Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“I drew this comic in order to cope with street harassment”

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“I drew this comic in order to cope with the street harassment I face nearly every day. This Thanksgiving was surprisingly bad. Unfortunately, one of my male coworkers told me, ‘Either you have really bad luck or your perception about what’s really happening is confused.’

I hope that sharing my experience will prevent other women from doubting what we already know to be true: it’s not our luck that causes harassment and we’re not confused.”

Liz Rush identifies as a radical feminist, an immigrant, and a pedestrian. She is currently working on a collection of comic short stories and keeps a graphic diary about her experiences in Spain called Sin Hemingway.

“How was the walk?”

“Don’t touch me. Leave me alone.”

“Whore.”

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Togo’s Restaurant Trivializes Street Harassment

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Togo’s fast food chain has launched a new television ad, a cartoon animation featuring a sandwich that flashes two women. The women look horrified initially, and then start laughing, purportedly at the small size of the sandwich’s contents. The voice over says, “Don’t settle for puny…” and then goes on to tout their new sandwich.

“The commercial takes an edgy approach to comparing the short comings of a Breadwich to Togo’s big and meaty sandwiches,” said Renae Scott, Togo’s VP of marketing.

However, this so-called “edgy” approach is not innocuous – it trivializes the fear women feel from street harassment, including flashers (exhibitionists). Thirty percent of exhibitionists also commit acts of direct sexual violence against women. While the clay women in the commercial laughed it off, making this a humorous subject wears down many real women’s ability to object, resist, and to stand up to this form of sexual harassment.

Let Togo’s know that you object to this ad!

Visit  Togo’s website to write and send an email through their online form. You can also call: (866) 708-6467. If more contact information becomes available, this will be updated.

This guest blog post is by Wendy Stock, Ph.D., a feminist psychologist in independent practice in Berkeley, CA.  She specializes in treating sexual problems, Internet and pornography addiction, relationship issues, and PTSD resulting from physical and sexual trauma.

[Editor’s Note: This ad also hurts men because of the way it suggests that some men, or sandwiches in this case, are too puny to be desirable. That’s not ok.]

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Biden is right! 1 is 2 many

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On the 17th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, VP Joe Biden (a co-author of the law) announced a new white house initiative called “1 is 2 Many” that focuses on ending violence against teens and young women ages 16-24 because they are the most vulnerable to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and dating violence.

I applaud these efforts and love the campaign name. One assault IS too many. It is unacceptable that anyone should perpetrate such hate and harm. We are a culture and country that prides itself on freedom, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness, but when most girls face harassment and assault simply because they are female, where is their freedom, their liberty, their justice when they report it? How they can fully pursue happiness?

They cannot.

Our country will never be great until teens and young women stop facing sexual harassment and assault everywhere they go:

*from sexual harassment in schools (more than 8 in 10)
*and sexual assault in college (1 in 5)
* to harassment on the streets (nearly 90% of women face this by age 19)
* and in dating relationships (1 in 10).

    Most alarmingly, too many teens also experience the worst betrayal of trust: incest and abuse within their own homes, something I heard about all too often during my 2.5 years as an online hotline counselor for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

    These are very depressing statistics, especially considering the efforts of many organizations, people, and pieces of government legislation aimed at ending the violence.

    Focusing on prevention is still relatively new and I really appreciate that the white house campaign is focusing on prevention in their campaign. That is the only thing that will create sustainable change. The campaign page states:

    “By targeting the importance of changing attitudes that lead to violence and educating the public on the realities of abuse, the Vice President is leading the way in an effort to stop violence against women before it begins.”

    To start, they are soliciting ideas. They say:

    “As teens and young women across the country head back to school this month, tell us how you think we can make campuses safer for all students and share your ideas for preventing dating violence and sexual assault. From September 13th – the 17th anniversary of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act – to September 27th, use the form to submit your ideas, or use the hashtag #1is2many to share on Twitter.”

    So, share YOUR voice and ideas with the white house. Let us brainstorm and work together to figure out how we can make our society one where girls and women truly can be free and fully pursue happiness.

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    Police arrest suspected groper

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    Via ABC News

    Police have finally arrested a suspect in the Upper East Side groping case in New York City.

    Via NBC news:

    “Sources say Jose Hernandez, an 18-year-old restaurant worker at Antonucci Cafe on East 81st Street, was taken into custody overnight at his Queens home after police got a tip.

    He stopped showing up for work about 10 days ago, near when the time police released an image of his face captured on surveillance video. Police believe the groper is responsible for as many as a dozen groping incidents...

    He would come up behind women and grab them in the groin, breasts or rear end. He often reached up their skirts.

    In recent days, the suspect has moved away from buildings, striking on a No. 6 train at 68th Street and Lexington Avenue last week, and inside Central Park on Friday.

    The police tip came from a man who works in the Upper East Side building that houses the restaurant where Hernandez was employed.”

    Hopefully they’ve caught the right man and his groping days will end. Because the commonality for all of his targets was their sex, it wasn’t just the 12 targets who’ve been impacted by this. A woman-hating crime spree like this can make all women living in the area wary and on edge.

    Though for too many women in New York City who face daily harassment, knowing a groper was out there probably wasn’t any different from their regular life. They’re always wary. In my research, I found that more than 50 percent of women have been groped by men in public places and a lot of my respondents came from New York City. Men who aren’t labeled “groper” like this suspect are still out there freely groping…

    One thing about this story that stood out to me is the importance of reporting our harassers, especially if they touch us. Most women don’t report their gropers (I didn’t when a man groped me near my college campus when I was 18). They may be too stunned, second-guess themselves, blame themselves, or believe that nothing will be done by reporting it.

    And you know what, those are reasonable concerns, especially the latter. Nothing may be done initially because of one report. But, what we have to consider is, if our report is the second or third one describing the same type of behavior in the same area, or if later on a second or third person reports something similar to what you said, then the police may do something.

    So keep that in mind if someone ever gropes, grabs, or inappropriately rubs up against you, or if they expose themselves. Consider taking the time to report it…your report may be the key that prompts an investigation and action.

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    Somali women harassed, raped en route to Kenya

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    Via Capital FM News

    As if having to flee your home and your country because of famine isn’t enough, many Somali women and girls experience street harassment and even rape en route to refugee camps (and then at the camps) in Kenya.

    Via Capital FM News:

    “The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Director for Africa Bunmi Makinwa has expressed concern that women and young girls are being subjected to rape and other forms of sexual harassment when fleeing from Somalia to camps in Kenya.

    Mr. Makinwa who visited the Dadaab Camp to assess the condition on Friday urged aid partners to also focus on helping victims and survivors of sexual abuse since they require medical attention and psychosocial assistance.

    ‘UNFPA is working with partners to offer lifesaving psychosocial assistance to women who have survived sexual violence. Indeed, UNFPA was informed by partners that many women had been subjected to rape and sexual harassment during their long journey to the camp,’ he said….

    Dadaab remains the world’s largest refugee settlement. Its Somali population has risen to over 400,000 people since famine was declared in the Horn of Africa. The crisis continues to affect 12.4 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

    Malnutrition rates continue to rise, deaths increase day by day as people fleeing the famine in Somalia enter the Kenyan border at estimates of 1,300 every day.”

    Additionally, Voice of America reports that women and girls also face sexual assault at the refugee camps and when they leave camps to gather firewood. In response, UN workers are providing women with firewood (something the UN often does at refugee camps for this very reason) and moving women who are located on the outskirts of the camps into more populated areas where they may be safer.

    But aside from providing much-needed assistance to women and girl survivors who arrive at the camps, it doesn’t sound like the UN – or any other group – is trying to prevent the harassment and assaults women and girls face on the roads as they flee Somalia…Surely something can be done?

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