reproductive rights Archives | Stop Street Harassment

Ireland: My Body, My Choice: From Reproductive Rights to Sexual Harassment

October 29, 2016 By HKearl

Grace Gageby, Dublin, Ireland, SSH Blog Correspondent

In 1983, the 8th Amendment, a ban on abortion that gave the “right to life of the unborn with due regard to the equal life of the mother” was voted into the Irish constitution. The youngest person who voted in the referendum then is now 51.

Between the implementation of the 8th Amendment and the present day, a pro-choice movement has been struggling to secure a woman’s right to control her own body in Ireland. This September saw the 5^th annual March for Choice, in which (despite bus strikes and abysmal weather) 25,000 people took to the streets of Dublin to call on the conservative political establishment to trust women to make their own choices.

Women and men of all ages marched through the city with signs declaring ‘My body, my choice’, ‘Get your rosaries off my ovaries”, ‘Woman, not vessel’, ‘Not the Church, not the State, women must decide their fate’, and, in reference to Ireland’s victory in the Marriage Equality campaign, ‘Choice: you gave it to the gays, now give it to the girls.’ Speeches at the end of the march drew attention to how Ireland’s abortion ban affects the most vulnerable women in society, for example, asylum seekers.

A tribute was paid to the 12 women a day who are forced to travel to England for abortions, in this moving rendition of the traditional song, ‘Trasna na Donnta’ (Irish for ‘Across the Waves’).

The past few months have seen a big focus on repealing the amendment. Sweaters with merely the word ‘repeal’ printed on them sold out in one day in a pop-up shop in Dublin city centre. All proceeds were given to the Abortion Rights Campaign, and across the country, men and women of all ages literally wore their beliefs on their chests.

Street artist, Maser, graffitied a large red and white heart bearing the words “Repeal the 8^th” on the wall of Dublin’s Project Art’s centre. The mural was painted over after Dublin City Council received complaints, which sparked mass outrage and indignation over this threat to freedom of speech. At a protest, I spoke to countless men and women who wanted to make the message abundantly clear: the issue of reproductive rights in Ireland cannot be covered up with a bit of blue paint.

People in Ireland are no longer accepting the quintessential Irish problem of shoving matters under the carpet, and exiling women to England to receive medical treatment their own country refuses to provide. Since being painted over, the mural has become iconic, popping up all over the city on bags, shirts, badges, in shop windows, and even on donuts made by the fabulous Aungier Danger! In its suppression, the painting over of the mural spawned insurgence and sparked a conversation that cannot be muted by a backward establishment determined to dominate women’s sexual and personal decisions.

Unfortunately, Ireland’s history of silencing women’s oppression goes back further than the 8^th amendment. In fact, the 8^th was built on the legacy of the Magdalene Laundries, institutions run by the Catholic Church to house ‘fallen women’. The Magdalene Laundries were motivated by not only a desire for free labour, but, according to Frances Finnegan (author of Do Penance or Perish: A Study of Magdalene Asylums in Ireland), a need to “maintain moral and social order within the bounds of a patriarchal structure.” An estimated 30,000 women were confined in these laundries in the 19^th and 20^th century. Historically, there has been a culture of secrecy surrounding the laundries, and the abuse women faced within them. While Taoiseach Enda Kenny (Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland) issued a formal apology in 2013, the religious institutions such as the Sisters of Mercy refused demands from the Irish government, UN Committee on Rights of the Child and the UN Committee Against Torture to contribute to the compensation fund for victims of the laundries.

With this history of oppression and silence, it is hardly surprising the archaic 8^th amendment is currently in place in Ireland. It stems from centuries of Church and State control over women’s bodies.

Despite this, a youthful, vibrant pro-choice movement in Ireland is flourishing, having taken inspiration from the Yes Equality Campaign that legalised gay marriage in 2015. This victory was not only a joyous occasion for Ireland, but also for politicized sections of LGBT people, women and the working class who are currently at the forefront in the struggle for reproductive rights in Ireland. The sheer momentum behind the pro-choice movement in Ireland has created a massive drive for challenging sexism in all its facets.

If we want to achieve true gender equality in Ireland, we cannot and will not have a law policing women’s bodies in our constitution. If women are not equal in the eyes of the law, how can we expect the same thing in the hearts and minds of our citizens? Women’s bodies are not commodities: not vessels for children, not possessions of the State and not objects for the male gaze. We need to reject a culture of silencing oppression and of not listening to women’s stories, whether they be stories of assault, harassment, or being criminalized for having a say in their own reproductive rights. The current appetite for social change and challenging sexism in all it’s forms has created a platform from which women can be heard, and given Ireland’s history, it’s about time.

Grace is a student. She writes regularly for her school newsletter and yearbook, and has been published in Inis Magazine. Grace is currently involved with the socialist feminist group ROSA (for Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism & Austerity), and their campaign for abortion rights in Ireland.

USA: Clinic-Specific Street Harassment

May 25, 2016 By Correspondent

Mariel DiDato, NJ, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

*Protestors harass a patient outside of a women’s healthcare clinic. Photo by and courtesy of Wendi Kent.*

Whenever a woman is in a public space, there is always a chance she will be shouted at, followed, or recorded without her permission. However, there is one place where that harassment is almost guaranteed.

Women’s health clinics have seen a rise in harassment and violence since the first murder of an abortion provider in 1993. This rate especially has risen within the past few years. The climate is so bad for these clinics that there are volunteer clinic escort teams simply to help patients walk from the sidewalk or parking lot to the front door. As a clinic escort myself, I have seen the extent of this problem first-hand.

Each clinic’s atmosphere is different, as each state has different political leanings, religious influences, and laws surrounding women’s healthcare. In general though, the themes are the same. Patients must walk through numerous, large posters depicting gory, aborted fetuses. They have their personal space violated by anti-choice protestors who follow them and try to convince them not to go inside the clinic. When they finally get to the door, there are protestors preaching loudly, sometimes through megaphones, chastising these women for going inside. It gets so bad that even some of the more peaceful pro-life demonstrators criticize the protestors who scream at and follow patients. To make matters worse, the sound of the megaphones permeates the clinic walls, so that patients inside have to listen to these protests for the entirety of their appointment. Oftentimes, the loudest of the protestors are men, who think they know what women should do with their bodies and health better than the women trying to receive care.

In addition to clinic escort teams, many clinics have been awarded legal buffer zones. Protestors cannot step foot in these areas, so that patients can feel safer in walking to the clinic. Although political buffer zones have been easily enacted in other scenarios, such as political polls, it is difficult to obtain a buffer zone for women’s healthcare clinics. Even when they are obtained, they may not be enforced, depending on the religious or political beliefs of the on-duty police officers. Anti-choice groups often try to repeal these buffer zones by citing of freedom of speech. Although freedom of speech does not protect harassment and intimidation, these cases often swing in the favor of the anti-choice movement. Just recently, anti-choice protestors were even given permission to violate the city noise ordinance in Portland, Maine.

A clinic in Madison, Wisconsin obtained a “floating buffer zone,” in which people within 160 feet of the facility have an eight-foot boundary that protestors cannot cross. Other buffer zones have spanned as wide as 35 feet. These boundaries allow protestors to practice their freedom of speech without causing any physical or emotional harm to patients trying to access the clinic. However, in most other places, the buffer zone can be as little as just eight square feet in front of the clinic entrance. This gives protestors more freedom to the sidewalk than the patients, who may not even be going to the clinic for an abortion. In many places like Richmond, Virginia, or Louisville, Kentucky, there is still no buffer zone at all.

These protests go beyond freedom of speech. The last time I escorted for a clinic, three different women were crying by the time they got inside. This is not an uncommon occurrence. These women and their companions are slut-shamed, insulted, and even threatened. Protestors sometimes violate the buffer zone, but these infractions are hard to prove. Oftentimes, since our focus is on the safety of the patients and not necessarily on the bad behavior of the protestors, we can only pull our cameras out to record after a threat has been made or the buffer zone has been invaded. For the safety and security of the patients, we also never take any photos or videos that could be used to identify them. On the other hand, this is something that anti-choice protestors are not afraid to do.

This issue is not pro-life verses pro-choice. Regardless of one’s stance on abortion, most people should agree that women deserve the right to feel safe on their way to the doctor. The clinic that I volunteer at received their buffer zone through clinic escorting, documenting harassment from protestors, lobbying, emailing weekly reports to the city council (as well as the city and clinic attorneys and the chief of police), and partnering with the local National Organization of Women chapter to draft buffer zone legislation. Buffer zones create harassment-free environments for patients. I urge you to fight for a buffer zone in your area. It can mean the difference between women being scared away from their doctor’s appointments, and women feeling safe enough to receive the care that they need.

Mariel is a recent college graduate, feminist, and women’s rights activist. Currently, she volunteers for a number of different organizations, including the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. You can follow her on Twitter at @marieldidato or check out her personal blog, Fully Concentrated Feminism.

New Legislation for Safe Access Zones in Melbourne

September 10, 2015 By HKearl

Victoria (Australia) Parliament Member Fiona Patten’s office reached out to me about a new initiative relating to street harassment (read about what Patten did in April). Her Senior Electorate Officer Nevena Spirovska told me:

“In Melbourne, and around the world, women seeking fertility treatments are often harassed as they try to access services that are legally performed at the clinics. The street harassment can take the form of verbal abuse, blocking entrance to the clinic, praying or attempting to offer “curb-side counselling” to women, their families and workers – in one instance, a security officer at a Melbourne fertility clinic was shot dead by a religious fanatic.

Fiona Patten has now introduced a Bill in Victorian Parliament that will create a Safe Access Zones of 150m around fertility clinics. Protestors can still be present and have the freedom to assemble, just as long as they do not enter the Safe Access Area [or buffer zones].”

You can read more in this article.

This is an important and under-discussed form of street harassment (our blog correspondents have written about it in the USA and the UK) and I hope she is successful in getting the bill passed!

Gender Equity Festival 2008

July 15, 2008 By HKearl

For those in New York this weekend, check this out —

Girls for Gender Equity presents:
The 3rd Annual NYC Gender Equality Festival
a celebration of arts and activism in central Brooklyn
July 19, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Von King Park between Tompkins & Marcy at Lafayette

A FREE public event for education, networking, resource sharing, community interaction, arts, recreation and entertainment.

The Festival will feature arts organizations, service groups, youth organizations, educators, grassroots organizers, and nonprofits as well as:

Food & Refreshments!
Guest Speakers!
Live Performances!
Giveaways of wonderful prizes!

Artists, community organizations, and local politicians will participate, offering inspirational performances and important information to attendees about a wide variety of topics – responding to street harassment, HIV/AIDS, self defense, youth leadership, every day activism, ending police violence, reproductive justice, and more.

Girls for Gender Equity’s Sisters in Strength teen interns will also be presenting the findings from their groundbreaking research on sexual harassment in NYC schools. As the first high school lead Participatory Action Research project on the topic, their goals are to raise awareness about students’ experiences of harassment and make recommendations for change. Girls for Gender Equity is forming a coalition to address this crucial issue, and extends an invitation to organizations interested in participating in this effort.

To find out more, visit www.ggenyc.org.