Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Harasser Shoots Man for Telling Him to Stop Disrespecting His Wife

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Via Fox 13 News:

“Shortly before midnight on Sunday, officers say Bradley Mills was outside his home on Mason Avenue [in Florida] with his wife. Mills says he saw and heard two men two houses down staring and whistling at his wife, and told them to stop disrespecting her.

According to the police report, Mills’ wife went inside, and when Mills followed, he heard one of the men shout after him. He allegedly ignored him and kept walking, but turned when the man called out again and saw the man holding a gun, which he shot towards the ground. Then, Mills says the man shot several times at him while following him towards his house. Two of the bullets hit Mills, and he told his wife to call 911.

Authorities say they tracked down the shooter and identified him as Rolando Fernandez Rodriquez. He was arrested at his home on Pine Avenue in Haines City.

Mills was treated for two gunshot wounds at the Heart of Florida Hospital. He is expected to be okay. Rodriquez was transported to the Polk County Jail and charged with Attempted Murder in the 2nd Degree.”

Bradley Mills did everything right as a witness to street harassment. The scary reality is, you never know which harasser will escalate — some will escalate if you ignore, if you speak back assertively (as he did), or if you lash out. All we can do is make the best decision we can in the moment and try to stay safe.

I am grateful he told the harassers they were disrespectful and I’m relieved he will recover from his injuries.

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USA: Street Harasser Shoots Into Women’s Shelter

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Kathleen Moyer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Past SSH Blog Correspondent

On Thursday, one Philadelphia man showed just how much street harassment can escalate, just how entitled some people feel to other’s bodies, and just how little regard some have for women’s lives.

Police are currently searching for a man who fired shots into a North Philadelphia women’s shelter Thursday afternoon.

According to investigators, the unidentified man approached a woman outside a Rite Aid and attempted to speak to her. When she refused, he followed her into the store and trailed her as she shopped. When the woman was finished shopping, she began to walk back to the women’s shelter where she lives and noticed that the man was still following her. Shortly after she entered the shelter, surveillance footage shows the man standing outside, then pulling a gun out of his pants and firing several shots into the building.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

This case shows that street harassment truly is a heinous act. Some people may dismiss it as a way of complimenting someone or guys just joking around, but it’s not. It goes much deeper than that. Think about what must have gone through that man’s head for him to get to the point where he was motivated to potentially kill people because a woman didn’t want to talk to him. He didn’t see a woman outside that Rite Aid; he saw an object he was entitled to conquer. When he failed, his pride was hurt so much that he felt the need to stalk her, instill fear in her, and assert his dominance over her. Then, when she finally got to safety, in a building filled with women who had possibly been treated like objects by other men with the same mentality, he decided that she didn’t deserve to live. None of the women, who were presumably safe, deserved to live. Even if the shots were only intended to be a threat, he knew very well that he could end up killing someone and he decided that was a fair outcome. Why? Because a woman didn’t want to talk to him.

Street harassment is not flattering, it’s not funny, and it’s not a trivial problem. Street harassment kills, and it’s time to acknowledge that horrifying fact. Luckily, no one died in this case, but far too many people have been killed as a result of street harassment. Someone who was stalked and shot at should not be considered lucky, because at least she’s still alive. It’s time for society to start addressing street harassment like the serious issue it is, so no other person has to endure what this woman did, and so no one dies in such a senseless way in the future.

No arrest has been made in this case yet. Anyone with tips should contact the Philadelphia Police Department.

Kathleen is a full-time graduate student studying professional and business communication. She plans initiatives to increase awareness of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other related issues through her university’s anti-sexual violence group, Explorers Against Sexual Violence.

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Gay Clubs Should be Safe

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Half-staff LGBT flag in DCThe shooting at the Orlando gay club over the weekend is horrendous. That Latinx LGBQT-identified people were attacked and killed in a space that was supposed to be safe is disheartening and enraging. We mourn the victims and stand with the survivors and the families affected.

We stand with those who strive for equality, acceptance, and a world where people are not hated, harassed, abused or killed because of their identity.

As a HuffPost blogger Denise Frohman wrote:

“We know homophobia didn’t end with marriage equality. We know the shooting in Orlando didn’t happen overnight — we have a cultural problem that perpetuates homophobia, racism, sexism, and Islamophobia in our schools, our streets, and on our televisions.

We are the work we have to do.

I want feel safe everywhere I go. I want liberation for all of us who live under the threat of violence…

I mourn those killed in Orlando, their families, their partners, and the peace of mind we cherished in these spaces. Tomorrow and the day after, we will work, as we’ve always done to reclaim space, even the ones we built for ourselves.”

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Street Harasser in Los Angeles Shot a Woman at a Bus Stop

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Last night two teenage girls were at the Pico-Union bus stop when two men pulled up and the driver started “flirting” with the girls (according to My News LA). However, I’m quite certain they were harassing and perhaps even threatening them because one of the girls called her mother. The mother confronted the driver, who shot her twice in the lower abdomen and also shot one of the girls in the leg. They both had stable signs when taken to the hospital and the suspect has not been caught yet.

Street harassment IS serious and the feelings of entitlement that can go along with it are dangerous. This is not flirting (consensual) or a compliment. This is harassment, it’s predatory, and it can escalate quickly.

I wish the woman & teenager a speedy recovery.

H/t Soraya Chemaly

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I’m glad they didn’t die…

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Over the weekend in the Washington, DC, area, two women survived attacks by male harassers/assailants in public places.

A man with a knife attacked a woman in Rock Creek Park. She was able to fight back and to use his knife against him to stab his hand. Police are looking for any tips about the assailant. Call the U.S. Park Police at (202) 610-8737.

A man with a gun shot a woman in the ankle after the woman refused to give him her phone number. She was on her way home from a party in southeast Washington, DC, walking with her cousin.

In my blog title, I note that I’m glad they didn’t die. I really am. Other women have not fared so well. For example, two of the three teenagers I blogged about in March who were killed by men in public were running in parks when men raped and murdered them. As another example, last fall, a teenager killed another teenager with a gun after the teen girl refused his advances. And here are some other stories about times when men in public have killed women, often after women refused their advances.

When will it end? When will women be safe in public?

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