public hearing Archives | Stop Street Harassment

This is cross-posted from Collective Action for Safe Spaces blog…I serve on their board and I’m excited to be working on this initiative!

Sexual comments, leering, groping and public masturbation: sexual harassment happens a lot on public transportation in Washington, DC. Collective Action for Safe Spaces/Holla Back DC! has been tracking and speaking out on this issue for three years. Now we’re doing something more – testifying. And we need your help.

We need people to testify with us about the issue of sexual harassment on public transportation during the late afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 22, for a public performance oversight hearing of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) held by the Council of the District of Columbia.

We are looking for people:

1) Willing to share a story or stories about sexual harassment on metro trains and buses,
2) Who can talk about sexual harassment they’ve witnessed,
3) Who can be part of the audience to help fill the room.

Testimonies are only 3 minutes long (about a page and a half). If you want to learn more about writing and presenting compelling testimony or want feedback on a draft, we will hold an optional training on Saturday, Feb. 18, 1-3 p.m. at the Southeast Library (across the from Eastern Market metro station). Susie Cambria will lead the training.

If you’re interested in providing testimony or helping to fill the room, please contact info@collectiveactiondc.org by February 17.

If we have enough people testifying, possible outcomes could be:

*Council Member Muriel Bowser (who is overseeing the hearing and is from Ward 4) will be aware of the issue and could even propose legislation to help prevent sexual harassment on Metro.

* Council Member Bowser could question the Director of Metro to find out why our concerns have not been addressed.

* The Director of Metro could be more likely to address our concerns and take actions we recommend such as providing training for employees.