Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

So our daughters can be safe

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At my job this week, I got to help with a big college women student leaders conference. One of the speakers today was Naomi Tutu, a leader and activist in her own right, and one of the daughters of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (a Nobel Peace Prize winner etc). During a Q&A after she spoke to the students, one person asked what inspires her when she’s tired and doesn’t have the energy to get out of bed and face another battle that day. Naomi said she thinks of the women who came before her (like her mother and grandmother who had harder lives than she but had the strength to persevere) and the women who will come after her. She said she has two daughters and that the human rights work she does is so that her daughters will be able to walk anywhere they want and still be safe. The audience burst into applause.

On days when I feel discouraged, those are the women who I think of as well — all the women who came before me who fought hard for the rights I enjoy today, and the women who will come after me. If I ever have a daughter and a son, I want to know I’ve done all I can to make sure that the daughter has the same freedom to move about in public spaces as her brother.

If women cannot be safe or free from harassment in public (or private spheres, which is another but related story altogether) there will never be equality. It is the right of each of us to be safe in public.

naomi tutu smaller

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Too afraid to leave the house without men

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I’ve had very little trouble from strangers, but I think that’s because I’m excessively paranoid. I’ve been molested by three different people now, and the little street harassment I get hits very hard. I always want to be mean and abrasive, to teach them a lesson, but instead I just freeze up until I can run. But mostly people leave me alone, since I basically never leave the house without a male escort…is that the purpose of street harassment? To keep women, even lesbians, too afraid to leave the house without men?

-anonymous

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Subway Rape Leads to Trial vs NYC Transit

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Three years ago a young woman was raped on a deserted subway platform in New York City. While a toll booth attendant and subway driver both saw and called the police, they did nothing more to help her or stop the attacker. The police arrived a long ten minutes later.  This news article details what happened – but warning, it’s very upsetting to read parts of it. This brave young woman is suing the NYC Transit and her trial in civil court will be heard soon (don’t know the date). I will be anxious to hear how it goes.

The young woman took the subway at 2 a.m. and she was the only person in the subway car with her attacker and the only one on the platform when she got off and he pursued her. She thought she would be safe and I wish she had been. If you live in NYC and don’t feel safe taking the subway home late Saturday nights, contact RightRides. They offer women, transgender and queer folks free, safe rides home late Saturday nights in numerous NYC neighborhoods. They always need volunteers & donations to keep their program going and to expand their services, so considering getting involved/helping them out!

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Street Harassment Survey

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Please share your experiences & opinions about being in public in general and with street harassment specifically in this informal, anonymous, online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2zNzxBfuyVVLMKcoXoEtjQ_3d_3d

It’s for a book I am preparing to write on street harassment. The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete – longer if you decide to write a lot for the open-ended questions. Anyone can take it and I am seeking as many viewpoints and experiences represented as possible. So please share widely – female & male.

Thanks!
HK

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Need a free, safe ride home in NYC?

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Then call up RightRides!

“In our RightRides program, we offer women, transpeople and gender queer individuals a free, late-night ride home to ensure their safe commute to or through high-risk areas.”

RightRides serve 35 neighborhoods (to expand in October) on Saturday nights from 11:59 p.m – 3 a.m . RightRides is volunteer run, so the more volunteers they have, the more neighborhoods they can serve and the more hours they can be available. (So if you’re in NYC and want to volunteer somewhere…!) In the city that never sleeps, many people work night shifts or are out enjoying the nightlife, but then might feel unsafe coming home so late alone, so RightRides helps them carry on with their life in safety.

RightRides was founded in 2004 by two women upset over the assault of several women in their neighborhood within a short time frame. Instead of letting depression or fear take hold of them, they took action and started making a difference in their communtiy. Using their own car and cell phone, they put up fliers in their neighborhood offering women a safe, free ride home, and drove callers home themselves. Four years later, RightRides is a nonprofit with access to 5 Zip Cars for volunteers to use on  Saturday nights, with about 150 active volunteers. This past weekend, I got to meet with two volunteers and “ride-along” and it was great to see first-hand how the program works and to meet amazing individuals who care enough about people’s safety that they give up their Saturday night once or twice a month and battle crazy New York City traffic until 3 or 4 a.m.!!

Here’s a short video by a volunteer with RightRides:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyTmsvMdxLE]

I’ve had a link to  RideRides in the resource section of this blog and my website, but I wanted to highlight it here too so people in NYC know about it and can use the service and/or volunteer and so maybe people in other cities will be inspired to start a similar program!

The website has a ton of info, so visit it if you want to learn more.

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