Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Victims Have Obligation to Report Harassers?

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Selangor Community Awareness Association member and lawyer Honey Tan said sexual harassment on public transportation in Malaysia is common (as it is in many other countries) and she said many women don’t report it.

“‘Even if you don’t think the police can solve the case, the statistics are important to justify the police’s request for more manpower [sic]. Making a police report is not just your right, but your obligation,’ she said.”

There are tons of reasons why victims/survivors don’t report incidents of street harassment & assault, like not having enough time/energy, fear of being blamed for harassment/assault, fear of wasting time because complaint won’t be taken seriously, fear of retaliation from harasser, an inability to identify the harasser, etc. So saying it’s their obligation to report it may be a bit naive.

On the other hand, I do think that the problem of gender-based public harassment and assault by strangers won’t be taken seriously by law and policy makers unless the numbers show there’s a problem. The numbers won’t show there’s a problem if the crimes are vastly under reported (which they are).

So what about the creation of a lesser form/complaint one could fill out (anonymously and/or with the ability to do it online) if one doesn’t necessarily want to press charges but just wants to help show the real numbers of harassers? Does anyone know if such a form/system exists? Would there be too much room for false reporting? (Though what would the incentive be for false reporting if its purpose is to function as a way to gather data, not to prosecute the harasser?)

Otherwise, it seems like conducting surveys are the only way real harassment numbers can be shown, but that method isn’t perfect either.

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In Malaysia, Taxi Trouble

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Earlier in May in Malaysia, a taxi driver with tinted windows allegedly raped a 17-year-old passenger. He was recently arrested, but a “newspaper noted that women were [still] arming themselves with self-defense products and reluctant to board empty buses. Community leaders and non-governmental organisations yesterday demanded that the authorities do something to better protect passengers.”  Seven women in another area were also allegedly raped by a man posing as a taxi driver who has since been arrested.

The taxi incidents are part of the larger problem of sexual harassment and assault on public transportation feared by many women in Malaysia.

“Selangor Community Awareness Association member and lawyer Honey Tan, said they wanted such attacks to stop and said one of the most common things to happen to women was sexual harassment on public transportation….

Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh said she felt the Home Ministry should allocate more resources to crime prevention as she claimed many women were afraid to go out these days.”

Many countries have taxi services where women are the drivers for women passengers precisely because of these types of terrible incidents. While such a measure is surely a relief to worried and fearful female passengers, I think it is merely a band aid and doesn’t fix the real problem. Your thoughts?

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Street Fighter

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An Indian newspaper The Telegraph has a great article discussing the street harassment women in Calcutta regularly face, how women tend to react, what they can do about it, and the challenges they may face if they try to respond to or report harassers. Sreyashee Bhaduri, a 30 year old woman who decided to take action against her harasser, is mentioned throughout the piece. I recommend reading the whole article if you have time.

Things they say you can do if harassed (they also noted potential roadblocks with each):

  1. Make a scene or embarrass the harasser; scream; let people know what happened.
  2. Try to solicit help from other people and/or police  nearby.
  3. File a police report and know your rights.
  4. Lodge a FIR (first information report), which is the first step in taking legal action against a harasser.

Street harassment law in India:

Indian Penal Code (IPC). Section 509 of the IPC states: “Whoever intending to insult the modesty of a woman utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound, shall be heard, or that such gesture, or object, shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon, the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend, to one year, or with fine, or with both.”Section 294 speaks of obscene acts and language in public being punishable with imprisonment or fine or both. Section 354 also says assault or criminal force used on a woman to outrage her modesty is punishable.

Final thought:

“‘Most people refuse to take street sexual harassment as a serious crime. It is something that is often taken for granted — something that is bound to happen,’ says Saptarshi Chakraborty, a 22-year-old engineer and a core member of Blank Noise, a volunteer-based collective that deals with issues around street sexual harassment.

Some will laugh. Some will say: ‘If she has such a problem, why walk on a road?’ Some will say: ‘Ki hoyechhe Didi, chhere din!’ (It’s a small thing; let him go!)

Then you feel like giving up. You may even feel tempted to feel as the men in the crowd feel: that it doesn’t matter. But just remember your feeling of outrage once more.'”

This last part rings true to me. Some days it seems like it’d be so easy to give up fighting street harassment, but sadly (because I wish street harassment would end already) I always come across some new outrage that motivates me a while longer.

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One Year Anniversary!

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Thank you readers and street harassment-fighting allies — this marks the one-year anniversary of the Stop Street Harassment blog!

I didn’t know how long I would be blogging when I started, but here I am, still going strong one year later 🙂

I’d love to hear more from you during the coming year. You can share you story/ies via an anonymous online form or e-mail them to stopstreetharassmentATyahoo.com and I’ll post them here. Also feel free to comment on posts!

Do you have any suggestions or overall thoughts for what you’d like to see covered on this blog or ways I can improve it during year two?

P.S. Over the weekend I made several updates to the companion Stop Street Harassment website, including a new banner and stories illustrating various types of harassment women experience (click on the links in opening paragraph on the homepage).

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Street Harassment Round Up – May 24

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Stories:

On Holla Back DC! a contributor tells how a metro employee made kissing noises at her as she raced for her train.

As mentioned in the last three week round ups, since April 26, HollaBack NYC has been posting one photo a day of street harassers. They will continue to do so for a month. All of the photos are being submitted by one woman, Sally N., a New York City resident. Emily at HollaBack NYC says, “We believe these pictures tell the story of what it’s like to be a woman in the big apple.” Visit HollaBack NYC to see these photos.

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem!

In the News:

  • Young women in Sri Lanka get harassed on their way to and from work by “zipper men.”

Upcoming Events:

Street Harassment Resource of the Week:

Ross Macmillan, Annette Nierobisz and Sandy Welsh’s article “Experiencing the Streets: Harassment and Perceptions of Safety Among Women” (2000).

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