Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
I had just cut my hair really short and some guy on a crowded subway car started pointing at me and talking to his friend about how ugly I was. It was so humiliating and people kept turning to stare at me. I finally told him to shut the f*** up and he lost his shit on me. He started screaming about what an ugly dyke I was, etc. I was scared and humiliated. It happened years ago and I still feel sick when I think about it.
-anonymous
Submit your street harassment story
Stories:
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.
Holla Back DC! has several new stories this week. In the story, “Hey, pretty lady, give me a smile,” I admire the woman’s presence of mind to respond to him as she does despite being a bit frightened by him.
New Street Harassment Blog:
Through the Stop Violence Against Women group of Amnesty International Mauritius Section, there’s a new anti-street harassment blog, which is part of an anti-street harassment campaign in the country. The blog will officially launch in the next few weeks and a report about street harassment in Mauritius will be published in June.
New Features:
Holla Back DC! launched two new features on their blog this week. You can submit your stories via an online form and they have a new online street harassment map to track where street harassment is occuring around the city.
Copying Holla Back DC!’s idea, I also launched a new online form so people can more easily submit their street harassment stories and do so completely anonymously.
A common scenario is walking on the sidewalk on a highly trafficked road and getting honked at. It can leave you feeling powerless, because by the time you hear it and process it the one who did it is long gone. It can be jarring, scary and then make you wonder why you were singled out at all. Was it what you wore? Just the fact that you were walking on the sidewalk? This is unacceptable. Fines for unnecessary honking should be enforced.
-anonymous
I was just out of law school and happy to be the first woman attorney in a downtown law firm. I enjoyed being downtown and usually commuted by bus. Occasionally, I needed a car at work and to get affordable parking I walked from an area of town that was less desirable.
One early morning as I walked from my car something caught my attention and I saw a man a few feet away masturbating (and exposing himself) in a stairwell next to the sidewalk, staring at me. I was very shaken, but also scared. I’ve actually never discussed this experience with anyone.
I had other harassing experiences within the work environment of this job, which I left after a few years. The hostility I felt at work contributed to my insecurity and the sense that there was no one to talk with about issues like this.
Submitted by C.H.
A few years ago, I was walking past a bus stop when an elderly man said hello to me. I DO NOT say hello to unknown men when I’m alone in public because I feel it opens the door for them to say anything they want to me, so I just walked past this man without responding. He stood up and yelled after me, “Fuck you bitch! Kiss my ass!” I was really embarrassed because everyone within earshot turned and looked at me as if I had really insulted this old man.