Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Flashers, masturbators, and gropers beware

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Guys who feel like masturbating, flashing, or groping people on the subway better think twice unless they want to get caught and charged with a crime. Thanks to cell phone cameras, it’s easier than ever for people to snap photos of perpetrators and report the crimes.

HollaBack NYC has long advocated for the use of cell phone pictures to shame harassers and report those who cross the line to criminal activity. In fact, the idea for the blog was born after a woman in NYC used her cell phone to snap a picture of a subway masturbator and report him.

[Update: If you’re in the Astoria area of NYC, look out for this alleged subway sexual assaulter and if you see him, contact the police. The woman snapped his picture and has reported him]

A few months ago in Washington, D.C., a photo of a metro station upskirter and groper posted on HollaBack DC! helped lead to his arrest.

Via CNN

And now in Boston, CNN reports that a MBTA rider’s cell phone picture posted on Twitter led to the arrest of a subway flasher.

“Rider Nay Khun was riding the train Wednesday afternoon when he spotted the suspect ‘fidgeting with his crotch area with his zipper open and his penis exposed,’ according to the MBTA.

Khun immediately posted to his Twitter account a photo of the man, saying ‘pervert on the 2nd car of the red line … help me report him.’

The man is a known offender, MBTA police told CNN affiliate WHDH.

He was arrested Friday for open and gross lewdness, according to a statement from MBTA police.”

Nice work Khun and a big thank you to the Boston transit authority and police for taking this issue seriously.

No matter where you live, if you can, take pictures of harassers and post them online. If they grope, stalk, threaten, or masturbate at you, report them! Let’s use technology to our advantage and put these creeps on notice. They should know there will be consequences for their actions.

(Thanks Violet Kittappa, Director of Research and Development for Hollaback NYC, for the CNN story tip)

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Weekly Round Up: August 8, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

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

In the News, On the Blogs:

Announcements:

10 Street Harassment Tweets from the Week:

  • adamfishpoet If you suffer #streetharassment, could you tweet giving location, and then tweeters who follow you could mass-report it?
  • hollabackdc reader at last nite’s event said, “when i read about street harassment, it’s not a big deal. but when it happens to you, it’s paralyzing.”
  • ABookishBeemer Nothing feels better than standing up to bullies. #streetharassment #feminism
  • ZoeBW I need to be able to feel safe walking down the street in broad daylight. #streetharassment #DC
  • MarianneDiNaps Bus driver watched me flip off guy harassing me, then lectured me on how “pretty girls need to learn to take a compliment” #streetharassment
  • CatCall Men: 99% of the time I make eye contact…I am just letting you know that I will be able to assist in making the police sketch.
  • IamHazelMay Creepy guys catcall me. Don’t care. Creepy guys catcall my daughter. Never knew I could snarl and go all ninja so fast. Yata!
  • CTrouper: @iHollaback Lovely new little online London #hollaback site http://bit.ly/9M1EgA #hollaBIKE
  • Snufkin Is it National Street Harassment week? Because I’ve had 2 creepy incidents in 3 days. It’s like being in Reno on North VA St.
  • hollabackdc Because street harassment is underacknowledged, many ppl think it’s okay. Help stop this with your vote: http://pep.si/c39T2R

Resource of the Week:

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Weekly Round Up: August 1, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

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

In the News, On the Blogs:

Announcements:

10 Street Harassment Tweets from the Week:

  • Mdotwrites Just had a street harassment moment on Rhode Is. + 3rd. I felt Like Oprah in Color Purple right before she goes to jail.
  • ethuiel Is barking the new catcall? Twice or thrice I would shrug, but this is confusing – I thought “woof” applied to dogs, not girls?
  • lpipes just angrily confronted a man who was following me down the street taking pics of me #HARASSMENT/STALKING
  • mmmbutters @blondemonde someone catcalled me from a PROFESSIONAL truck, so I called the number & told their boss.
  • tromano #1 reason I do not miss living in nyc? continuous sexual harassment on the street. continuous http://hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/
  • RENEGADE_C Working downtown equals street harassment. #LeaveMeTheFuckAlone
  • ShelbyKnox Reps from @ihollaback talking about street harassment. Male rep: ” I lived in a different city than female friends…it was a power dynamic”
  • Hkearl Connections between street harassment and sex work http://tinyurl.com/26f7b36
  • KiangaEllis @iHollaback I’m different since reading about you. I believe together we can change the culture. Women will go froth harassment free
  • Chris__Richards Washington ladies: Does DC have the worst street harassment in America? Seems insanely over the top here.

Resource of the Week:

  • The website “A Woman in Cairo” (focuses on public sexual harassment in Cairo)
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Weekly Round Up: July 25, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

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

In the News, On the Blogs:

10 Street Harassment Tweets from the Week:

  • SpringDoes I’m always astounded by how much less street harassment I experience when walking with a man.
  • femmeniste “Wow, girl. You are so sexy!”-guy on bike. Can a lady get to work in peace? #StreetHarassment #NYC #RideBy
  • GIRLEMPOWER: @iHollaback When I was 8 my grandma blamed ME for a teenage boys sexual harassment!
  • NoWealthButLife “Hey, sexy” from strange man on street= opposite of sexy. Why is this hard for good guys to understand? http://bit.ly/ccFqjl
  • lashcampaign A film crew making a documentary about activism will be following @vicky_simister around next week
  • krisellelaran Boys: If a girl doesn’t respond to your catcall, calling her “fat” won’t make her swoon. It will make her punch you in the mouth
  • CatCall A CHILD riding his bike on the sidewalk says, “Hello beautiful” as he nearly crashes into me. “Learning catcalls young, eh?” A CHILD!
  • StopStHarassmnt #streetharassment starts early. out of 811 women, 87% said they’d faced it by age 19, 66% by age 15, & 22% by age 12. #outrageous
  • BLANK_NOISE what in the past stopped you from reacting to street sexual harassment? #eveteasing
  • iHollaback Street harassment teaches us to be silent. We just refuse to listen.

Resource of the Week:

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Weekly Round Up: July 18, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

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

In the News:

Interviews:

10 Street Harassment Tweets from the Week:

  • jennpozner Bklyn dudes, when’ll you realize your “How YOU doin?” street harassment is as tired as a Friends rerun?
  • barcc Street harassment=attempt to control the physical public space, but always feels so personal.
  • TashCas Another day, another slur of street harassment thrown my way. Ugh. Odds of a gun/knife getting pulled on me if I talk back…?
  • sboehmer No, it’s not that I’m shy. It’s more that your commentary on my “sweet ass” isn’t deserving of my attention. #streetharassment
  • ShoDav Why can’t men just keep their mouths shut? Catcalling is rude and unnecessary. Ugh.
  • hollabackdc thanks 2 @rendsmith for contacting OAG after reading this http://bit.ly/bIoV7r. <3 community response to street harassment.
  • RightRides no license? no problem! u don’t need 2 drive 2 volunteer on a @rightrides driving team. email volunteer@rightrides.org 4 info
  • ForbesWoman Stop Commuter Harassment. It’s a problem 80 to 100% of women face and employers should take note @forbeswoman http://cptl.st/9xcmPS
  • UpliftMagazine Welsh PSA’s, Hey Baby & Schrödinger’s Rapist – Street Harassment, It All Adds up! http://tinyurl.com/3xktlcd
  • jessielovesyu Street harassment needs to stop. #fuckpatriarchy

Resource of the Week

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