paris Archives | Stop Street Harassment

USA: Harassment should not be an Intrinsic Part of Using Public Transportation

January 25, 2016 By Correspondent

Kathleen Moyer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

“Why don’t we get off the bus right here and go get something to eat?” said the man sitting next to me, who had been harassing me since he got on the bus.

“No,” I responded immediately for what must have been the fifth consecutive time. When I looked out the grimy bus window at the surrounding area, I noticed there were no restaurants in clear sight and doubtfully wondered whether he really wanted me to get off the bus so he could take me somewhere to eat. Before he got off at his stop, he asked for my number. When I wouldn’t give it to him, he gave me his instead, leaning over me to make sure I was saving it in my phone. I guess he wanted to be sure that I had it, just in case I changed my mind and decided that his incessant remarks about my appearance were actually charming.

This was the first time that I experienced harassment on public transportation. Seeing as I live in a large city and don’t yet drive, I rely on public transportation often. Unfortunately, since that first incident, I’ve learned that harassment on public transportation is something that’s simply expected, especially if you’re a woman. Recently, I asked other frequent public transportation users I know about their experiences with harassment.

“The conversation started out normal, but then he started asking me uncomfortable questions,” one woman began. “He said that he had a wife that he didn’t live with anymore and some grown children, and asked if I’d like to come with him to a hotel for sexual interaction…I told him no thank you and how he should be loyal to his wife, but he kept insisting and told me he’d even pay me for my time, because in Russia, that’s what he used to do. He then put his hand on my thigh, and then I stood up and moved to another seat on the bus to get away from him.”

Another woman I spoke to shared an experience in which she was harassed by a clearly intoxicated man who should not have been on the bus in the first place. “I was on the bus leaving work…I started eating a hoagie and this drunk guy in the row next to me started moaning and making obscene gestures at me. Then he moved to the seat next to me and said ‘Do you want to play?’ and reached out to grab me. Before he could, I yelled ‘Get away from me!’ and luckily that was enough to make him run out of the bus before anything else could happen.”

Fortunately, this woman, as well as another woman I spoke to, was able to scare off her harasser. I assume that the harassers ran away in these instances because they were taken by surprise. After all, we’re taught to simply ignore harassers on buses and trains, because sadly, that’s usually the safest and easiest response. I believe that harassers know this and try to take advantage of it. That’s why they sometimes act in such a cowardly manner when their victims respond in a way that deviates from what they’ve come to expect. However, victims of harassment shouldn’t be solely responsible for addressing the issue.

Thankfully, some transit authorities have taken action to fight harassment, with Boston’s transit authority leading the way in 2008 and Chicago in 2009.

* Since 2012, Stop Street Harassment and Collective Action for Safes Spaces have worked on a campaign with the Washington, DC area transit authority that includes PSAs, an online reporting portal, and training for frontline employees.

* In 2014, the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority created a webpage through which victims of harassment would be able to anonymously report incidents and submit photo evidence.

* Transport for London launched a campaign called “Report it to stop it” in April of last year. As the name suggests, the goal of the campaign was to encourage more people to report instances of harassment.

* Also last fall, the French government launched a campaign in which public transportation lines were plastered with posters printed with sexual remarks typical of those frequently heard on public transport lines. The bottom of the posters say, “A woman’s life should not look like this.”

While these efforts are promising, the problem seems to still remain unaddressed in most areas, allowing harassment to continue to be seen as an intrinsic part of using public transportation. Perhaps public transportation companies know that most people who use their services do so because it’s their only method of transportation; the fact that these companies won’t lose customers could be a factor in them not prioritizing the issue. Perhaps local governments are not aware of how prevalent the problem is. No matter what is preventing the problem from being addressed, it must change immediately. No one should feel threatened anytime they travel via bus or train and unwanted sexual behavior should not be a normal part of someone’s daily commute.

As the posters in France say, a woman’s life should not look like this. No one’s life should look like this.

Kathleen is a full-time graduate student studying professional and business communication. She plans initiatives to increase awareness of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other related issues through her university’s anti-sexual violence group, Explorers Against Sexual Violence.

The Netherlands: From Paris to Amsterdam: Connecting the Dots

November 16, 2015 By Correspondent

Eve Aronson, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, SSH Blog Correspondent

The events in Paris last week, just a few hours drive from Amsterdam, were tragic and appalling. They also represent an extreme form of a familiar foe.

The Paris shooters targeted people in public venues—sports stadiums, restaurants and concerts—dictating their movement and using violence to carry out their agenda.

What such a choice in venues and tactics makes clear is that the perpetrators targeted spaces designed for public use and leisure and used violence towards people they did not know within these spaces.

We can therefore look at the events in Paris as examples—albeit extreme ones—of the broader power structures that define how safe people feel in public spaces.

Not unlike a man groping or catcalling a woman on the street, the incidents in Paris show how important it is to understand seemingly mundane ‘everyday’ street harassment incidents as part of broader notions of freedom and safety in public spaces.

You might be thinking: Wait a second. That’s a bit of a stretch. Street harassment is, for one, typically gendered (e.g. a man catcalls/whistles at/gropes a woman), whereas the Paris events were not.

That is a valid point to raise and indeed, the Paris events were not explicitly gendered (although they do have implicit echoes of links between terrorism and masculinity that have been raised in relation to previous violent attacks in public spaces).

However, there are a few important connections to highlight that bring these issues closer together than you might expect.

But before I do, I want to note why I am taking the time to do so. By showing how different and seemingly unrelated forms of violence within public spaces connect, my hope is that better, more lasting and enduring solutions can be found to a larger number of problems that affect people in public spaces. In addition to finding better solutions, underlining the similarities among these issues can also lead to more resources and brains available to prevent them in the future. But I digress.

One main connection between the incidents in Paris and everyday street harassment are that the feelings of powerless, confusion and fear that were evoked last Friday were the same feelings that people in Amsterdam, for example, reported feeling while and after they were harassed.

And, at least for the short-term, the feelings of apprehension that many people in Paris are feeling when they step out into the public sphere is not so dissimilar to the feelings expressed by people as a result of their experiences with street harassment in Amsterdam.

Below is a chart of some of the primary feelings about their surroundings that people in Amsterdam reported after experiencing various forms of street harassment:

A look on the conversations happening on Twitter about the Paris events reveals a similar spectrum of emotions. What this shows, is that in order to more fully understand and fight against issues like street harassment and violent attacks in public spaces, we have to start making connections between different manifestations of impeding or restricting movement within public spaces.

By doing this, we can start to see broader power structures emerge that reveal why these incidents occur and the factors that drive people to be physically or verbally violent towards others they do not know within different public spaces around the world.

The majority of reasons that people in Amsterdam, for example, think that their harasser(s) did what they did is that they believe their harasser(s) want to fit in with others in some way and to be accepted and applauded for their actions. The second most common reason people cited that was that they believed that their harasser(s) thought it was the ‘normal’ or ‘natural’ thing to do.

The fact that many perpetrators (street harassers or others) are motivated by group acceptance and by what they think is normal are just more of the many commonalities between issues like street harassment and other forms of violence in public spaces.

In a time where people are increasingly fearful, anxious or weary of moving through public spaces—whether because they do not want to be catcalled or groped, or whether because they do not want to be harmed or attacked in another way—it is absolutely essential that we make it our priority to examine the links between different forms of violence in public spaces more closely.

Looking at these links and using them to our advantage in the fight against street harassment and against violence in public spaces will lead to more informed policies, more helpful solutions and to more individuals feeling safer in public spaces. So what are we waiting for?

You can find the full analysis of the Amsterdam survey results here or by contacting Eve at evearonson@gmail.com. Follow Eve and Hollaback! Amsterdam on Twitter at @evearonson and @iHollaback_AMS and show your support by liking Hollaback! Amsterdam’s Facebook page here.

Today’s Events – April 16

April 16, 2015 By BPurdy

Virtual Events:

April 16 | 4:30 p.m. in Delhi, 6 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur (7 a.m. EDT): @INBreakthrough, @FemIndProject and @PixelProject will co-host a Tweet chat about cultural differences in harassment and reactions.

No Moleste di Strada has designed thought-provoking stickers and are placing them in public spaces highly affected by street harassment. They intend to creatively raise awareness on the phenomenon by also asking peoples’ contribution. They encourage our followers to spot the stickers, send us the pictures, and suggest us new ideas! Find the stickers on their Facebook page, and share both online and in public spaces near you!

International Events:

Bahamas: Hollaback! Bahamas will be hosting a chalk art event at College of the Bahamas in collaboration with the PRO Society (art club) as well as a free self-defense workshop for College of the Bahamas students.

Canada (Toronto): The Street Talk Project is launching their new exhibit! Inspired by the Take Back The Night movement and #yesallwomen, The Street Talk Project is a public art installation and gallery exhibition that addresses how women navigate the city and the socialized sexism that governs their bodies on a day-to-day basis. Using humour and subversive advertising, this project will bring attention to the ways in which public space is navigated differently by different bodies; address how sexism is felt viscerally on a day-to-day basis; and further the belief that we are all responsible for making public spaces accessible and welcoming for all bodies. [Exhibit Launch is April 16, 7-8pm at the Whippersnapper Gallery in Toronto.]

Colombia: OCAC Colombia will host ANY AGGRESSION WITHOUT RESPONSE. The Colectiva Urgente Anárquica y Sinverguenza (C.U.C.A.S), will do a workshop teaching feminist defense. We are still waiting to confirm the place, so please be aware. [2pm] | JUEVES 16 DE ABRIL – 2PM. NINGUNA AGRESIÓN SIN RESPUESTA. A cargo de la Colectiva Urgente Callejera Anárquica y Sinverguenza (C.U.C.A.S), se realizará un taller de defensa feminista. Aun estamos a la espera de confirmar el lugar, entonces estén muy pendientes

France: Stop Harcelement de Rue will be going in subway and suburban trains, and a Paris train station in order to distribute flyers and to sensitize people to all the types of violence women have to go through in transports. During these events, they will be wearing a super-hero costume as the “Team Zero Relou” (no streetharassers team)! They will also hold a Artistic happening in the hall of the Gare du Nord station, where actors will play scenes of harassment (the public will not be made aware of it being acting until the end) [5pm Gare du Nord, Paris]

France: Stop Harcelement de Rue Lyon will hold a chalk walk [5 pm. Location: Quai Victor Augagneur]

France: Stop Harcelement de Rue Lille are holding a leaflet distribution at Lille Flandres subway station. [5 pm]

Nepal: This is the final day of Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj (Nepal Women Unity Society)‘s five day self-defense training with adolescent girls of the slum community.

United Kingdom: Hollaback! Nottingham is holding a clay workshop! They’ll be discussing street harassment and methods to deal with it while creating pieces for an upcoming exhibit [2pm at Nottingham Women’s Centre, 30 Chaucer Street, Nottingham UK. Women only please]

USA Events

California: Valley Crisis Center will have a button making machine where individuals can make/design their own button describing what they can do to fight street harassment/catcalling/degrading comments and also empower others to do the same. Today is your last day to snag one! [Merced Community College 10-1PM]

Illinois: Volunteers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne campus are holding a tabling event, and handing out buttons and sexual harassment resources [11a-1p, Main Quad]

Maryland: UMBC’s Take Back the Night 2015: In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, join the Women’s Center on Commons Main Street Thursday, April 16th and let’s take back the night!!

Events and activities include:
– Community Resource Fair (begins at 6pm)
– Clothesline Project
– Survivor Speak Out Forum (begins at 6:30pm)
– March Against Sexual Violence
– FORCE Monument Quilt Making Opportunity and other art activism projects
and more!

[Women’s Center at UMBC 1000 Hilltop Circle, Commons 004 at 6 PM]

Minnesota: Hollaback! Twin Cities is hosting a chalking event at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. [7:30 to 9 p.m]

Nebraska: The sociology, queer alliance and radical notion clubs at Hastings College will be distributing bystander intervention flyers on campus.

New York: No Disrespect & The Safe OUTside the System Collective present: Free the Streets. Panel discussion making connections between sexualized, gendered, and police harassment + breakouts creating solutions through prevention, intervention, support, and accountability. [6:30-8:30 p.m. at Audre Lourde Project, 85 South Oxford Street, NYC]

Pennsylvania: SAFE at Temple University, Philadelphia, is holding a self-defense class. [6pm in Morgan Hall D301]

Pennsylvania: Touch Me Philly Productions will be debuting “Reasonable Fear: A Series on Street Harassment and Rape Culture.” Touch Me Philly Productions Presents two weeks of theatre and events exploring the topics of Street Harassment & Rape Culture. This series includes a main stage theatrical production, workshops, comedy, films & more. All designed to let you explore this topic in a safe atmosphere. Nine short plays were chosen from our open submission call to create our Main Stage Theatrical Production. Catch this show Thursdays – Saturdays April 16-18 & 23-25 at 8 p.m. | INFO

Massachusetts: Guerilla Feminism Boston is collecting short stories for their handmade zine, to be passed out during their Chalk Walk (see below). As they say, “As Black women, women of color, queer, trans women & gender nonconforming poc we’re often made to feel unsafe in our own communities due to gender, homophobia, race, sexuality, and gender expression. Often this affects our commutes to and from work, school, social events and other engagements.” To submit your story to be included in our zine, please email submissions to guerrillafeminismboston@gmail.com. We’re looking for artwork, poetry, stories of what it means to be YOU walking down the street, hanging out at a bar, interacting with the police, etc. Please keep these writings under 500 words. [Submit by April 16]

Virginia: Hollaback! RVA is hosting a chalk walk on the VCU campus! They invite you to visit their table to pick up candy, literature, and chalk. [VCU Campus in Richmond]

Washington: Jaded at Club Contour, a weekly dance night with a heavy focus on safety in their community, is hosting a dance night and distributing pamphlets explaining what street harassment is and why it’s so dangerous, and (if feasible) set up a large poster board where people can write their own stories. [9pm-2am at Club Contour, 807 1st Ave Seattle, WA]

Washington, DC: American University will host a chalking on campus [10 a.m. – 1 p.m.]

Washington D.C.: Collective Action for Safe Spaces will be hosting their 6th anniversary party, “Lights, Camera, Collective Action!” [6-9pm at Room & Board, 1840 14 St., NW]

Today’s Events – April 14

April 14, 2015 By BPurdy

Virtual Events:

More than organizations from 15 different countries will be hosting an all-day Tweetathon about street harassment in various regions across the world, in various languages. Use #EndSH to join!

International Events:

Bahamas: Hollaback! Bahamas is issuing a press release to celebrate our one year anniversary, talking about Int’l ASHW, and announcing the STARR Initiative, their new our safe space program.

Colombia: OCAC Colombia has prepared a tizatón to claim that street belongs to everyone. Meet us at the Río Arzobispo, diagonal 40A con carrera 19 | MARTES 14 DE ABRIL – 3PM. NOS TOMAMOS LAS CALLES. Preparamos una tizatón para reivindicar que la calle es de todas y todos. Nos encontraremos en el río Arzobispo, en la diagonal 40A con carrera 19

France: Stop Harcelement de Rue – Lyon will be distributing leaflets [7 pm. Location in the Vaise subway station]

Nepal: Hollaback! Kathmandu will be doing a Mens Pledge at Patan Durbar Square. They will gather as many men and boys as they can to sign the pledge saying that “I say no to street harassment.” [1pm at Patan Durbar Square]

Netherlands: Hollaback! Amsterdam will be launching their brand-new chapter! Join them for their launch party! [The Doelenzaal room at the University of Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Singel 425, 6:30-8:30 pm]

United Kingdom: Hollaback! Nottingham is holding a Zine Workshop! The street harassment workshop will be followed by a zine making working. Expect collaging, typewriter, scribbling, doodles, thoughts, memories, experiences, stories! This is a mixed event and all are welcome. [6pm, Nottingham Women’s Centre, 30 Chaucer Street, Nottingham, UK]

USA Events:

Illinois: Volunteers at the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana campus will be chalking the Quad with anti-street harassment messaging (led by Illini Art Therapy Association). [12:30pm, Main Quad]

Massachusetts: “Street Harassment is Not a Game” street action, hosted by Safe Hub Collective in Boston. “We invite women, people of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, queer folks, and disabled people to bring their jump ropes, balls, sidewalk chalk, and favorite playground songs to send the message that *street harassment is not a game*. It is violence. And it is hurtful.” [5 p.m., Boston Common] INFO.

Nebraska: The sociology, queer alliance and radical notion clubs at Hastings College will be holding an “Out in the Night” screening and panel.

Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University’s Women’s Studies Program will be hosting a Chalk Walk! Chalk the Walk 2015 encourages students, faculty, and staff to write anti-street harassment messages on the walk using sidewalk chalk. This year’s event marks Susquehanna’s third year participating in this international week of activism. [12 – 1 p.m. at 514 University Avenue Selinsgrove, PA, 17870] INFO

Washington D.C: Zerlina Maxwell will be speaking about campus sexual assault, rape culture and feminist leadership. [7pm in the Healy Family Student Center, Georgetown University, with chalking at 6pm]

Today’s Events – April 13

April 13, 2015 By BPurdy

Here are the main events happening for day two of International Anti-Street Harassment Week!

Virtual Events:

April 13 | 2 p.m. EDT: @StopStHarassmnt, @NoStHarassWeek and @Noacosocalles will chat about practical solutions to street harassment.

April 13, 6-7pm – Me=You Street Harassment Awareness will be hosting a Google Hangout with Erin McKelle from Stop Street Harassment (SSH), who will be speaking about this cause and answering questions on sexual harassment. INFO.

Stop Harcelement de Rue (Paris) will be hosting a Twitter chat about sexism and harassment on public transportation (@stophdr #terminusrelou) [3 pm]

International Events:

Colombia: Hosted by OCAC Colombia:

5PM to 8PM: TALK “COMPLIMENT OR HARASSMENT, LET’S TALK ABOUT STREET HARASSMENT.” Street harassment is an issue that must be discussed, so we will be waiting for you at the Camilo Torres Auditorium of the Sociology’s building at the National University.

CHARLA “GALANTERÍA O ACOSO, HABLEMOS DE ACOSO CALLEJERO.” El acoso callejero es un tema del que hay que hablar, así que les esperamos en el Auditorio Camilo Torres del edificio de Sociología de la Universidad Nacional.

United Kingdom: London transit will be releasing their marketing video for the anti-harassment campaign Project Guardian called Report It to Stop It.

France: Stop Harcelement de Rue (LILLE) New poster campaign launch [8 pm.]

USA Events:

Georgia: Hollaback! Atlanta will be hosting Let Me HOLLA at You – A Panel Discussion. Presented by Holla!ATL’s Tayler Mathews and Clark Atlanta University’s Women’s Initiative Program [6pm – 7:30pm at Clark Atlanta University, McPheeters Dennis, RM 201, 223 James P Brawley Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30314

Illinois: Volunteers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne campus are hosting #GamerGate Hot Topics Dialogues, a discussion about online harassment [7pm, Women’s Resources Center]

Nebraska: The sociology, queer alliance and radical notion clubs at Hastings College are hosting a “Cats against Catcalling” sticker giveaway [April 13]

Utah: Fearless Self Defense is hosting “Take Back The Streets With Chalk!” [3-7pm at Liberty Park, Salt Lake City]

Washington D.C.: American University’s Take Back The Night event will in part address street harassment [7-10pm]

Washington D.C.: GW Feminist Student Union has been creating a photo campaign in which GW students holding a sign with an example of street harassment that has happened to them. On April 13, they will be debuting the photos, adding new ones, and handing out empowering compliments to those who want them! [Kogan Plaza at George Washington University]