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USA: CTA Ad Campaign is a Step in the Right Direction

June 10, 2016 By Correspondent

Hope Herten, IL, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Frequently, like the rest of society, I have to leave my bedroom, stop browsing through social media and watching old episodes of Sex in the City, and go outside, whether or not I am going to class, work, or anywhere else. Going places is a general requirement for being a person and when you live in a city without a car, any mode of transportation you choose is a part of the public sphere. Whether I am riding my bike, taking a cab or ride share, or on public transportation (the “L”), I enter an environment where I am surrounded by other people and in doing so, I unwillingly become the target of stares and comments by strangers.

Normally, it is a relatively uneventful experience, aside from near-death experiences on my bike, erratic cab drivers, and less than pleasant smells on the train or bus. All in all, the majority of my commute is devoid of unwanted encounters. Despite not being the majority of my experience, harassment as I am “making my way downtown” occurs frequently enough for it to stick in the back of my mind no matter where I go. As one of my friends said, “I’m a human that needs to get places and I won’t let a male stop me. (Assuming the street harasser is a male). That doesn’t mean I’m not cautious. I’m especially cautious at night or when I see a group of males around, even if it’s in the middle of the day”.

I am not one to let fear keep me from doing what I want, I am not about to let an experience or stories from friends keep me from venturing to different parts of the city, but that doesn’t mean I am not aware.

I have had more than my share of harassment experiences while on my way to work, which for me is one of the most troubling types of harassment. Not that I welcome harassment on my days off, but there is something about being yelled at or cornered on my way to work that makes the rest of the day horrible. On my bike men have yelled at me from the street and, to my horror, from their cars, pulling up beside me to say something. Less so cab drivers, but there are a handful of times that while I am using ride shares like Uber and Lyft that my driver has repeatedly hit on me and refused to give up when I denied to give them my number.

By far though, my experiences of harassment on the “L” are the most frequent and frustrating. On the train, I have been approached by men who are alone and by groups of men, telling me what they think of how I look or asking for my number. These situations are often frightening and never feel good. On one occasion when I was traveling to work a group of men, the only other people in the train car, were yelling at me, as I continued to ignore them they approached me, threatening me by asking, “Who do you think you are to ignore me?” Luckily, my stop came and they did not follow me, but it was difficult to go through an eight hour workday doing customer service after I was so shaken.  It was actually this experience in particular that motivated me to seek out organizations like Stop Street Harassment and Hollaback! to see what people were doing to stop street harassment.

When asking my friends about their experiences on the “L”, they shared similar experiences: men coming up to them, sitting next to them, relentlessly pursuing them until they are forced to leave the car. My group of friends and I must not have been the only women who have experienced serious harassment while on public transportation, because recently the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) began an ad campaign to bring awareness to the issue.

CTAjune2016

Ads on the trains and buses encourage passengers to not just sit by and watch fellow riders be harassed or threatened during their commute.  A CTA official told the Chicago Tribune in an interview that they are aware that the vast majority of harassment cases are not reported, “One of the main reasons for this campaign is that we want customers to report incidents they experience or witness.”

As the campaign is relatively new, many of the people with whom I spoke had not noticed the advertisements, but upon viewing images of them, they agreed that they would be helpful.  Many people agreed that bringing any sort of attention to the issue is good and could encourage bystanders to intervene and victims to report cases, but a few people whom I interviewed expressed concern that since they hadn’t noticed the ads, the efforts should be expanded and that the ads should be more eye catching. I carry the same sentiment as many of my peers, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Maybe one day I won’t have to practice my resting bitch face in the mirror before heading to work.

Hope is a full-time undergraduate student studying public health and Spanish in Chicago, IL. During her time in Chicago, Hope has participated in many protests and events trying to call awareness to women’s issues on campus and in the broader Chicago community. Follow her on Twitter @hope_lucille or check out her public health blog.

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Filed Under: correspondents, street harassment Tagged With: chicago, CTA, transit

Mid-January 2016 News Roundup

January 18, 2016 By HKearl

Here are some recent stories I thought were interesting and good:

Via Broadly
Via Broadly

“When Taking a Nap Is a Political Act,” Broadly

“What is it like to sleep under a blue sky? To stretch out on the grass and feel the earth under you? To close your eyes and hear the quiet hum of traffic or the chirp of a sparrow?

I have no idea.

The freedom to rest or sleep in a public space is one that women in India don’t enjoy—being idle in public is not something we do. Not because it is illegal, but because we are vulnerable wherever we go. This is increasingly true in recent years,when the country has seen a spate of violent rapes and street harassment.

This weekend, small groups of women across the country (and in neighboring Pakistan) will fight their fear and vulnerability and head to a local park to do nothing but take a siesta. They will carry a mat, a bottle of water, perhaps a snack or a book to read. Then, they will then take a nap. Or try to.

Hosted by the Blank Noise Project, an all-volunteer collective that campaigns against street harassment, this seemingly subtle protest event is called “Meet to Sleep,” and it asks citizens to come together to reclaim public spaces and make cities safer. Started in 2003 by Jasmeen Patheja as part of her graduation project, Blank Noise mobilizes citizen “action heroes” through its projects, events, and campaigns, and it has played a major role in the snowballing discussion surrounding street harassment in India. The organization has been hosting Meet to Sleep events in cities across India since November 2014.”

“The Politics of Being “Ugly”: Between Being Catcalled and Erased,” For Harriet

“….There is a hierarchy of deservingness put on women, girls, femmes, and non-masculine bodies that delegate a culture of misogyny on a violent spectrum. Women who are categorized as beautiful should expect to be sexually harassed, while those who are categorized as ugly should be grateful for the attention and consideration. In addressing this spectrum of violence, we need to complicate our understandings of street harassment and catcalling. Erasure is an equally violent form of misogynistic brutality against our bodies.

We are affected everyday when our safety is based upon someone else’s sexualization or beauty positioning of our bodies in order to determine our worthiness and humanity. Let’s challenge spaces to include narratives and experiences that speak to being ignored, marginalized, or violated for not being “pretty enough” to be humanized. We must demand that our value as human beings—whether we identify as woman, girl, or femme—exist outside of the dominant scope and gaze of rape culture. Our humanity is not currency for survival. We deserve to exist free from fear, free from expectation, and free from misogynistic violence. “

“Uber Says It’s Fighting Sexual Harassment In Egypt But The Causes Aren’t Going Away,” BuzzFeed News

“This October, Uber Egypt partnered with Harassmap, one of the country’s pioneering anti-harassment organizations, to train drivers to fight against sexual harassment — a rarity in Egypt, where sexual harassment of women in Cairo’s chaotic and neglected public transportation is rampant.

“We know that there are big problems here,” Anthony Khoury, general manager of Uber Egypt, which provides only privately-owned cars, a service known as UberX, told BuzzFeed News. “We want to be the safest drivers around.”

Uber Egypt, based in Cairo, committed itself to a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment — a phenomenon criminalized under Egyptian law only in 2014, the same year Uber opened here. The move was also savvy branding for the popular car-hailing app, a more than $62 billion franchise, which worldwide has faced waves of legal cases and protests over drivers preying on female passengers and the company’s worker practices.

For Uber users in this megacity — where traffic is notoriously bad and taxis often a hassle — the app is a much-welcomed upgrade to safely navigate daily life. Since October, Khoury said his team has implemented the short anti-harassment training and even suspended and deactivated a few drivers for incidents of verbal harassment, follow-through unheard of with regular taxis, and had no reported cases of physical harassment.

In Egypt’s struggle against sexual harassment, it’s also still a drop in the bucket.

Uber is largely a luxury of the elite — most people in Cairo can’t afford private taxis — and the barriers preventing women from reporting and prosecuting sexual harassment remain terrifyingly tall.”

“‘Make a Grown Man Cry’ Pepper Spray CTA Ads Upset Women Commuters,” DNA Info

“While riding the CTA Blue Line on Tuesday, Jessica White, a Logan Square resident, spotted the ad for Sabre pepper spray.

White said she was “struck by the casual way the ad seemed to make light of violence against women, by not only cracking a joke about making ‘grown men’ cry, but also implying I would be interested in a powder blue keychain attachment as a form of necessary self defense.

“Considering how many assaults occur on and around CTA property, I would think the CTA wouldn’t post ads reminding women not only how dangerous it is to use their services, but also that they’re on their own when it comes to personal safety,” White said…

Kara Crutcher, an Uptown resident whose Courage Campaign tried to raise money to pay for ads to discourage harassment on public transit, said she is “very disappointed” to hear about an ad that makes light of having to use pepper spray.

“Nothing about a person, male or female, carrying mace as a form of protection in public spaces is comical,” Crutcher added. “I’d much rather see an ad that aims to move us past the existence of violence in public spaces, not an ad joking about mace sales, which is counterproductive to the goals of the ‘Courage Campaign: CTA’ and functions solely as a Band-Aid for the greater issue at hand.”

Good work Courage Campaign: CTA for speaking out.

“NYC police boss urges ‘buddy system’ for women in cabs,” AutoBlog

“14 of the city’s reported rapes last year, and two already this year, were committed by for-hire cabbies. And Police Commissioner William Bratton raised eyebrows with comments on the phenomenon that some felt blamed the victims.

‘One of the areas of concern that we have is particularly young women coming out of clubs and bars,’ Commissioner William Bratton said during a radio interview on WNYC. ‘They’re by themselves and intoxicated getting into a cab … and we’ve seen an increase in assaults in those instances. So we’re encouraging women to adopt the buddy system.’

Some women who spoke to The Associated Press about taxi safety said Bratton’s suggestion smacked of sexism.

“It’s the idea that somehow we have a hand in this,” said Jamie Lopez, 20, who works in retail and often takes cabs late at night because she finds them safer than the subway. “It’s not the victim’s fault.”

“Amsterdam men to don miniskirts in support of Cologne women,” NL Times

“Male members of the PvdA, D66, SP and GroenLinks’ youth movements will be protesting in mini-skirts on the Spui in the heart of Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon. They want to show support for women’s rights and their displeasure with Cologne mayor Henriette Reker’s statements following the large number of sexual assaults in the German city over New Year’s…

On Facebook the youth movements invite men, and women, to join their protest on Saturday, wearing miniskirts. “Not women, but men must keep away at arms length. Too often sexual violence against women is put down as a woman-problem: don’t wear short skirts. That is never the solution. Short skirts are not at fault.” they write.

“Therefore we are reversing the rolls and we celebrate the skirt and the freedom that goes with it. We deploy our hairy knees for a free society in which women can walk the streets undisturbed, day and night, on short-skirt day or in the middle of the winter.”

“One in three people in south east bullied in street over looks and weight,” Chichester Observer

“A third of adults living in the south east have received negative comments about their weight or appearance in the street, reveals a survey released this week.

The shocking results come from the survey “Fat Shaming Britain 2016”, for diet company LighterLife – which reveals the scale of the epidemic faced by those with weight issues, and the damaging impact this is having on their live.

The poll, which looked at 1,000 adults, revealed that more than a third of people (39 per cent) lack confidence due to their weight or appearance, which is made worse by the negative comments they have endured from strangers – face to face, via social media, by text and in the street.

And the accusers are closer to home than you might think. An alarming 78 per cent of people abused by strangers had also received derogatory comments, face-to-face, from someone they knew.

Weight was overwhelmingly the main subject of comments – good or bad – confirmed by two thirds (67 per cent). And almost one in three (31 per cent) felt the comments they had received were “maybe” or “definitely” street harassment.”

“This Is What A Feminist Cat Call Sounds Like,” Bustle

“Ubiquitous and nasty, street harassment is an experience most women are intimately acquainted with. Now, thanks to the incisive folks on Twitter, feminist cat calls are a thing, revealing the true absurdity of this misogynistic practice as only humor can. Although it’s unlikely real men out there will start yelling informed and intelligent twists on the usual sexist garbage talk, with enough support, maybe, just maybe, these tweets will start a revolution.”

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Filed Under: News stories, offensive ads, street harassment Tagged With: Amsterdam, chicago, CTA, Egypt, India, male allies, NYC, offensive ads, uber, UK, victim blaming, weight

CTA anti-harassment ads

November 16, 2009 By HKearl

Chicago transit riders may notice something new on their commutes. CTA recently launched print Public Service Announcements that say:

If it’s unwanted, it’s harassment. Touching. Rude comments. Leering. Speak up. If you see something, say something.

At the bottom, the ads list information for who to contact if a rider is the target of sexual harassment.

Both Boston and New York City have anti-sexual harassment subway ad campaigns too.

The Young Women’s Action Team‘s 2009 subway & bus survey results and recommendations led to Chicago’s campaign. They have been doing amazing work since 2003 and hopefully their successes will inspire other people to take action and work to make a difference in their own community too.

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: chicago, CTA, public transportation, sexual harassment, street harassment, young women's action team, YWAT

It never ends

September 13, 2009 By Contributor

I am 70, in good shape, look much younger, but thinner than I’d like to be due to stomach problems which is no excuse for being harassed or made fun of on the street. Someone in a car yelled “twig” at me yesterday. I’ve been honked at ever since I’ve been a teen and it still goes on even at my age. I try to ignore it except for one time when I stopped dead, pulled out my mace and yelled “Back off.” He did. I’ve never had to use mace but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it on some bozo in a heartbeat if he deserved it.

When I was young and out for a walk in the daytime, I was touched on my bottom by a guy on a bike. I ran after him and almost caught him. I almost knocked him off his bike as he sped away.scared. I called police when I got home but they didn’t find him. A few days later a girl was almost raped on her way to school but luckily a neighbor heard her screams and yelled out the window and the guy ran off.

On my way home from work , I sat in the back of the bus and suddenly this guy opened a sex book and tried to show it to me. I tried to get up but he wouldn’t move so I poked him in the stomach with my umbrella and he let me up. The bus driver acted deaf and dumb when I reported it so I called the CTA when I got home. The next few days, the CTA had their detectives watching me and they caught the creep. As I was coming down the stairs from the el to the bus, he was following me but I never knew it. Luckily the CTA detectives saw it and they grabbed him and patted him down, taking out his wallet and everything in his pockets. I asked the detectives if they needed me to testify but they said they would handle him. I never saw him again.

– anonymous

Location: Chicago, IL

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Filed Under: Stories Tagged With: chicago, CTA, sexual harassment, Stories, street harassment

CTA bus drivers voice concern about new anti-harassment policy

July 28, 2009 By HKearl

The Chicago Sun-Times has a follow up article to the one I reported on two weeks ago about how the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is expanding its policies on how bus and rail operators deal with harassers because of the activism of the Young Women’s Action Team.

Some bus drivers say that they weren’t informed about the new policies ahead of time and they have concerns with the changes. In part, they are concerned that if they intervene it could be dangerous and/or lead to complaints against them by the harasser.  They would prefer to call 911 for intervention – and ask that police respond promptly – rather than deal with it alone themselves. What this tells me is they must see a LOT of harassment because if this was a once in a while occurrence, it probably wouldn’t be so burdensome or worrisome to them.

I’m interested to find out how the implementation of stricter anti-harassment policies will play out on Chicago’s public transportation system.

Side note, I quickly glanced at the comments below the article and found this gem near the top:

“If the women that ride the C.T.A, don’t want a person(man)talking to them stay at home, don’t dress so in a way that a man is provoke to say something to her, besides she-they may not have job anyway.”

*Sigh* so much educating about street harassment to do!

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Filed Under: street harassment Tagged With: bus, bus union, chicago transit authority, CTA, public transportation, sexual harassment, street harassment, young women's action team

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