Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Watch OVARIAN PSYCOS Tonight

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Watch OVARIAN PSYCOS on PBS’ Independent Lens TONIGHT at 10 p.m.! 

“Riding at night through Eastside Los Angeles, the Ovarian Psycos use their bicycles to confront the violence in their lives [including street harassment]. At the helm of the crew is founder Xela de la X, a single mother and poet M.C. dedicated to recruiting an unapologetic, misfit crew of women of color, yet she struggles to strike a balance between motherhood and activism. Evie, a bright eyed recruit, joins the crew and despite poverty and the concerns of her protective Salvadoran mother, discovers a newfound confidence.  Meanwhile, Andi Xoch, a founding member and street artist who knows the deeply activist legacy from which the Ovas emerge, journeys to become a new leader within the crew.”

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Screening of New Egyptian Street Harassment Film in Chicago

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[Editor’s Note: This is being shared with the permission of the filmmakers]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO, IL – Sep 28, 2016 –  A new documentary on sexual harassment in Egypt directed by Chicago filmmaker to screen at Jane Addams Museum

14087415_10101436748880917_1753161913_oSexual harassment is a pervasive issue internationally, yet it has only recently gained more attention in the media. By intimidating and objectifying women in public spaces, harassment discourages women from working, socializing, and living a normal life. Egypt has recently been identified as the worst country for women in the Arab world, largely due to the staggering UN statistic that 99% of Egyptian women have been sexually harassed. But the epidemic not only exists abroad; according to Stop Street Harassment, 65% of women in the US have experienced street harassment, with an even higher prevalence in urban areas. This makes this topic extremely relevant for the Chicago community at large.

An award-winning documentary on sexual harassment in Egypt, “The People’s Girls,” is a crowdfunded film that is the recipient of awards from the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, International Open Film Festival, and the Ambassador Award at the Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival. It has also been featured in various media outlets, such as Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, France 24,  El Mundo.

In the documentary, directors Colette Ghunim and Tinne Van Loon interview both harassers and survivors in Egypt to explore the root of this problem. They talk with women who have fought back and also conduct hidden camera social experiments. Before filming the documentary, Ghunim and Van Loon created a short clip titled “Creepers on the Bridge”, which captured the feeling of being stared at and catcalled in the streets of Cairo. It went viral, quickly gaining over 2 million views worldwide. They then created a Kickstarter campaign to fund their documentary on sexual harassment in Egypt. Over the following months, they were interviewed by many international news sources. They received contributions from over 500 backers worldwide on Kickstarter and gain a fanbase of over 11,000 people on Facebook to create “The People’s Girls”.

In honor of International Day of the Girl, the Illinois Humanities Council and MALA will host a screening of the documentary on Tuesday, October 11 at 6 p.m. at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Co-director Colette Ghunim will also be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.

Order tickets through their Eventbrite page, which has a suggested donation amount of $10.  These funds will go towards a campaign to conduct free screenings in six different locations across Egypt in February 2016.

The People’s Girls – Synopsis

thepeoplesgirls01Sexual harassment has been a growing problem in Egypt over the last few years, especially in Cairo. UN Women reported that over 99% of Egyptian women have suffered from sexual harassment in their lifetime. Due to the extensive media coverage on the issue, the Egyptian government introduced anti-sexual harassment legislation, making it possible for harassers to face years in prison.

In September of 2014, filmmakers Colette Ghunim and Tinne Van Loon created a viral video, Creepers on the Bridge, showing the haunting stares of sexual harassers in Cairo’s streets. They now bring you The People’s Girls, a documentary film which through a series of interviews and social experiments takes a closer look at Egypt to see who is to blame for harassment and how women are fighting back. Because patriarchal societies often overlook women’s rights violations, this documentary serves as a catalyst for public debate not only in Egypt but internationally, as prominent cases of sexual harassment frequently occur on a global scale.

Website: www.thepeoplesgirls.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/benaatelnas

Twitter: @thepeoplesgirls

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Film: “Ovarian Psycos”

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UPDATE: Support the film’s Kickstarter campaign!

This new filmOvarian Psycos film is premiering at SXSW!

“The Ovarian Psycos gear up and ride out into the night, fanning out in pairs of two, four, and six. In constant motion, cruising up and down the storied streets of Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, and Lincoln Heights, they call out to new riders to join them in a journey through the neighborhood. “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Since forming in the summer of 2011 by activist, poet M.C., and single mother, Xela de la X, the Ova’s have made it their mission to cycle for the purpose of healing, reclaiming their neighborhoods, and creating safer streets for women on the Eastside. At first only attracting a few local women, over the past few years the Ovarian Psycos have inspired a ferocious and unapologetic crowd of local heroines who are a visible force along the barrios and boulevards of Los Angeles.

Ovarian Psycos rides along with the Ova’s, exploring the impact of the group’s brand of feminism on neighborhood women and communities as they confront the violence in their lives.”

Wonderful!

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Documentary: Black Girls R Us

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Kayla Parker is a sophomore acting major attending Howard University in Washington, D.C. She created a “documentary style video detailing five black girls’ experiences with street harassment.”

She shared with me what motivated her to undertake this project:

Being from the South I had heard stories about street harassment, but I was never able to connect with the women telling these stories. It was only after I graduated high school and moved to Washington, D.C. for college that I began to understand just how severe this issue is.

I was shocked each time I witnessed women being harassed for simply walking down the street. The first time I experienced street harassment for myself, I encountered many emotions: fear, anger, guilt, sadness. This cycle of emotions became more and more familiar to me as I traveled the city to see theatre shows, meet up with friends, or even to get groceries.

I started losing count of the many times I thought my life could be in danger as I went through my routine of city living. I could not allow myself to sit idly as many women are injured, sometimes even killed as a result of street harassment.

To the women who have been forced to deal with this know that you are strong and it is never, ever your fault.

So true!! Thank you, Kayla, for channeling your feelings into this important project! #BlackGirlsRUs

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Afghanistan Street Harassment Documentary

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“Do Not Trust My Silence” is a powerful new short film about street harassment in Afghanistan (English subtitles), directed by Afghan filmmaker Sahar Fetrat. She won the first prize in Italy’s “Universocorto Elba Film Festival” for her “extreme courage of reporting the Afghan women’s condition in the streets of Kabul and for the technique of shooting with a hidden camera.”

She writes:

“‘Do Not Trust My Silence’ was my fourth film which was produced in April 2013 and it is one of my favorites. When I first joined the Afghan voice’s media training, I had the vision of making a documentary about street harassment. This documentary for me is more than just a 10-minute film, there is a lot in it. There is a big pain in it that all women, especially Afghan women, can feel. This documentary shows only a little of what we see, feel and experience every day.

When I made this film, I knew that both women and men should be my audience. For men to see and feel a part what we experience every day, and for women to say no to street harassment. I wanted to show that, as a young woman, I do not accept harassment as my destiny and other women should do the same.

While producing this film, I put myself as the main character and I filmed most of the parts with a small flip camera. It was not easy to film men while harassing me or other women, some of them were throwing small rocks towards us. But I did not stop my work because my aim was to show harassment and how destructive it is. I totally believe that we women are strong enough to not give up and fight against it and we have the power to stop it.”

H/T to SSH’s SPS Mentoring Program Mentee Masooma Maqsoodi

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