Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Post-Election Map of Hate, Including Street Harassment

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splcnov292016The Southern Poverty Law Center released a new report yesterday on the more than 860 post-presidential election hate incidents that have been reported so far in the United States. You can see the breakdown and learn more about the types of incidents they are tracking here:

Here are examples of the Anti-Woman incidents, which they classify as street harassment.

“Since the election, the frequency and tone of street harassment of women seems to have changed. Women — about 5% of the total reports — reported that boys and men around the country are parroting the president-elect’s sexist and vulgar comments from the now-notorious 2005 audio tape.

In Minneapolis, middle-school boys leaned out of a school bus to yell, “Grab her by the pussy!” to a man walking with a female colleague.

A 50 year-old woman from Venice, California, reported that she had not been “catcalled” in over 20 years. The day after the election, three white men in a pickup truck bearing a Trump sticker shouted at her, “Do you want us to grab your pussy?”

In Arlington, Virginia, a woman crossing the street reported that two young white men yelled at her from their car: “You better be ready because with Trump, we can grab you by the pussy even if you don’t want it.”

In New York, a girl on her way to school reported that a man on the subway told her he was “allowed to grab my pussy because it’s legal now.”

A woman in Spokane, Washington, reported that she encountered young men who she described as being “‘liberated’ from normal behavior since the election.” They shouted “We’re going to rape you!” from a Jeep with the word “TRUMP” emblazoned on its side.

And in a Brooklyn, New York, restaurant, a woman who voiced her support for Hillary Clinton was punched in the face by a male patron.”

If you’ve experienced any of these types of harassment (e.g. anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-LGBT, anti-woman), you can report it via this URL or the hashtag #ReportHate.

Related, here is a Ms. Magazine article by Carly Lanning about how Trump is a “trigger” for sexual abuse survivors.

H/T our board member Patrick!

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Male Allies, Take Note

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My fiancé brought an article to my attention this weekend in The Guardian that should make male allies take pause. It describes the current legal action being taken against the London School of Economics (LSE). The suit is being filed by a former student who claims that the master’s program he was in at the LSE’s Gender Institute was “sexist” by not emphasizing the male perspective. As the author of the Guardian article points out, gender studies discipline allows people from across the spectrum to share their ideas and views in an accepting, supportive environment.

A post written by The F Word, a UK-based feminist blog, debunks the claim to sexism by outlining the important role that Women’s and Gender Studies programs have played in the lives of women and LGBTQ folks. In a male-dominated academic landscape, women needed a safe and open space to express their views.

At first glance, this suit just tells another story of radical feminists hatching an anti-male agenda behind the halls of academia and stuffing it down the throats of innocent men. There is a wider and more sinister angle to this story, however. This reaction to women’s spaces as being “anti-male” is symptomatic of a worldview that places heterosexual male perspective as the only valid viewpoint.

Misogynistic practices that dominate both space and discourse, such as street harassment and traditional academic disciplines, are only possible within a society that views men as being more acceptable than women. Women are essentially “renting” space in the park or on the sidewalk in the same sense as they are still renting space in intellectual life. The “landlords” are free to impose the rules and fines.

Male allies can play a role in changing this paradigm. By working to end violation of women’s spaces, we are affirming the validity of those spaces. Our primary goal should be a pluralistic society in which everyone’s space and view is included.

– Sean Crosbie

This post is part of the weekly blog series by male allies. We need men involved in the work to end the social acceptability of street harassment and to stop the practice, period. If you’d like to contribute to this weekly series, please contact me.

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One-Eyed Veil!?

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According to the BBC:

“A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.”

WHAT?!!!?

In my mind there are two main arguments about veils and related items used to “protect” women. 1. A full veil can lessen sexualized harassment and treatment based on looks. 2. Women shouldn’t be the ones who have to change their lives because men won’t restrain themselves – men are the problem, not the women.

In an ideal world, we’d go with #2 and men would treat women with respect and not harass them no matter what they wear, but since that isn’t always the case, the “quick fix” (and it’s arguable whether or not these behaviors really “fix” anything) is to go with #1 and cover women up, put them on women-only public transportation, or tell them not to go out alone and not to wear “provocative” clothing or makeup.

What really upsets me is when women are made to modify their behavior in such a way that their freedom, mobility, and/or dignity are infringed upon. I have not worn a veil but I suspect it would be even harder to navigate the public sphere while wearing one that only lets me see with one eye.

And I am overwhelmed by the stupidity and hatred for women this man is demonstrating. He sees women as the problem, what with their two provocative eyes looking at those poor victimized men who are able to walk the streets without being harassed and without clothing restraints. And where’s the logic in letting women still reveal one of their two seductive eyes? Why not put have them put buckets over their heads or make them stay home all of the time?

And it’s not like Americans are so enlightened compared to Saudi Arabia. It’s pretty common for girls/women to be told to do X, Y, and Z in order to protect themselves from men instead of boys/men being told not to harass and assault women…

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