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New Efforts in Finland, India, and New Zealand

February 29, 2016 By HKearl

Here are three new efforts about street harassment, one led by Finnish police and two others led by students in India and New Zealand.

Finland (via Sputnik News, “Finnish Cops Can Now Write Tickets for Sexual Harassment”):

Image via HBL
Image via HBL

“According to Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper, police in Finland have recently been given the power to issue fines for perceived sexual harassment.

‘We’ve attempted to find a quick solution to the problem. The existing threshold for sexual harassment complaints is pretty high, but perhaps we’ll be able to decrease it if police will be able to act immediately,’ Helsinki police chief Lasse Aapio said.

A patrol officer doesn’t require any special permission other than the victim’s statement in order to fine a suspect, as sexual harassment is usually pretty obvious, he added.

‘The fines would also help to more easily identify perpetrators, which can sometimes be quite problematic if a crime was reported too late. A police officer issuing a fine may also immediately suggest a victim to officially press charges,’ Aapio pointed out.”

India (via the Time of India, “Project by school kids focuses on issues of equality”):

“The classroom is dark. Plastic hands and broken bottles protruding from large stands brush your body as you walk down a winding path covered with yoga mats. Expressionless faces stuck on the mats stare at you while the cat-calling adds to the discomfort. It is similar to the harassment a woman faces when she walks through a dimly lit street. And that’s the whole aim of the exercise. For the walk through the maze ends with a short, informative slide presentation on street harassment.

The maze and presentation were part of a creative project done by class 7 and 8 students of Kids Central, Kotturpuram, to create awareness among parents about street harassment by making them ‘encounter’ it as they walked through the maze.”

New Zealand (via the New Zealand Herald, “Reign of abuse on Otago streets”):

‘Unacceptable and insidious” harassment by Dunedin students has hit breaking point and the University of Otago needs to take action, residents say.

Otago bioethics PhD candidate Emma Tumilty co-signed a letter with 10 other people who live and work in the student precinct, calling on vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne to act…

Former Otago student Jessie-Lee Robertson said she had suffered verbal abuse – including an incident last week. She was in her car with her dog on Albany St when a van load of young people pulled up next to her. “[They] opened the sliding door of their van and said, ‘If that dog wasn’t in your car, I’d rape you’.”

The most shocking part, she said, was that it happened while she was in her car. She had already begun avoiding the main streets of “studentville” for fear of abuse, but did not expect it on the road.

Mikayla Cahill, a third-year student, had also been harassed in the student quarter several times, most recently last week, Orientation Week.

Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis said there was a consistent stream of “complaints about criminal behaviour of a sexual nature” in Dunedin, and a “small spike” of those kinds of complaints during Orientation Week.

Police took the complaints seriously, especially after learning “some very poignant lessons about sexual violence”…

Professor Hayne acknowledged the importance of educating students about harassment. She responded to Mrs Tumilty, saying she had “no tolerance whatsoever for this kind of behaviour”.

The university, she wrote, was working on developing “two educational programmes for Otago students” – one for students in residential colleges that would begin next semester, and another to start next year as part of the Orientation education programme.”

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: fines, finland, India, laws, New Zealand, police, students

Italy: Street Harassment in the Eternal City

January 3, 2016 By Correspondent

Sara Rigon, Italy, SSH Blog Correspondent

SSH_Rigon_DecPic2Recently a friend of mine tagged me on a very thought-provoking #genderviolence tweet about street harassment in Rome. She thought I might be interested in a startling video posted by La Repubblica online, an Italian newspaper that is second in national digital circulation, and she was right.

In the video, a woman walks down the central and beautiful streets of the eternal city, facing a wide range of unsolicited comments, catcalls and whistles.

Wait, this is not news and not even the “no news good news” kind of news. Street harassment is unacceptable and offensive, but sadly it is not surprising. Similar experiments have been done before in different cities around the world, producing more or less the same disturbing and upsetting outcomes.

Among the first videos about street harassment to go viral was the documentary “Femme de la rue” by Sophie Peeters. She taped her everyday walk to her university and other areas in Brussels, Belgium. It was a very disturbing glance into a woman’s life and an introduction to street harassment.

There was was the American-born filmmaker Colette Ghunim’s footage showing “what is like to walk the busiest bridge in Cairo as a girl,” showing it was not quite an enjoyable promenade. The film “10 hours of Walking in New York City as a Woman,” a walk made by Shoshanna Roberts in New York City, was unbelievably stressful. Roberts described how she felt to the Washington Post: “I wanted to break down in tears.”

After the NY City video went viral, the New Zealand Herald decided to try the experiment in kiwi land. Having lived in New Zealand, I was very pleased to discover that only two people spoke to beautiful model Nicola Simpson during her 10 hours of walking through the sunny streets of Auckland and one guy was asking for directions.

I personally do not recall any whistle or catcalling during South Pacific time, a very relaxing and fresh experience for me. However someone did throw a plastic bottle at me from a car while I was walking home on the beautiful Marine Parade in Napier. Yes, I admit it, I was reading a book and I am aware that walking and reading is not advisable or safe, but I still do not think that being hit by a (thankfully empty) plastic bottle on the head was the best way to remind me of that. But I doubt that was the message.

So back to the Italian video… what is startling about it?

This is: The Italian newspaper experiment shows a particular population of offenders, policemen and law enforcement agents, in one of the 25 most visited cities in the world. The video is quite distressing to watch, at least for me it was. Seeing men in uniform catcalling a young lady passing by gives you a sense of disbelief and alarm. While out on the streets, law enforcement agents are expected to be constantly alert, patrolling neighborhoods, and serving as a public liaison. Police officers are given more privileges than the average citizen and usually with great power comes great responsibility.

It must be said that there are many upstanding and qualified law enforcement agents in Italy and around the world, several of whom are also specifically trained to deal with gender-based violence victims and crimes. Nevertheless, this Italian video is not the only account on police officers misbehaving while on duty, taking advantage of their power and authority. Ultimately, police officers are men and street harassment is a gender-based issue.

I do not want to discuss how policemen should behave better than ordinary men, nor do I want to explore the cultural differences between northern and southern Italy, I don’t have the proper and specific knowledge or expertise. I would rather mention the aim and methodology of such videos.

The creators of the videos call them experiments, however these videos have scarce scientific foundation, not that they claim to have it. They definitely do not intend to scientifically prove the existence of sexism or gender inequality. Instead, they are meant to raise awareness on a quite mortifying and disregarded form of men’s conduct. If they do suggest something, it is that misogyny might be a global principle that unifies mankind across borders, oceans and cultures.

Even as a woman of science, I consider such “experiments” very powerful and I wish some researcher would be inspired enough by these brave women to design a valid and solid research project on street harassment since it is a heinous mistreatment women endure every day. We need valuable evidence, verifiable data to study the phenomenon and hopefully find, if not a solid solution, small steps toward achieving a truly egalitarian society and street harassment-free world.

Sara is a registered General Practitioner in Italy and New Zealand. She is the founder and current lead of the newly established Equally Different group within the European Junior General Practitioners Organization, the Vasco da Gama Movement, branch of the World Organization of Family Doctors. Follow her on Twitter @rgn_sr.

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Filed Under: correspondents Tagged With: Egypt, italy, New Zealand, NYC, research, rome, videos

Volumes of unwanted attention in Invercargill, New Zealand

January 19, 2011 By Contributor

Having read many of the stories in this blog it is coming back to me just how many times I was harassed while living in Invercargill, arse end of the world.

During my two years in Invercargill, I was ordered to smile on multiple occasions, once had, “SUBWAY, EAT FRESH” (?!) screamed into my ear, told I was a f**cking bitch when I didn’t respond to an obnoxious, “Hi!” (those last two were both kids under the age of 12 years, but still male). I was hassled on the street for having pink hair, or wearing unusual stockings and regularly honked at when walking home in school uniform. A bunch of obnoxious guys made clicking noises (like “giddy-up horsey” type ones at me in the supermarket (that one really pissed off my boyfriend).

I don’t remember my time in that city fondly, but not since reading this did I figure out why I had such a lasting impression of people down their as being closed minded, obnoxious and unfriendly. All your stories have made these experiences come rushing back to me. Never before or since have I experienced such a sheer volume of unwanted comments and attention as I did in that city.

– Anonymous

Location: Invercargill, NZ

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment Tagged With: Invercargill, New Zealand, sexual harassment, street harassment

“I want to add my voice to those women who have experienced street harassment”

January 18, 2011 By Contributor

I have been yelled at and honked at multiple times from men driving past in cars. I have never had a very serious or scary experience, but it happens often enough to make me really annoyed and very, very angry. What troubles me most is deciding on an appropriate way to react to this very rude and obnoxious behaviour.

There has recently been some discussion on this subject in the media in New Zealand and I want to add my voice to those women who have experienced street harassment.

– Anonymous

Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment Tagged With: Ackland, New Zealand, sexual harassment, street harassment

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