Today was my second day in Quito, Ecuador, for HABITAT 3. I spent the morning with women from eight countries (Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, India and me in the USA) who each are working to address sexual harassment in public spaces. Many of the people in the room have worked hard for years to see this issue incorporated into the formal UN agenda and they finally succeeded in the Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda. Given this important change, we discussed the strategic role our organizations need to have when policies are set for nations around the world; we want to ensure that the policies are good.

One challenge shared by several women was terminology: what is sexual harassment versus sexual violence and how should each be treated under the law and by society? A woman from India said they had even faced backlash for trying to expand the definition of rape to be more inclusive.

A woman from Guatemala shared the good news that they have had progress with policies by working with congress women. Many women in the room agreed that having women allies in governing bodies is really helpful when it comes to this issue.

A highlight of the morning for me was hearing from a staff member of UN Women in Cairo who has been involved in their safe cities programme for a few years. She shared how they worked with the national government in a number of ways to pass the country’s first ever law against sexual harassment. She herself sat on the committee that drafted the law. What they ended up doing was instead of writing a completely new law, they amended an existing one. This made passing it easier and it also helps make implementation easier since the police and criminal justice system folks are familiar with the original law and simply needed to be updated on the amendment.

We also discussed various logistical things and planning future events and conferences.

Overall, it was encouraging to hear that various UN agencies as well as international organizations working with grassroots women have prioritized making public spaces free from sexual harassment and violence.

In the afternoon, I joined Elsa D’Silva, the co-founder of Safecity in India, in sightseeing around Quito. We both had been warned by various people that Quito was unsafe and so we were pleasantly surprised to never be harassed or hassled. Instead, many people assisted us, from police officers to bus drivers to foodstand people. And I have gone running alone both mornings at a lovely park and I have felt completely safe there. For that, I am grateful.