Stop Street Harassment

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How does it just "pop out"?

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Remember the story I reported on yesterday, where a woman snapped a cell phone picture of a man masturbating on the subway and reported it to the police where an officer (a woman, even) said to call 311 about it?  Well, yesterday afternoon two cops recognized the alleged subway masturbator from his picture and arrested him (without incident). Via NBC news:

“[Kevin] Bishop reportedly gave cops a wacky explination for why he was exposing himself.

“It just popped out!” Bishop told police after his arrest, according to the New York Post .

“Yes, that’s me in the pictures,” he confessed. “My private parts fell out. I looked down and it was out. It just popped out! I was trying to put it back.”

Bishop said that he “deeply apologize[d] for what happened….

Bishop was charged with public lewdness, cops said. He’s got quite a long rap sheet, including 64 arrests and 24 convictions on charges ranging from loitering to prostitution and drug possession.”

Riiiight. It just ‘popped out.’ The woman’s story differs. She says he was masturbating and looking right at her while doing so. She had sunglasses on and he didn’t observe her taking his photo with her cell phone.

Oh and how many times is a person able to get arrested because Bishop seems well on his way toward achieving that number. 64 prior arrests?! No wonder he went without incident when he got arrested. It’s a regular routine for him!

Also, the police officer who told the woman just to call 311 is now saying she meant to tell her to call 911… Right..wasn’t she at a police station already? Why would she need to call 911?

I’m glad they caught the masturbator and I hope it helps deter other guys from being completely inappropriate on public transportation. If you see someone being inappropriate, snap their picture and report it too!

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How does it just “pop out”?

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Remember the story I reported on yesterday, where a woman snapped a cell phone picture of a man masturbating on the subway and reported it to the police where an officer (a woman, even) said to call 311 about it?  Well, yesterday afternoon two cops recognized the alleged subway masturbator from his picture and arrested him (without incident). Via NBC news:

“[Kevin] Bishop reportedly gave cops a wacky explination for why he was exposing himself.

“It just popped out!” Bishop told police after his arrest, according to the New York Post .

“Yes, that’s me in the pictures,” he confessed. “My private parts fell out. I looked down and it was out. It just popped out! I was trying to put it back.”

Bishop said that he “deeply apologize[d] for what happened….

Bishop was charged with public lewdness, cops said. He’s got quite a long rap sheet, including 64 arrests and 24 convictions on charges ranging from loitering to prostitution and drug possession.”

Riiiight. It just ‘popped out.’ The woman’s story differs. She says he was masturbating and looking right at her while doing so. She had sunglasses on and he didn’t observe her taking his photo with her cell phone.

Oh and how many times is a person able to get arrested because Bishop seems well on his way toward achieving that number. 64 prior arrests?! No wonder he went without incident when he got arrested. It’s a regular routine for him!

Also, the police officer who told the woman just to call 311 is now saying she meant to tell her to call 911… Right..wasn’t she at a police station already? Why would she need to call 911?

I’m glad they caught the masturbator and I hope it helps deter other guys from being completely inappropriate on public transportation. If you see someone being inappropriate, snap their picture and report it too!

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NYPD Officer Fail Re: Subway Masturbator

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Thanks to the efforts of organizations like Holla Back NYC and RightRides,  several subway cars in New York City have anti-harassment ads that include text encouraging people to report harassers.

Image from NBC NY
Image from NBC NY

NBC New York is reporting that a woman who took a photo of a man who started masturbating in front of her on a northbound number 3 train (it was around 4 in the afternoon, no less) and reported it to a local precinct was told by the police officer that it wasn’t a police matter and to call 311. All one has to do is peruse a few stories on Holla Back NYC‘s website to realize that men masturbating on subways and at subway stations is a huge problem so this officer’s response to this woman’s efforts to report one of them one is disconcerting.

“The NYPD said internal affairs is looking into the matter.

‘Public lewdness’ is a misdemeanor that results in hundreds of arrests each year — a fact the cop apparently didn’t know.

‘It was a police matter and IAB is investigating why anyone would have been told otherwise,’ said police spokesman Paul Browne.

The incident comes as the police department has tried increase public awareness — and conviction — of sexual harassment on the subway.”

NBC posted the photo the woman took (see photo above, right) and said anyone with tips can call Crimestoppers at 800-577-TIPS.

If one police officer is unaware of the correct protocal for handling harassers like masturbators, there are likely others. Police officers MUST get educated about the pervasiveness and types of public harassment and assault and the impact they have on women’s every day lives. It takes a lot of time and energy and bravery to undertake reporting a harasser and when someone like this women makes that effort, she should be given proper help and support.

(And kudos to Holla Back NYC’s Emily May for a great quote in the Metro‘s article about this incident: “It’s an ongoing problem of the police showing insensitivity to harassment, lewdness and violence against women on subways…It discourages women from reporting.”)

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Is he masturbating against you?

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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.

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Judge Throws Out Subway Rape Case

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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.

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