Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Survey: “Impact of Homophobia for Nigerians”

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Our friends at the Bisi Alimi Foundation are conducting a survey on the Impact of Homophobia for Nigerians. They say:
 
“The survey is to help us understand the impact of discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Nigeria. It will also help us provide data to the issue and drive a global advocacy for proactive action.
 
This survey is for Nigerian LGBT people only and it for Nigerians, both in Nigeria and outside of Nigeria. If you have been out of Nigeria for more than 10 years and if you are not LGBT, I am sorry, this survey is not for you.
 
The survey is extremely confidential and will not be traced to anyone. We are hoping to sample between 500-1000 people
 
It takes about 10-20mins to fill out.”
 
If you have any questions, please email: survey@bisialimifoundation.org.
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QRASH Course: Queers Resisting All Street Harassment

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QRASH Course. Image provided by Alli Lindner

This is a guest blog post by Alli Lindner.

On June 2nd, Queerocracy, a New York City-based grassroots organization, presented QRASH Course: Queers Resisting All Street Harassment.  QRASH Course was an afternoon-long training event for people who witness and experience street harassment in the NYC area.  During the event, attendees and trainers worked together to come up with strategies for handling all forms of street harassment.

We kicked off the day by looking at some of the different kinds of street harassment we experience, like sexual harassment, police harassment, racist harassment, transphobic harassment, and queer harassment.  One of our goals with this training was to explore more than just sexual harassment so we made sure to be inclusive of issues like racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ageism, and many more.

We then worked through strategies we could use when we experience and witness harassment.  Trainers presented strategies attendees could consider using in street harassment situations and acted out some strategies in a skit.  Attendees were put to the test, though, when they were put into small groups and given scenarios that they had to respond to.  Their creative responses drew from the tips they had been given by trainers and from their own experiences, making this one of the best activities of the day!

We ended the day by taking the time to share personal stories about street harassment in our “Speak Out.”  After establishing the group as a safe space, we sat in a circle and took turns sharing our experiences with each other.  The Speak Out was one of the most successful parts of the training—almost everyone shared a story!  These stories reminded me why I am committed to anti-street harassment work and why this type of inclusive training is necessary.  Many people had experienced street harassment of all kinds, not just sexual harassment, and were able to share the strategies they have used to react to that harassment.

Alli Lindner facilitating a discussion about strategies

QRASH Course was a great learning experience for everyone involved and we are in the process of planning future courses!  If you are part of a school or organization in the NYC area that could benefit from our training, reach out to Alli at lindner.ap@gmail.com.

Alli Lindner is a senior at Hunter College in the Women and Gender Studies department in New York City.  She is a proud alumna of the Young People For fellowship program and she currently interns at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies.

 

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ProChange distributed 2000 cards in Dortmond, Germany

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Editor’s Note: This guest blog post is reprinted from the ProChange Facebook page about the action they took for International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2012:

[I used Google translate….see the original German text below)
The 18 March to 24 March 2012 was the International Week Against Street Harassment. Worldwide there were events and actions. ProChange joined in and participated in it.

We distributed 2000 “Red Card” against sexism, “Pink Card” against homophobia, and “Purple Card” Courage for the day. At night we shared our special coasters in pubs, bar, from clubs in Dortmund, Germany. Summary, detailed report and pictures will be published soon.

Our commitment does not end with the end of the campaign week. Sexist boundary violations and sexual violence are so long on our agenda until they no longer belong to our social system, and no one is more discriminated against and degraded or have experienced even violence.

ProChange stands for change. Without you, without you, without you, there will be no change and no change!

A movement moves only by those who follow her. No one follows, there is no change. No matter how old, no matter what profession, no matter what school, no matter what gender. We want change for all.

_____________________________________________________

Vom 18. März bis 24. März 2012 war die internationale Woche gegen Street Harassment. Weltweit fanden vielfälige Veranstaltungen und Aktionen statt. ProChange schloß sich an und beteiligte sich daran. Wir verteilten 2000 “Rote Karten” gegen Sexismus, “Pinke Karte” gegen Homophobie und “Lila Karte” für Courage tagsüber. Abends legten wir in Dortmund unsere Spezialbierdeckel in Kneipen, Bar, Clubs aus. Fazit, ausführlicher Bericht und Bilder werden in Kürze noch veröffentlicht.

Unser Engagement endet natürlich nicht mit dem Ende der Aktionswoche. Sexistische Grenzverletzungen und sexualisierte Gewalt stehen so lange auf unserer Agenda, bis sie nicht mehr zu unserem Gesellschaftssystem gehören, bis niemand mehr diskrimiert und herabgewürdigt wird oder sogar Gewalt erfahren muß.

ProChange steht für den Wandel.

Ohne Dich, ohne Sie, ohne Euch, wird es keinen Wandel und keine Veränderung geben!

Eine Bewegung bewegt sich erst durch die, die ihr folgen. Folgt niemand, gibt es keinen Wandel. Egal, wie alt, egal, welcher Beruf, egal, welche Schule, egal, welches Geschlecht. Wir wollen den Wandel für alle.

Wie?

Fan auf unseren Seiten werden, posten, Inhalte teilen und kommentieren. Freunde und Bekannte dazu einladen.

Darüber sprechen im Freundeskreis, in der Schule, in der Firma usw.

Karten und Bierdeckel verteilen

Geschichten veröffentlichen: Fast jede Frau, jedes Mädchen hat wohl schon Belästigungen, Übergriffe erlebt. Manchmal ist man wütend, manchmal hilflos. Wir wollen das Schweigen brechen. Deshalb machen wir unsere Geschichten öffentlich und schreiben sie auf. Wir schreiben, was uns passiert ist und schweigen nicht mehr.

Mitarbeit direkt: Fleißige Hände, die ab und an oder auch regelmäßig unsere Arbeit unterstützen. Einfach anfragen.

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“She’s got the short hair, she’s probably a fucking dyke.”

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No matter what day of the week, it is likely you will run into a number of drunken peers in my college town, and harassment isn’t uncommon. My friend and I are a couple of insomniacs, so the town at night no longer scares me like it might have a few years ago when I left home for the first time. I have heard the advice given to us womenfolk…you know, about staying off the streets at night, walking with buddies, blah blah blah and I’ve even been scolded by a complete stranger who witnessed one of my late night strolls. I didn’t take harassment that seriously because it only came to me in the form of whistles and compliments, both subtle and belligerent, but I absorbed them as misguided kindness or something of the like.

THEN…I cut my hair. I found feminism, saw the links between patriarchy and standards of female beauty and worth, and had my talented roomie cut it off one night after my boyfriend told me to “settle down.” Initial responses were amazing. Everyone loved it! Except my boyfriend and father, of course….but that didn’t matter. I felt liberated.

So it was around 1 a.m. on Franklin Street in this popular college town and I was walking into the neighboring town, Carrboro, to stay the night with a friend. I was walking down the street in a cardigan and pajama pants when a group of young, white, “fratty” types crossed the street and began walking towards me. As soon as they saw me they began to loudly and clumsily interrogate me. “Why ya wearing green pants, green pants girl? Look, she’s got a purple sweater, HEY PURPLE SWEATER GIRL.” They got closer and more in my face, and never one to avoid confrontation, I turned and said, “Maybe not heckle strangers, hey?”

They didn’t like that very much, and started up again with, “Welcome to a fucking college town, YEAH there’s gonna be drunk people, GOD, you fucking weirdo.” And then another “She’s got the short hair, she’s probably a fucking dyke.”

As I moved further away, the shouts became inaudible, and I walked on, angry that there was nothing else I could do. Angry that I didn’t have the guts to turn and really embarrass them. Angry that they felt they could say things like that to my face, in public, and without consequence.

I knew that the stories my short haired female friends had always told me were not the rare experiences, the anomalies I had originally written them off as. I doubt it would have ever happened that way if I had my long hair still. This isn’t the worst thing that has ever happened to someone on the streets, for sure…but I guess my point is that it should have never happened. Those guys shouldn’t feel entitled to yell at women on the streets, drunk or no. Harassment is harassment.

– Carissa Morrison

Location: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC

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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