Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“The worst thing for me was that I was 14 when this happened”

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I was walking back from my library volunteering job.

It was in summer so I had a loose top on (yes I know there is no need to include that).

As I turned the corner onto the high street, I saw a dodgy looking car with a load of shirtless guys inside. I knew they were going to be trouble so I stayed on the other side of the pavement and looked down. That didn’t stop one of the guys whistling and another guy going “wooooooooo”.

I walked quickly with no expression on my face.

Unfortunately I was being picked up off that road so I couldn’t leave as quickly as I would have liked.

The worst thing for me was that I was 14 when this happened. I do look mature for my age, but it’s still not alright. I was left feeling really insecure as it was the first time it had happened.

It also made me feel it was my fault for walking down *that* street at *that* time wearing *that* one piece. I then felt guilty about not saying anything as they went on to do that to other girls, which weighed me down.

So overall, while it may not have been the worst street harassment, I was still very young and already struggling with my mental health.

It should not happen in our modern society and this toxic behavior being forced on young teenagers who simply can’t cope. Thank you for reading my story.

Let’s make this a punishable crime as the lasting health impacts are inexcusable.

— Anonymous

Location:

Local street, England

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

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UK Campaign, Philippines Law

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Two big stories this week –> a new anti-harassment campaign in the UK and a new law introduced in the Philippines

Via The Gazette

“A poll by England Athletics revealed that a large proportion of women feel anxious when running alone, with nearly half of those surveyed stating that this is due to personal safety concerns…

Of those who had experienced harassment, shouting and car horns beeped by passing motorists were the most common.

But RunTogether, a national programme from England Athletics to get more people jogging regularly, aims to erase this via its This Girl Can Run campaign…

The RunTogether website provides instant access to a rapidly growing network of multiple local running groups in Lancashire.”

Via the Manila Bulletin:

“Sen. Risa Hontiveros [in the Philippines] filed on Tuesday a bill that seeks to protect women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from harassment, especially on the streets and other public spaces.

Hontiveros said she filed the measure, Senate Bill 1326, in response to the growing number of gender-based harassment in public spaces such as the case of a female student from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) who was allegedly groped in a public utility vehicle by a fellow student.

The bill, also known as the “Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2017,” seeks to penalize gender-based street and public spaces harassment such as catcalling, wolf-whistling, cursing, leering, groping, persistent request for name and contact details and the use of words tending to ridicule on the basis of actual or perceived sex, gender expression, or sexual orientation and identity including sexist, homophobic and transphobic slurs.”

Quezon City already has a similar bill at the city-level, passed last year.

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#WEcount: Reclaiming our Streets for Women

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The Women’s Equality Party is a political party that was founded last year in the UK. One of their agendas is addressing violence against women, including street harassment. Last week I had the honor to Skype with one of their co-founders and their Head of Policy & Partnerships, Halla Gunnarsdóttir. We brainstormed possible policy solutions they could suggest or campaigns they could run.

Fortunately, the new mayor of London Sadiq Khan identified the issue in his campaign, specifically on public transit, saying: “Women face specific challenges on our transport network that are not currently being addressed.” He promised, “As mayor I will take these problems seriously.”

And the Women’s Equality Party has already taken measures to begin to address the issue. The have campaign called #WEcount: Reclaiming Our Streets for Women. Here’s info from their website, including how you can participate:

“WE are now extending #WEcount across the UK so that women right across the country can make their voices heard and say: this must stop,” said Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party.

“WE are asking our supporters to post photos of their hands on social media with the hashtag #WEcount, showing a postcode or place where they have experienced sexual harassment, assault or verbal abuse. Alternatively, they can email their photos to WEcount@womensequality.emailnb.com to be posted anonymously.”

The campaign also includes a film featuring Pavan Amara, who built the “My Body Back” project after being attacked and has helped hundreds of women who have been assaulted to reclaim their lives.

Women can mark their experiences on an interactive map of the UK (wemap.org) by dropping a Google-maps-style pin. In London, this map will be on display for the week on a dedicated billboard at Westfield shopping centre, Shepherd’s Bush.

And in a digital first, the campaign will be brought to life for Londoners with the use of a new visual browsing app, BlippAR.

WE have painted 10 physical markers – which show the Google maps pin transformed into an exclamation mark – at locations around the capital, from the Houses of Parliament to Parliament Hill. People who ‘Blipp’ the mark will receive a host of content and information about the campaign, as well as details of what support is available.

Walker added: “An estimated 400,000 sexual offences against women occur in the UK each year. Despite their frequency, the majority of these incidents are unreported, and women are left feeling unsafe and unable to walk without fear on their own streets. WE want to reclaim our streets.”

“WE are the only party who are making the sexual abuse and harassment of women a political priority. WE will show that women right across the UK are affected by this every day – and that every one of us counts.”

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Hollaback! York – The Challenges and Rewards of Starting a New Group

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Guest Blog Post for International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2015

We are launching a new branch of Hollaback in York, UK and getting set up and running has been a pretty positive experience for us so far. York is a fairly small city and isn’t really known for its activism, so we had been worried at the start that there wouldn’t be many people wanting to get involved. But the response has been really great – it just goes to show that street harassment really is something that affects almost everyone and once you start the conversation, people are always keen to join in. The two universities in York have recently launched anti-sexual harassment campaigns and zero tolerance policies, and seeing people in our community take sexual harassment seriously makes us really hopeful that things can change in York to become a much safer space for everyone.

Having said that, we have had a couple of challenges, including being denied permission from the council to do a chalk walk during International Anti-Street Harassment Week. We were really looking forward to that; chalk walks from other anti-street harassment groups are always really popular, as they are a great quick and fun way to spread awareness that prompt the public to ask questions and get involved. So we are having to get a little creative and find some alternatives instead!

Our favourite part so far has been the incredible network of support from other anti-street harassment sites and blogs all over the world, all sharing and learning from each other and working together to build our knowledge and understanding of such a complex issue. However, what we are really looking forward to is making a difference to people in York when our site is officially up and running. Street harassment can be a dangerous and humiliating experience and we are keen to get stuck in with anything we can do for our community to show some support, provide some comfort, or empower someone to speak out.

We have found out that there are plenty of ups and downs in this work, but we are definitely looking forward to more of it!

This piece was written by the Co-Director of Hollaback York

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New film: “Do they think we like it?”

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I’m excited to share another new film about street harassment (in the past few days I’ve shared ones from Cape Town, South Africa; Delhi, India; and Philadelphia, USA). This one is from England.

Here’s the description on YouTube:

“A short film about street harassment that was researched, designed, scripted, filmed, directed and edited by volunteers from Initi8 at Nottingham Trent University with guidance and support from Gill Court at Platform 51 Nottingham. The film was inspired by Nottingham’s International Women’s Day events with the aim of raising awareness of street harassment of women and how it makes them feel.”

I’m feeling overcome by emotion witnessing the outpouring of women and men speaking out this week from all over the world. Keep it up!! Keep sharing your voices, stories, and raising awareness that street harassment happens and that it’s not okay.

 

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