Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Street Harassment Round Up – April 19

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Stories:

Holla Back DC posted many compelling posts this week, but one of my favorites was about male allies: “Can you imagine the affect this would have if enough men stepped in and said this every time they saw sexual harassment occurring? We would see a positive change.”

On this blog, a contributor wrote about her success in stopping chronic harassers near her workplace.

Activism/Recognition:

ineveraskToday Blank Noise held a street harassment event in Bombay (visit their site for an update on how it went), where women were invited to bring an article of clothing they’d been harassed in and wear clothing they’d always wanted to wear but hadn’t for fear of harassment. Details of the event were e-mailed to the participants with promise of public participation.

Street harassment-focused self defense class by Defend Yourself occurred in DC on April 18. Read my post about attending it.

Emily May of HollaBack NYC has been selected for the Women Media Center’s second class of Progressive Women’s Voices (PWV) for 2009. The program aims to make women visible and powerful in the media everyday and the selected women like Emily are the “go-place for journalists looking for women sources, experts, and commentators.” Emily was selected in great part because of her work on HollaBack and her expertise on street harassment. Congrats, Emily, way to get the issue out there in mainstream media.

Upcoming Events:

April 22, a RightRides volunteer orientation in New York

April 29, Holla Back DC! blog launch party in Washington, DC

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HollaBack Shout Outs

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Shout Outs to a few of my street harassment activist allies & an announcement about the upcoming launch of a new HollaBack DC blog:

  1. Brittany & Hilary of HollaBack Boston and HollaBackTalk. For nearly three years (May 06 – Jan 09) they raised awareness about street harassment and gave people in the Massachusetts area a place to share their harassment stories. They are on a break from their blogs now and I hope sometime soon their schedules will allow them to return to it. Shout Out to Brittany and Hilary for all their time and effort addressing street harassment!
  2. Emily, co-founder and current facilitator of HollaBack NYC. Without HollaBack NYC, there may not be as many people aware of or talking about street harassment. Its launch in 2005 set the stage for allowing people to have a space to share their stories online, feel empowered, and raise awareness about street harassment in NYC and beyond. It inspired dozens of other HollaBack websites. This week, Emily wrote a great article for On the Issues about HollaBack NYC – check it out. Shout Out to her for making sure HollaBack NYC continues and for all her work to make NYC safe for women.
  3. Chai & Shannon are officially launching a new HollaBack DC blog in April. If you’re in the Washington, DC area or have been harassed while visiting DC, send them your stories as they have started taking submissions in preparation for the launch. A DC resident myself (well, for work), I am thrilled to have them as nearby allies and look forward to seeing all they do in the DC area to combat street harassment. Shout Out to them both for embarking on this much-needed work – good luck ladies!
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