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Weekly Round Up – July 26

July 26, 2009 By HKearl

Stories:

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.

On this blog, contributors submitted stories about getting harassed at a swimming pool in Dubai, being harassed by a man in an SUV in Ohio, and weekly harassment experiences in Portland, OR.
Holla Back Toronto has a new story about a woman getting sexually assaulted on her walk from a bus stop and a contributor discusses getting harassed by male customers at her job.
On Holla Back NYC a woman tells about getting harassed by a several men in one day. Her post includes a photo of some of them.
On Holla Back DC! a woman was groped by a man passing by on his bike, another was harassed by a “serial harasser,” and a third witnessed a man masturbating at a DC metro station.

In the News:

There is a new, thriving women-run taxi business in Beirut, Lebanon, which helps women get around safely and free from male harassment.
A “wolf whistling” contest was held in Ireland this week to see which man can whistle at women the best…disgusting!
In Philadelphia, PA, a man threatened and groped a woman at knife point on the subway. She was holding her baby at the time.

Upcoming Events:

The Young Women’s Action Team is holding a free “Anti-Street Harassment Summer Camp” on August 1, in Chicago, IL. It looks like it will be a great event, so check it out if you’re in the Chicago area.

Announcements:

I’ve been offered a book contract for my proposed book on street harassment! Submit your stories for inclusion.
Enter a photography contest for photographers who capture or depict street harassment, particularly in the DC area. Selected winners will have the chance to show/sell their work at a reception the evening before the Holla Back DC: Make DC Harassment Free Summit.
RightRides in NYC recently has expanded their services of a free ride home from Saturday nights to include Friday nights too! They offer this service from 11:59 p.m. – 3 a.m. in 45 neighborhoods across four boroughs. To call for a ride, the dispatch number is (718) 964-7781 OR (888)215-SAFE (7233).

Street Harassment Resource of the Week:

A video by a Penn State student showing the volume of harassment women experience on campus.

Street Harassment in Portland, Oregon

July 26, 2009 By Contributor

I am 17 and live in Portland, Oregon, a supposedly liberal city, but the street harrassment is constant. On a weekly basis I deal with the prolonged, creepy stares of men who are obviously twice my age. This isn’t a 5 second look over, this is a fifteen minute intense, no blinking, staring right at my chest for a 15 minute bus ride kind of staring. Every couple of weeks a man will do something suggestive along with the creepy stare. They act surprised when I don’t like it! The city train is also a terrible place to be. At one point a group of four teenage boys had an animated discussion about my breasts while standing about two feet away from me. I asked them to stop and they laughed and continued.

This sort of attention really bothers me, but it’s not the worst thing. Last summer I had just gotten my driver license. I was at a local city library, somewhere I had always felt quite safe. I checked out my books, walked through the parking lot, got in my car, locked the door and was just about to leave when this stranger walked up to my car and knocked on my window. So I roll down my window a couple of centimeters so I could hear what he was trying to say. He told me he had seen me in the library and wanted to go out. Again, he was probably twice my age. I was obviously much younger. I said no, rolled up my window, and drove away very shaken.

Street harassment is always annoying and frequently scary. I try not to let it limit where I go and what I do but it does. There are certain places I will not walk alone, I always sit as close to the bus driver as I can, and I avoid trains completely. I don’t think the clothes one wears matter much, but I avoid wearing tight shirts or tank tops if I’m going somewhere alone because I feel more visible and vulnerable. I wear shoes I know I can run in. I see guys on the street and think about where I can go if the comments get unbearable. It’s exhausting to be anywhere in public long because I have to be hyper-aware to avoid what potentially dangerous situations.

– I.

Location: Portland, Oregon

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.

“Wolf-whistle” Contest in Ireland

July 24, 2009 By HKearl

Winner of the wolf whistle competition, via BBC

The loud, long-drawn out “wolf whistle” seems to come up the most when there are discussions about “street harassment” or “catcalling.” Maybe this is because it seems to be the form of street harassment most often used in commercials or cartoons (Tom & Jerry, Anamaniacs, for example) and it seems to be forever tied to construction workers standing around not doing their job but instead whistling at women walking by.

Whether because it’s seen so much in popular culture or because it’s so easy to do, I’ve also found it to be the most common street harassment experience of women. Last fall, when I conducted my informal, anonymous online survey, nearly 94 percent of the more than 800 female respondents said they had been the target of whistling at least once and nearly 38 percent said it occurred to them on a monthly to daily basis. And my respondents came from all over the world! I conclude that getting whistled at by men is a near universal experience for women.

While whistling isn’t usually as scary or degrading or invasive as more severe forms of street harassment – like sexually explicit comments, groping, masturbating, and stalking – many women still find it degrading, annoying, and infuriating. People whistle for dogs to come to them and, while I love dogs, I think it’s demeaning for women to be called to or called for in the same way. And besides, what gives men the right to think they can just whistle at whatever woman they want whenever they want? Oh yeah, sexism and patriarchy.

So now that my stance on wolf whistling is clear, check out this article, via BBC News, and you can guess my feelings about it:

“On Wednesday Irvinestown played host to Ireland’s first ever wolf-whistling championships, complete with scaffolding, hard hats, and plenty of women.

The men of the town were more than eager to show their appreciation of the fairer sex, eagerly donning hard hats and lining up along the pavement to demonstrate their whistling skills.

“We’re all here for the good-looking women,” joked Jimmy McKenna. “It just comes naturally.” …

The politically incorrect competition was the work of festival organiser, and whistling devotee, Joe Mahon.

“It was all good fun, and we didn’t get too many complaints at all – people just enjoyed the day.

“That’s how I met met my wife originally, I met Marie 23 years ago.

“I whistled at her and I’m stuck to her since, as they say.”

Joe’s years of experience stood him in good stead when asked to pick a winner out of the fine whistles in competition in Irvinestown.

“I’m a good judge of a whistle, because it got me the right woman in the end.

“Stephen did a great job, and he’s a worthy champion wolf-whistler.”

For local butcher Stephen Millar, it was years of practice that clinched the title.

“I’m 28 years old, and I’ve been whistling at any young thing since I was 16.”

Oh ha-ha, it’s all good and fun to dehumanize, sexualize, and whistle at “pretty” and “young” girls in a world with high rates of gender-based violence and assault. Chuckle chuckle laugh laugh. But really, I think it’s not.

"Wolf-whistle" Contest in Ireland