Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

It’s not about the veil; it’s about respect

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I wear the veil, and in my country many girls wear veils too, we are the biggest Muslim country.

I thought wearing the veil will always help me keep my dignity, or it’s kinda guaranteed to make myself safe. At least it will keep the stereotype that i am a “good girl” and “don’t messed up with me.”

But it was changed when i was in my high school.

Firstly, it happened when i was about go home, and there are some guys called at me: “Girl”.. I was ignoring them until they repeated many times, and said that i am a bitch because i was ignoring them.

I was pissed off, and then came to them and said, “What’s matter boys? You all SHOULD not talk to me that way, didn’t this veil prove you that i aint a slut?”

That was just the beginning. When i was in my first year of college, everyday i took the train. Then came one day, a stalker followed me from station until i took my train. In the train, he was standing behind me. And i’ve got a sexual harassment, because the train was very crowded, maybe no one notice that, he grabbed my ass, though i am wearing veil that time..

It’s kinda crazy, man sometimes doing crazy things because they often think that we, woman is weak and a second-class..

It actually wasn’t about wearing a veil or not. Any woman in this world SHOULD be RESPECTED, whoever they are..

– Movi Riana

Location: Bogor, Indonesia

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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Men think that my body is public property

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I go to school in Seattle, Washington, US. I have always lived in Washington. For me, street harassment started when I was in high school.

I started riding public transportation when I was 17, because I was in a program at my high school where I could take college classes and receive credit for both high school and college. I couldn’t get a car so I had to ride the bus. Over my time in high school, I was followed off the bus by grown men and harassed by a bus driver and several passengers.

I am 21 now, I go to school in Seattle, and the harassment has only gotten worse. I have been followed down the street by a man screaming at me and calling me a bitch because I wouldn’t stop to talk to him. I’ve been groped, grabbed by the arm, cornered on the bus, catcalled, honked at and yelled at from cars, you name it. Men have tried to get up close and invade my personal space when I refuse to talk to them.

The time I was groped, I was waiting at my bus stop in the International District. A man came up to me and started introducing himself and trying to have a conversation with me. I can’t remember what I said to him, but I made my answers short and tried to brush him off. When I went to put my headphones on, he tried to reach down the front of my shirt. At first I was so shocked that I couldn’t think of what to do, but then I managed to yell “Don’t touch me!” Other people waiting at the stop looked my way, the guy got embarrassed and left.

I have gotten increasingly wary of strangers because of this and the fact that I am catcalled two or three times a week.

So what I have been doing now is holding my head high, walking with a strong, purposeful gait, and trying to appear intimidating (which is hard to do when you’re 5′ 2″). I thought maybe that would make me less of a target. I yell back and I give people the middle finger. So far it hasn’t changed anything.

Everyone spends all this time telling us we should watch what we wear, where we go, what time we go out, etc. I just want to live my life and not worry if the guy that groped me would have stopped if no one had been around to see. Or if something worse will happen.

I am so sick of taking their shit. I’m sick of these men that think they are entitled to treat me however they want. Men that think my body is public property. I just want to walk down the street in peace.

– Lisa

Location: Seattle, WA

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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Weekly Round Up Jan. 17, 2010

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Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world.
Share your story!

In the News:

Announcements:

  • Want an easy way to report harassers from your phone or want to receive a report showing all the places harassment has recently occurred? Then vote for HollaBack 2.0! This is a proposed project by HollaBack NYC and RightRides and they’re in the second round of a competition for funding to make this a reality.

Events:

Resource of the Week:

  • Liz Stanley’s & Sue Wise’s book Georgie Porgie: Sexual Harassment in Everyday Life. (London: Pandora Press, 1987). A lot of the book is applicable to street harassment and even though it’s over 20 years old, it’s still completely relevant (sadly).
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Draft anti-sexual harassment law presented to Egyptian parliament

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For months I’ve read how Egyptian activists and lawmakers have been working on a new law against sexual harassment (including on the streets and other public places) and this week it was finally introduced.

“A draft of the law presented to the parliament’s legislative committee on Monday recommended that punishment should be at least one year in prison and or a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh666). The legislation is based on a 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) that found 83 per cent of Egyptian women and 98 per cent of foreign women had been sexually harassed, usually on the street or on public transport. A large number of men – 62 per cent – even admitted to being or having been perpetrators of sexual harassment….

‘We need to redefine the meaning of sexual harassment, which is lacking in Egypt’s current criminal code, and include sexual harassment in the workplace – not only in public places – and transportation, and mobile and internet sexual harassment as well,’ said Mohammed Khalil Qoueita, the deputy of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, who is behind the new law.

There is no current law that mentions or defines sexual harassment, while a colonial-era law from 1937 speaks vaguely of violation of honour and morals.

‘One of the reasons sexual harassment is widespread is that there is no deterrent law against those who do it,’ Mr Qoueita said. ‘We need to create a culture of women having the courage to go to police when they are sexually harassed.’ In that way, women can regain respect and fight against a culture in which men look down on them.”

I hope it passes, though I wonder if the year in prison punishment is harsh enough that women will be too worried to report harassers? Thoughts? What would be a fair punishment?

I wonder what would happen in the US if there was a similar study to the one the ECWR’s conducted? Or even if each state conducted one? Studies about harassment on public transportation in Chicago and New York City have led to policy changes, so I think there’s a good chance that such studies could make a difference.

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Covered from head to toe, groping continues

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Women in Cairo. Image via the Boston Globe

I’m sick of hearing people blame women for street harassment by saying things like, “if only women covered up it wouldn’t happen.”

In many countries where women ARE completely covered, harassment occurs. 90 percent of women surveyed in 2009 in Yemen had been street harassed and most women wear a veil. Egyptian woman Hadeel al Shalchi wrote a great opinion piece for The National about the insane amount of street harassment in Egypt, and the following section discusses the issue of being covered and still being harassed:

“The onus in our society has largely lain on women to prevent sexual harassment. If a girl doesn’t cover her hair or wear very conservative clothing, then she’s obviously asking for it and wants the harassment, the prevailing attitude seemed to be.

As a result, more women began to cover up. The hijab and niqab became common in Egypt, not purely for religious reasons but also because women wanted to avoid the unpleasantness of being glared at by the opposite sex.

But when the harassment continued, Egyptian women knew there was something seriously wrong.

Covered from head to toe in black, they were still being groped, propositioned and annoyed. What more could they do? …

Three years ago, an amateur video of women in hijabs being attacked in downtown Cairo during a holiday event was made public. Shocked Egyptians were brought face to face with the ugly nature of harassment. Some mobile-phone images showed men tugging at young girls’ clothes. Others showed the girls being physically attacked.

This was real evidence of a very real problem. Those who had ignored what every woman knew could deny it no longer.

Women’s groups were emboldened to launch anti-harassment campaigns, teaching women that the problem was not their fault and encouraging them to persist in bringing complaints – even small ones – to the police. They were also urged to take self-defence classes and to use what they were taught on men who abused them in the street. …

In Egypt, sexual harassment will, most probably, continue to exist for a long time to come. Attitudes that allow such behaviour appear culturally ingrained. But increasingly women are waking up to this reality and beginning to reject it.

Women here are saying it loudly: enough to being groped on the subway, to being undressed with a look, to being followed to work. This must stop!“

Amen. Enough!! Street harassment MUST END and it will not end by requiring women to be completely hidden from view. Instead, men must stop harassing women and there must be cultural respect for women. What can you do? Here are a few ideas, feel free to share more in the comments.

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