RAINN Archives | Stop Street Harassment

SSH Believes and Supports Survivors of Sexual Assault

September 19, 2018 By HKearl

We believe survivors of sexual assault.

As a national nonprofit organization working to end gender-based street harassment worldwide, we know that the public sexual harassment that we’ve documented for years doesn’t happen in a vacuum: It is part of a broader rape culture that minimizes and perpetuates sexual violence. At its core, street harassment is about exerting power over someone else, disrespecting them, and in most cases sexually objectifying a person without consent. It is on the same spectrum of behavior as sexual assault and rape.

It is this understanding that compels us to speak out about the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Since coming forward publicly with her allegations, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has faced questions – including from members of the U.S. Senate – about her honesty and credibility. She has faced unreasonable requests to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to the FBI conducting a thorough and independent investigation. She has faced death threats and has reportedly had to move out of her home and hire private security. All for sharing her story.

And this is not unusual, this is the system survivors have come to expect, and is one of the many barriers that prevent so many from coming forward to reclaim their narrative.

Dr. Blasey Ford does not deserve this treatment. No survivor does. And we demand better.

We stand with survivors of sexual violence and call on senators to do right by them and this nation. When someone comes forward and courageously shares their story, we must listen to them – not attack their character. As this process moves forward, we’ll be watching.

–Stop Street Harassment Board of Directors

For help and resources, contact RAINN’s national sexual assault hotline at 800-656-HOPE or online here. Along with RAINN and Defend Yourself, SSH operates the national street harassment hotline. Call toll-free at 855-897-5910.

Street Harassment Phone Hotline Launches Today

July 19, 2016 By HKearl

3.5 years after the idea for a street harassment hotline was hatched and six months after a plan was formed, I am thrilled to share that as of TODAY, anyone in the USA can call toll-free for support, help and advice about street harassment. The service is available 24/7, in English or Spanish.

855-897-5910

Help Spread the Word:

Download shareable social media images and post them on your accounts. There are also images that can be posted on websites and designs that can be printed as postcards or stickers.
Join our Thunderclap. We need at least 100 people signed up for the message to be sent out.
If you are willing to post physical copies of the hotline information (postcards, stickers) in your community (e.g. on community message boards, in public bathrooms, on lamp posts) and/or distribute them at events or conferences, please list your mailing address and I will send you some.

More about the Hotline:

Stop Street Harassment has partnered with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and Defend Yourself to launch the first-ever national street harassment hotline.

The phone service starts TODAY, July 19 (call: 855-897-5910), and an online (through secure IM) option will be available starting on August 10 via www.StopStreetHarassment.org.

The services both will be offered 24/7, in Spanish and English. People will be able to find emotional support, get advice for how to deal with harassers, learn what their legal rights are, and more.

Everything is in place – now we just need to spread the word so people know about it!

Many thanks to the 50+ people who donated to make it possible, to our Spanish language translation volunteers, to our graphics design volunteer, and to Defend Yourself and RAINN for partnering on this. It would not exist otherwise!!

Announcement: Street Harassment Hotline Coming in July!

April 12, 2016 By HKearl

Stop Street Harassment (SSH) and Defend Yourself are partnering with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) to launch a gender-based street harassment national hotline in July 2016.

RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, which provides confidential support those impacted by sexual violence in both Spanish and English. The hotline is available via online chat and by phone 24/7. SSH and Defend Yourself will train RAINN staff who will be answering the National Street Harassment Hotline, to be equipped to help those calling about street harassment.

“We are thrilled about this new partnership and the ability to provide a safe space for those impacted by street harassment to receive help and appropriate resources,” said RAINN’s vice president for victim services, Jennifer Marsh.

Gender-based street harassment affects at least 65% of women and 25% of men in the USA, and it starts at a young age. It can range from catcalls and unwanted sexualized and homophobic comments to illegal acts like following, flashing, groping and sexual assault.

A growing body of research shows that street harassment negatively impacts women emotionally. It can be traumatic for them, especially for survivors of sexual abuse. “Mild” street harassment can escalate into physical harassment without warning and many women and some men have an underlying fear that verbal harassment will become physical. In January 2016, there were two cases – in Texas and Pennsylvania – of street harassment escalating into murder. In late March 2016, a mother in California was shot in the stomach by street harassers whom she confronted for harassing her teenage daughter.

“Street harassment is probably the No. 1 problem that brings women and teen girls to our classes,” says Lauren R. Taylor, director of Defend Yourself. “They desperately need alternatives to ignoring it. With this hotline, we can empower people by sharing skills – and increasing options – for dealing with harassment in public spaces.”

_______________________________________________________

We have the funds to set up the hotline, but the more money we raise, the more callers we can fund per month to sustain the hotline ($11 = 15 minutes of call time, $22 = 30 minutes).

– $275/month funds 5 hours of call time

– $1,100/month funds 25 hours of call time

Help us reach our $6,600 goal so we can fund at the $1,100 rate for the first six months.

_______________________________________________________

Meet some of the people who will be answering the hotline!

7 Ideas for Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2016

April 1, 2016 By HKearl

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)! In addition to taking part in International Anti-Street Harassment Week (April 10-16), here are 7 ideas for action in 2016.

1. Believe/help survivors. Believe survivors when they confide in you. Visit the website of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network to find information to help you help the survivor. And to find information to help yourself.

2. Find help. If you are a survivor who isn’t sure where to turn to or how to get help, I highly recommend visiting the RAINN website. I volunteered with them for 2.5 years and applaud their work. You can find information about a phone or online hotline and information about recovery.

* Do you identify as male? Visit the website 1 in 6 for resources specifically for you.

* Are you in the military? RAINN has a helpline called Safe Helpline specifically for survivors in the military.

3. Raise awareness on social media. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center provides a variety of resources each year for SAAM, including free reports and manuals and campaign materials. They also are running daily Instagram contests (#30DaysofSAAM) and have images you can post on your other social media accounts. April 5 is the SAAM Day of Action! Use tweets, posts, and status updates to share the word about #SAAM. Download their social media guide for specifics.

4. Wear jeans. Make a social statement by wearing jeans on April 27 as part of Denim Day in LA & USA. The day is a visible way to protest against misconceptions that surround sexual assault. Register today and raise awareness at your workplace, neighborhood, or community. Encourage each person who participates to donate one dollar to Denim Day to fund prevention programming.

5. Watch The Hunting Ground. This important Oscar-nominated documentary about campus sexual assault is now available for streaming on Netflix. Invite others to watch it (and schedule in some self-care time afterward as it’s an important but also upsetting film).

6. Order We Believe You. Annie C. Clark and Andrea L. Pino, the main subjects of The Hunting Ground film and founders of End Rape on Campus, have a new book coming out April 12, We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out. It includes stories from “students from every kind of college and university―large and small, public and private, highly selective and less so―[who] share experiences of trauma, healing, and everyday activism, representing a diversity of races, economic and family backgrounds, gender identities, immigration statuses, interests, capacities, and loves. Theirs is a bold, irrefutable sampling of voices and stories that should speak to all.”

7. Use the arts or march. Take part or organize arts-based initiatives or a march to raise awareness about sexual assault. Examples of initiatives include:

* Organize or participate in a Take Back the Night March in your community or on campus and make a statement that women have the right to be in public and to go about their lives without the risk of sexual violence. Order a kit with resources for the event.

* The Clothesline Project, an initiative to bear witness to violence against women. Women affected by violence decorate a shirt and hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of men’s violence against women.

* V-Day event offers several performance and film screening options for groups to implement in their community in February, March, and April. The purpose of these events is to raise awareness about violence against women and girls as well as raise money for local beneficiaries that are working to end violence. There is no theater or producing experience necessary. Visit the V-Day website to learn how to organize a V-Day event.

* Story of a Rape Survivor (SOARS) is an award winning multimedia performance from A Long Walk Home you can bring to your community that entertains as well as educates the audience about sexual assault prevention. Featuring the music of Nina Simone, Maxwell, and Sade, SOARS tells one woman’s story about how she reclaimed her body, sexuality, and self-esteem after being sexually assaulted in college. SOARS is a cutting-edge theatrical experience that stars a diverse cast of women, combining photographs, dance, spoken-word poetry and music as a way to educate about healing from sexual violence.

* By wearing a white ribbon, White Ribbon Campaign members make a personal pledge to “never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls.” You can order materials to help challenge the community to speak out on the issue, learn about sexual violence, and raise public awareness.

(And if you’re unsure about the connection between street harassment and sexual assault, listen to a CALCASA Prevention podcast or watch a video where I talk about the connections. Briefly, some of the connections are that both behaviors fall on the same spectrum of gender violence; street harassment sometimes escalates into sexual violence; and street harassment can be re-triggering for survivors of sexual abuse.)

Gender violence at epidemic levels in the USA

December 15, 2011 By HKearl

1 in 5 women in the U.S. is a survivor of rape or attempted rape, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, a 2010 study released yesterday by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first of its kind, the CDC study reveals the US to be a country where violence is rampant, especially against women, and especially against young women.

Via NPR News:

“As many as 29 million women say they have suffered severe and frightening physical violence from a boyfriend, spouse or other intimate partner. That includes being choked, beaten, stabbed, shot, punched, slammed against something or hurt by hair-pulling.

That number grows to 36 million if slapping, pushing and shoving are counted.

Almost half of the women who reported rape or attempted rape said it happened when they were 17 or younger.

As many as 1 in 3 women have experienced rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetimes, compared to about 1 in 10 men.

Both men and women who had been menaced or attacked in these ways reported more health problems. Female victims, in particular, had significantly higher rates of irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, frequent headaches and difficulty sleeping.

Certain states seemed to have higher reports of sexual violence than others. Alaska, Oregon and Nevada were among the highest in rapes and attempted rapes of women, and Virginia and Tennessee were among the lowest.”

The findings are not very shocking when you work on issues of gender violence every day. What I want to know is if issues of rape, domestic violence, and stalking will stop being treated as jokes and stop being viewed as non-priorities compared to “real problems,” private matters, and the fault of the victim/survivor. I want to see these issues treated as a national crisis. Because that’s what they are.

Prevention must become mandatory in homes and schools nationwide.

Also, while this didn’t come out in the published study, thanks to input from Shannon Lynberg, co-founder of Holla Back DC!, the survey included questions about street harassment as a form of violence. Holla Back DC! will be interviewing some of the study’s authors to get the data on the prevalence of street harassment. This will be the first time we have national data on street harassment so stay tuned.

About 9,000 women and 7,400 men selected at random took the CDC survey. The CDC plans to conduct this same study annually.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault (woman or man), you can find help at the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network‘s online hotline or phone hotline. It’s never too late to seek help, even if the abuse happened decades ago. There’s always time to start or continue your healing process.