or attacked in their neighborhoods, she has never had a criminal conviction for that type of street harassment.

“We applaud the police for taking the crimes seriously, using their resources and working hard to make an arrest,” she said. “But it’s a double-edged sword. We want police to take these crimes seriously, we want prosecutors to take these crimes seriously and then, at the end of the day, we have sentencing guidelines that won’t provide justice.”

And that’s what we’re up against. Even if/when we report harassers and even if/when the police take it seriously and find them, the penalties are pretty weak. So, it can make you wonder if it’s even worth the time or energy. As hard as prevention is, it’s going to be the best way to stop street harassment for the next generation.

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28 DC Metro Stations Have Anti-Sexual Harassment Ads

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Metro ad. Image via @aliciasanchez

Sexual harassment and assault are common problems on public transportation systems worldwide, including in Washington, DC.

To address this problem, over the past two weeks in DC, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) has rolled out a public service announcement (PSA) campaign in 28 subway stations. Many stations have both English and Spanish versions. The PSA states that the harassment is not okay and lists information about how to report it.

Background: Since February, I’ve been part of a team at Collective Action for Safe Spaces pressuring WMATA to do more about sexual harassment and assault. We testified in February before the DC City Council, specifically before Ward 4 City Council Member Muriel Bowser. Bowser was very disturbed by the information we shared with her and asked WMATA to address it. Thankfully, WMATA is addressing it, including through the newly launched PSAs.

Stations: Here is a list of the Metro stations where you can find the ads:

1.    Addison Road    Metro
2.    Ballston        Metro
3.    Benning Road    Metro
4.    Benning Road    Metro – Spanish
5.    Capitol Heights    Metro
6.    Cheverly        Metro
7.    Cheverly        Metro – Spanish
8.    Clarendon        Metro
9.    Cleveland Park    Metro
10.    DuPont Circle    Metro
11.    Eisenhower         Metro – Spanish
12.    Eisenhower        Metro
13.    Foggy Bottom    Metro – Spanish
14.    Forest Glenn    Metro
15.    Forest Glenn    Metro
16.    Fort Totten        Metro – Spanish
17.    Fort Totten        Metro
18.    Franconia-Springfield    Metro
19.    Franconia-Springfield    Metro – Spanish
20.    Georgia Avenue Petworth    Metro
21.    Glenmont        Metro
22.    Glenmont        Metro – Spanish
23.    Grosvenor        Metro
24.    Huntington        Metro
25.    Judiciary Square    Metro – Spanish
26.    Landover        Metro
27.    Landover        Metro
28.    L’Enfant Plaza    Metro – Spanish
29.    New Carrollton    Metro
30.    Potomac Avenue    Metro
31.    Potomac Avenue    Metro – Spanish
32.    Prince Georges Plaza    Metro
33.    Prince Georges Plaza    Metro – Spanish
34.    Takoma        Metro
35.    Van Dorn        Metro – Spanish
36.    Van Ness    006    Metro
37.    Van Ness    008    Metro
38.    Waterfront    006    Metro – Spanish
39.    Waterfront    007    Metro
40.    Wheaton    014    Metro

You can report harassment very easily online.

Do you want to see a similar campaign in your city? Reach out to your transit authority and let them know!

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Important legislation introduced in Washington, DC

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L to R: Holly Kearl, Chai Shenoy, Council Member Muriel Bowser, Ben Merrion

YAY!! I’ve got great news. New legislation introduced in Washington, DC, will make it easier for police to take action when a person has committed “the offense of misdemeanor sexual abuse, misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child or minor, or lewd, indecent, or obscene acts.” This applies to the public transportation system and the streets and so if it passes, it’s more likely that a person flashing or engaging in public masturbation will face penalty.

Background: Over the last several weeks, I’ve been part of a team at Collective Action for Safe Spaces pressuring the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) to do more about sexual harassment and assault on the Washington, DC-area transportation system. We testified in February before the DC City Council, specifically before Ward 4 City Council Member Muriel Bowser. Bowser was very disturbed by the information we shared with her and asked WMATA to address it. Thankfully, WMATA is addressing it.

Early on in our collaboration with WMATA, we found out from transit police that they have limitations in making arrests. For example, verbal sexual harassment, unless it’s a threat, is not a criminal offense (but for the first time, WMATA is finally tracking it to look for patterns, etc) so they cannot do anything about it (this is true most places in the USA and cause for future legislative work). We also found out that since Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, all have varying laws around harassment, the transit police are limited in what they can do. They are bound by the laws of whichever area the crime takes place since the transit system spans all three areas. In Maryland, people who engage in indecent and obscene behavior (public masturbation, flashing) can be arrested without the officer having to witness it occurring. In DC and VA, the police need to witness it occurring (!!!) before they can do anything.

Once we found out about this limitation in the law, we informed Council Member Bowser. She was not aware of this limitation either and she said she’d investigate it. So the good news is she upheld that promise and has introduced legislation to ensure that in Washington, DC, an officer does not have to observe the indecent exposure occurring to take action. As Collective Action for Safe Spaces says, “Although we do NOT support more people getting arrested, we do want Metro to be safe for all, and not have to watch individuals doing obscene things while staring at you.”

The Bill:
______________________
Councilmember Muriel Bowser

A BILL

________

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

________________________

To amend section 23-581 of the District of Columbia Official Code to enhance enforcement of the indecent exposure law by allowing police officers to arrest suspects without a warrant when officers have probable cause to believe that suspects have committed lewd, indecent, or obscene acts.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
act may be cited as the “Sexual Harassment Prevention Act of 2012”.

Sec. 2. Section 23-581 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended as follows:
(a) Subsection (a-7) (D.C. Official Code § 23-581(a-7)) is amended to read as follows:
“(a-7) A law enforcement officer may arrest a person without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed the offense of misdemeanor sexual abuse, misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child or minor, or lewd, indecent, or obscene acts as provided in sections 22-3006, 22-3010.01, and 22-1312.”
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) b of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(3)).
Sec. 4. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and a 30-day period of congressional review as provided in Section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code §1-206(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.

It’s exciting that the bill will apply to acts that occur off the transit system too — it applies to acts committed anywhere in Washington, DC. If passed, the legislation will give more protection to victims and ensure that perpetrators are more likely to face punishment for their crimes.

The bill has been referred to Council Member Mendelson’s Committee on the Judiciary.  They need to hold a hearing and then vote on it in a separate mark-up hearing.  The full Council then has to vote on it twice to be submitted to the Mayor for signature.

So, there are still several steps to go, but the first step is done: the legislation was written and introduced!!! Thank you, Council Member Bowser!

Update: Here’s a Washington Examiner article on the proposed bill.

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Big News – WMATA will Address Sexual Harassment

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L to R: Holly Kearl, Chai Shenoy, Council Member Muriel Bowser, Ben Merrion

Exactly two weeks after several people in Washington, DC, gave public testimony about sexual harassment on the DC transit system and offered recommendations, WMATA has swiftly taken steps to make our recommendations happen!

Chai Shenoy, co-founder of Collective Action for Safe Spaces/Holla Back DC!, CASS board member Ben Merrion, and I learned about these initiatives yesterday. First we met with Ward 4 City Councilmember Muriel Bowser and two hours later, we met with about 10 staff at WMATA.

When we went into the meeting with WMATA, we had low expectations. In the days leading up to the hearing, WMATA said statements like, “one person’s harassment is another person’s flirting” and had given the impression that they thought sexual offenses weren’t a big deal. We were pleasantly surprised by what they had to say.

Chai wrote about what happened at the meetings on the CASS blog:

On the eve of International Women’s Day (ahem, yesterday), we met with Council Member Bowser and WMATA in two separate meetings. It was a day of follow-up meetings. We were interested to know if CM Bowser had heard back from WMATA. We were also curious as to what, if anything, WMATA was planning on doing to address our concerns about public sexual harassment and assault on the transit system.

CM Bowser expressed her commitment to push WMATA to do something, at minimum the public service awareness campaign and trainings. We talked to her about our concerns about the gap in law where in DC police (not true in MD/VA) have to see someone committing a misdemeanor to arrest them. This affects individuals who report indecent exposure, public masturbation, etc. Unless the cops see it, nothing can happen. Even if the person took a picture of the perpetrator in action. It’s essentially a free pass to perpetrators: Come to DC! Yikes. CM Bowser wants to address this issue and is figuring out ways to do so.

After that meeting, we had a lunch break. Thank goodness for the great weather yesterday that kept us company.

As we walked over the WMATA headquarters for our 2P meeting, we kept wondering outloud what WMATA would share with us. We were escorted to a conference room where some Senior level WMATA officials were sitting including Lynn Bowersox (Director of Communications), Dan Stessel (Chief Spokesperson), Regina Sullivan (Director of Government Relations), Michael Taborn (Chief of Transit Police), and others.

After an hour and half, we walked away with WMATA pledging to do a public service awareness campaign, launching as soon as April, technology upgrades to include a webportal for individuals to submit their experiences with harassment and assault, a newly dedicated email address on this issue (where people can upload pics/video), new trainings to ALL staff, and quarterly data reports on harassment and sex crimes.

Yeah, you read that correctly.

A PSA.

Data collection on harassment and sex crimes.

A dedicated email address and webportal (and specialized hashtag and possibly other techie things).

More & better trainings.

YEAH. yeah. yeAH!

You did it. Your tenacity to share stories of harassment and assault everywhere, including those that happen on the metro, is creating a culture of change in the nation’s 2nd largest transit system. That is big, really boombastic B.I.G.

Of course, our work isn’t done (this is not a Mission Accomplished moment). They have to launch it. It has to succeed. But, instead of being critical, let’s pause and celebrate this first step.

Have a glass of wine, bubbly water, beer or two in celebration of this on International Women’s Day.

In solidarity,

Chai, your humble servant.

P.S. Feel moved and want to get involved? Shoot us an email at info at collectiveactiondc.org.

You can also donate to CASS. Right now, our work is unpaid, volunteer driven. We took time off from work to attend the meetings and testify at the hearing, but we could do so much more with funds to hire at least one staff person to work on these issues full time.

This is HUGE news.

I am really proud of our city. Many people do not take these issues seriously so I applaud WMATA and also Councilmember Bowser (she’s up for re-election – vote for her if you can!) and her staff for listening to our testimonies, taking our concerns seriously, and then immediately taking action. They plan to include CASS and Stop Street Harassment in the whole process so we can have input on messaging and implementation, which of course is key. Come to a forum with Metro on March 22, 5:30 p.m. at AAUW, 1111 Sixteenth St, NW, Washington, DC, and share your thoughts with them, too.

WMATA is now on target to be the nation’s leader for addressing sexual harassment on the transit system and they hope to be a model for transit systems across the country.

And, as Chai mentions, WMATA’s decision to address this issue is in great part because of all of the people who shared their harassment stories at the hearing and on the CASS blog over the last three years and also thanks to the two dozen people who wrote to WMATA after the hearing to share their stories. Having media coverage highlighting our concerns from the Washington Post, ABC news, and WAMA didn’t hurt either.

Stay tuned for more updates on our progress. And please be in touch if you want to see something happen in your city. We’re happy to chat and offer advice.

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Activists in DC testify about sexual harassment on the transit system

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This is partially cross-posted from the guest post I wrote for Greater Greater Washington earlier today.

Unwanted sexual comments, indecent exposure, groping, and public masturbation: sexual harassment happens often on transit in Washington, DC, just as it happens in cities around the world. Local grassroots activist group Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS)/Holla Back DC! has been tracking and speaking out on this issue for 3 years.

Of the hundreds of stories of street harassment submitted to their blog, 30% take place on the transit system or at Metro platforms or bus stops.

After unsuccessfully trying to meet with WMATA and not receiving responses to inquiries about statistics of sexual harassment, CASS board members, including myself, decided to organize a group of people to testify at yesterday’s WMATA oversight hearing at the DC Council, chaired by Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser.

Six of us testified and we were the only members of the public who testified about anything relating to WMATA, so we had their attention and the attention of the media. After laying out the facts, sharing stories of harassment, and informing them about what transit systems in Boston, New York City and Chicago are doing to address sexual harassment that WMATA is not, we gave our recommendations.

1. Better tracking and reporting of incidents

2. A public service awareness campaign so people know what their rights are and how to report incidents

3. Better training of Metro employees so they don’t harass passengers and so they respond to reports of harassment more appropriately.

Councilmember Bowser was very receptive to these suggestions, especially the PSA campaign. WMATA CEO Richard Sarles said he would talk with his counterparts in the three cities that have PSA campaigns, to get advice on how to bring one to DC. Their responses were very encouraging, but of course we won’t call it a success until we actually have a campaign.

And there is still work to do around WMATA’s responses to and treatment of harassment.

While WMATA keeps painting harassment as flirting in their statements to the press, we’re not talking about flirting, and the testimonies illustrated what’s really going on.

You can watch our testimonies and/or click on the links of our names below to read each of our testimonies. They illustrate the real harassment that goes on the Metro and sadly show Metro employees either mishandling or being the harassers.

Chai Shenoy, co-founder of Collective Action for Safe Spaces (4:23:17 on the video)
Ami Lynch, private citizen (4:30 on the video)
Pascale Leone , private citizen (4:34:05 on the video)
Karen Starr, private citizen (4:38:25 on the video)
Ben Merrion, private citizen (4:52 on the video)
Holly Kearl, Stop Street Harassment (4:55:32 on the video)

Dienna Howard, private citizen, could not attend but submitted her testimony for the record.

At minute 5:16:45, WMATA CEO Richard Sarles begins his response to our concerns.

Metro says they are doing a good job addressing sexual crimes since there were only 84 reported “sexual offenses” last year. We disagree. We know that sexual crimes are vastly under-reported to begin with and then, when people do try to report it, how many of them are like Ami and Pascale? Instead of having their incident handled and recorded, they’re met with laughter or disbelief and their incident is left off the record.

Additionally, after our testimonies, we were told by someone in from the transit police office, that unless verbal harassment is directly threatening, it is not recorded at all and is a matter of free speech. So none of the verbal sexual harassment that we know is so prevalent is tracked.Also,  we learned that if someone exposes themselves to you, unless a transit police officer sees it too, it’s doubtful you’ll be able to see any action taken because it will be a “he said, she said” situation.

It’s funny how unwanted sexual comments constitute sexual harassment in the workplace and schools, but, according to the police officer, they are free speech on the Metro system.

While both Councilmember Bowser and the Metro Police said they want to work with us, we know it will not be easy and that our work is just beginning. Especially since Metro continues to not apologize for the harassment and crimes taking place but instead continues publicly to equate harassment with flirting.

We plan to bring a larger group to testify at the WMATA budget hearing in April and we likely will launch a petition or advocacy campaign in March, so stay tuned.

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