Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Force the MTA to Release Harassment Crime Stats

By

A few weeks ago, NY’s Metro ran an op-ed by Holla Back NYC co-founder Emily May about how the NYPD and MTA are failing to release crime stats on harassment and assault in the subway.

On Holla Back NYC, Emily reports that since her op-ed, she and New Yorkers for Safe Transit have successfully joined forces with Assemblymember Jim Brennan and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to address the issue. Brennan will submit a bill to the State Assembly in the fall to force the MTA to release crime statistics. She writes,

“Stringer’s office is currently FOILing the MTA to see if they can get the data. Together, we will put an end to harassment on the subway!”

Congrats & keep it up, Emily, New Yorkers for Safe Transit and your legislative collaborators! I can’t wait to see what happpens this fall.

Related, last week, AMNY ran a follow up article to Emily’s op-ed, including the following about the low report rate of harassment crimes on NY’s public tranasportation system:

“Few victims report the crimes, according to the Stringer survey. Often, they don’t know whom to turn to, or can’t find an officer or MTA attendant. That problem could grow worse, as the MTA is eliminating its station agents through attrition starting in September….

Last year, the MTA launched an ad campaign encouraging victims to report unwanted touching to police or a MTA employee. Transit officials said they also covers about a third of its subway stations with cameras.

Some victims have started fighting back by catching offenders in the act with their camera phones, and last September the city began accepting digital photos of perpetrators through its 911 line.”

Have you taken a picture of a perpetrator and submitted it to the police? If so, what was your experience? Did they do anything?

Share

Is he masturbating against you?

By

Sadie at Jezebel wrote a post yesterday about the  many times she’s been unsure whether or not a man standing by her on a crowded subway is masturbating against her.

She said, “After the fact, somehow, you’re always pretty sure. But at the time, there’s just enough doubt to make one’s course of action debatable. It’s not like being flashed, or getting stuck alone in a car with some guy jerking off which, while horrible, is pretty straightforward…”

My mother had this happen to her in New York City about two years ago. She also wasn’t sure if the man rubbing against her on the crowded subway was purposely doing so or if it was the result of a crowded car, until the car became less crowded and he was still doing it. And even then, she gave him the benefit of the doubt to the extent that she didn’t say anything to him.

It’s a tricky situation: no one wants to falsely accuse someone, but no one wants to just let that happen to them (or anyone else) either.

I’m reminded of various commenters on the recent Boston Globe article about the subway anti-groping campaign in Boston who were SO concerned that women were falsely accusing men left and right of being gropers when they probably were just getting bumped on a crowded train. From anecdotal evidence, I think most women will give questionable gropers and masturbators the benefit of the doubt so I think the fear of those men is largely unfounded. (And funny how that was their concern, instead of being concerned that enough women are getting groped on the subway that Boston had to create an anti-groping campaign…) The fear of being wrong probably keeps many women from doing anything about the questionable gropers and masturbators unless it becomes quite clear what is going on (like if he’s still doing it after the train clears).

Given this dilemma, what have you done if you’ve had a possible groper or masturbator make physical contact with you?

Sadie said she has been known to dig her high heel into a questionable harasser’s foot – and often he steps away from her. My mom reporter the man rubbing against her to the New York City Transit.

Share

NYC Subway Rape Victim Speaks Out

By

NYC Subway Rape Case: Maria BesedinThe young woman whose lawsuit was recently dismissed against the MTA and the employees who did very little to help her duing a brutal sexual assault on a NYC subway platform has spoken out.

“Speaking for the first time since the ruling, Maria Besedin said Thursday she never expected the toll booth clerk and train conductor who witnessed the 2005 attack to be heroes and put their own lives in danger. But, she said, they didn’t even call 911, or yell, ‘Stop!’

Besedin hoped to have her day in court so a jury could decide if the MTA staffers were negligent for only alerting central command. She believed her case would make the system safer for all users.

‘I’m honestly still in shock,’ she said of Queens Supreme Court Justice Kevin Kerrigan’s decision Tuesday to quash the suit.

‘It’s so hard for me to process this whole thing because I just really wanted everyone out there to be safe, to never have to experience anything like I did.’

The petite 25-year-old was still visibly shaken by her ordeal, which happened at the 21st St. station in Hunters Point on June 7, 2005, two days before her 22nd birthday.

She said suffers flashbacks, posttraumatic stress disorder, and continues to undergo therapy and take anti-anxiety medication. She has dropped out of college and lives with her parents in Rhode Island. …

‘I think it was beyond negligence, it was obvious that an extremely violent crime was going on.’

‘By the time somebody came, I mean, I had lost all my dignity, and it was over,’ she added.

Besedin’s lawyer, Chris Seeger of the firm Seeger Weiss, says he plans to appeal within days.

‘Yes, I do want justice,’ said Besedin, who still rides the subway.

As for the court system that rejected her case, she said, ‘It means that they don’t really understand exactly what negligence is and what the impact . . . this kind of atrocious thing can have,’ she said.”

Agreed. Let’s hope the appeal works. Her case could lead to important changes within the MTA.

Share

Judge Throws Out Subway Rape Case

By

Remember the young woman in NYC who was raped by a man on a subway platform and sued the MTA and the two employees who essentially sat by (after calling the command center) while she was raped? Well, I just read that the judge has thrown out the suit.

scalejustice“In a nine-page ruling, Queens Supreme Court Justice Kevin Kerrigan concluded a token clerk and a subway conductor had no responsibility to intervene and were following work rules by not confronting the rapist.”

Meanwhile the attacker has never been caught. Surveillance video failed to capture the attack.

The woman who was raped is understandably devastated and she has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the judge’s decision.

It is difficult to say if any of us would have acted any differently had we been the MTA workers, especially if they were following company protocol. But at the same time, I have a hard time not feeling appalled and outraged that they knew this was occurring but they only did the bare minimum to stop it.  I really wish the outcome could have been different.

It’s Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month right now, and while people are much more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone they know, these types of random attacks happen too. At the very least, MTA may want to rethink their procedure and/or protocol for when assaults do occur so that they can respond better to literal cries for help… And maybe if she appeals and gets to have a lawsuit, they will HAVE to rethink it.

Share

NYC will roll out anti-sexual harassment subway campaign

By

A few weeks ago, there was talk that the New York City MTA was deciding not to launch their planned anti-sexual harassment subway ad campaign for fear it would encourage more groping. Among the anti-street harassment community, there was an outcry and demand that the campaign continue.

Good news, it’s set to launch next month.

The first 2,000 posters will be distributed throughout the system and should remain up for at least three months to “assess its impact,” said NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges.

The campaign was sparked by a report last year by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer that found 10 percent of women surveyed claimed to have been sexually abused and 63 percent reported having been sexually harassed.

I have to say that I’m thrilled this issue is being taken seriously and I hope that it will deter subway harassers and encourage those being harassed to report it. I take pride too in the fact that I wrote to MTA asking that they run the campaign so maybe our voices got heard 🙂

Share