Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Weekly Round Up: August 29. 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

In the News, On the Blogs:

Events:

Announcements:

10 Tweets from the Week:

  • missandrealuise Want to influence mayoral policy on street harassment? See London Anti Street Harassment (LASH) Campaign’s survey: www.lashcampaign.org
  • Eliza “street harassment is on the same spectrum of violence against women” SO TRUE.
  • StreetHarassmnt Man riding bike sneering at Laura & I falls over curb because he was too focused on us hot ladies! There is a god!
  • CatCall “Hey pretty!” on Ave C. I’m starting to think C stands for CatCall.
  • ThatWasLaura Seriously man? “Helloooo nurse?” what the fuck kind of catcall is that? I’m not a cartoon.
  • motheroflight What is it, Catcall Thurs? I guess the men of downtown arent ready 4 the return of skinny jeans&books. #StopCallingMeHoney
  • stephenlacour It’s 2010 and I can’t believe that old gross dudes still catcall random girls so hard.
  • kitchentop fuck u asshole who specifically stuck yr hand out 2 grope me as i passed u on the sidewalk. #streetharassment
  • TheOpEdProject Over 80% of women are harassed, just for walking on the street. Check out new book by @hkearl Stop Street Harassment http://bit.ly/a4E8Mw
  • SakuraChica I will be reading “Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women” by @hkearl. “catcalling” is NOT a compliment.
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“Look! I think we just spotted a whore!”

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I was out walking with my teenage cousin and her friend downtown and we noticed that a girl (and her friend) were being cat-called at by a group of guys in their car.

When they received a lack of attention from the girl and her friend, they began shouting at us saying, “Look! I think we just spotted a whore! Oh wait…actually, there’s another one. There are two whores right there!”

As per usual, it didn’t really matter that I was wearing work attire (a business dress and pea coat) and that my cousin was wearing a sun-dress. To them, they were not receiving attention from the two prior girls, so negative attention worked just as well.

I verbally reprimanded them and they didn’t have anything else to say.

– Anonymous

Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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“I believe in equal rights & respect”

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I got on the bus this morning to go to work, i had missed the last bus as i had to change from my dress to a pair of jeans and a top because it started to rain. so as i stepped onto the bus, i fumbled in my bag for my purse and i notice the bus driver leering at me.

“i like your top,” he said, ogling at my chest area. (the top was a bit low but not so my boobs were spilling out!) i didn’t know what to say so just gave a fake smile and sat down. but i was fuming. then to top it off, when i arrived at work and told my manager, she just told me “not to wear low tops then”! so i guess it’s my fault i got perved at. charming.

– Clarice

Location: Bridgend, south wales, no 63 bus

[Then two days later she sent this one]

Hi, i have put up a couple of stories on here already. I’m new to this site and i have to say, through reading some of the stories about experiences with street harassers, it has inspired me to speak out and stand up against street harassment.

I am 19 years of age and i can tell you that some of the experiences i’ve had are shocking. From leering, crude remarks and insults to groping and threats, i’ve suffered from them all. It started when i was around 13, just starting puberty. I don’t get as much bother now as i did when i was a few years younger, but i still get the odd perv ogling me or silly teenage boys making rude gestures.

It saddens me that women have got to put up with this kind of treatment. And i realise that the only reason why men do it is because we are female. It’s to do with power and control. Men believe that women are below them and therefore, they have a right to ‘keep us in our place’. Not me. I believe in equal rights and respect for both genders.

– Clarice

Location: Bridgend, South Wales, UK

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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“A man shouted animalistic sounds right into my ear”

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I was walking downtown alone at about 9:00pm. Just as I was about to cross the street, a man shouted animalistic sounds right into my ear. I, of course, jumped because I had no idea anyone was behind me (I have auditory issues). He then snickered to his friend and began to cross the street, while I shouted back at him and told him that he was rude. People began to stare in his direction. He then apologized numerous times and I again just shouted profanities at him. Other people on the street continued to stare at him.

– Anonymous

Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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“It makes me so angry that I should be made to feel scared walking 2 blocks home”

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Walking home from an evening out last night with a friend, two guys leaning against a car outside a bar, one made some comment like “mmm” i turned around and said ‘excuse me?’ He looked away embarrassed.

After I said goodbye to my friend at her flat I continued towards mine, now on a pretty dark and deserted street there was a guy just ahead of me on the pavement and as I approached him he said, “Hi beautiful thing, do you want to come upstairs with me?”

Now on my own I was wary to say anything back to him, so turned after I had passed him and gave him the dirtiest look I could. After that I kept checking behind me to be sure he wasn’t following me. It makes me so angry that I should be made to feel scared walking two blocks home on my own in the evening.

One other experience sticks in my mind – A few years ago in the metro with a girlfriend on our way out we crossed paths with two guys as we were walking through a tunnel to our next metro connection. They started whistling and making comments to us as we approached them. We ignored them as we walked past them, and one of them got angry and spat at us, a huge glob of spit ran down my friends back, absolutely disgusting, and we had just tried to ignore them.

– Bee

Location: Paris, France

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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