Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Toronto police are at it again…

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Greenwood College via CNews

How would you feel if someone violated your privacy and space by following you, leering at you and then looking up the skirt of your school uniform while you were going to school? Then how would you feel if the response of local police was to tell you and your classmates to stop wearing your school uniform during your commute, indirectly blaming YOU for the victimization?

That’s exactly what happened to two female students at Greenwood College, a private high school in Toronto. After a man harassed them and looked up their skirts while they were taking the subway to school, the Toronto police advised the school principal to tell the female population to put on their school uniform at school instead of at home in the morning. The principal apparently supported the sentiments and shared the message with the whole school.

Via CNews:

“This bit of guidance was given to Allan Hardy, the school’s principal, by an investigating officer from 53 Division on Thursday after two of Greenwood’s female students — both decked out in the school’s uniform of skirt, shirt and blazer — were allegedly followed around and ogled by a man while on the subway earlier that morning.

The girls, who were on their way to school at the time, were travelling northbound, Hardy confirmed, adding that the suspect had been looking up the girls’ skirts.

Hardy relayed the officer’s advice in an e-mail to parents and teachers informing them of the incident. The Toronto Sun obtained the e-mail from a confidential source.

“This person was looking up the girls’ skirts,” said Hardy, who would not divulge the ages of the two students. “So the advice is given … if they had, for example, jeans or sweatpants on, it wouldn’t be an issue.”

This is not okay.

While sadly schoolgirl outfits are inappropriately sexualized and fetishized (e.g. see Britney Spears’ “Hit Me One More Time” music video, Halloween costumes, and video games) and that sexualization and fetishization does nothing to prevent the harassment of REAL schoolgirls, telling girls to not wear their uniform on the subway is not the solution.

Street harassment—including harassment on public transit systems—happens to many high school students regardless of what they wear. It happens even when they wear jeans and sweatpants! It happens to women who wear business suits, exercise clothes, and burqas! Since it doesn’t matter what we wear so dictating clothing choices as a prevention method is NOT okay or effective. And even if it was effective, the focus should still be on the HARASSER not the person facing harassment!

When someone sent me this story this morning, I was exasperated and shocked. Of all places for a police officer to say such an inappropriate comment, it happened in Toronto?!

In January a representative of the Toronto Police stated, “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” This remarked sparked SlutWalk Toronto and scores more SlutWalks around the world.

But apparently that message wasn’t clear enough. What more do we have to do so demand that police officers in Toronto and people around the world stop telling girls and women how to dress and inspire them to focus instead on solely stopping harassers and assaulters and ending the culture that fosters such harassment and assault?

Here’s an important op-ed by Monica Bugajski in response to the police’s reaction.

[Thanks Katie B. for the news tip]

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Victim-blaming in Indonesia sparks protest

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“”Wear sensible clothes, don’t wear ‘inviting’ clothes. You can imagine, if [a woman] wears short skirt and sits next to the driver, it could be ‘inviting.'”

Protestors -- Image via Demotix

This is what Fauzi Wibowo, the governor of Jakarta, Indonesia, said on Friday after a bus driver raped a female passenger late at night this month and after another bus driver and unidentified perpetrators gang-raped and killed a university student.

He has since apologized for the comment.

On Sunday more than 50 people in Jakarta protested the victim-blaming comment and many women wore mini-skirts, something unusual in the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world.

They held signs that read, “Don’t tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape” and “My miniskirt is my right.”

Via the Jakarta Globe:

“‘We are here to express our anger. Instead of giving heavy punishment to the rapists, the governor blamed it on women’s dress. This is discrimination,’ protest coordinator Chika Noya told AFP.

‘Rape is a serious crime against humanity,’ Noya said, adding that the governor should guarantee women’s safety on public transport.

Protester Dhyta Caturani, dressed in a miniskirt and revealing top, said: “The way women dress is not the cause of sexual violence.”

Last year the head of Aceh Barat district stated that women who don’t wear Islamic women clothing are ‘asking to be raped.’ This statement was then rejected by Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI).”

It is sick that a political leader like a governor would say something so harmful and wrong. Well done to the protesters in Jakarta for not letting his comment slide and for bringing international attention to the victim-blaming taking place in their country.

The protest was inspired by the SlutWalk in Toronto, held in April in response to a victim-blaming comment made by a police officer. Dozens of SlutWalks have taken place around the world to similarly speak out against the all-too-common response of blaming the victim for sexual assault or sexual harassment rather than the perpetrator.

Victim-blaming must end!

(Thanks to The Pixel Project for the story tip)

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Men who victim-blame women are more likely to be harassers

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Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Martin, found that men who blame women for being sexually harassed are more likely to be harassers themselves.

As we in the anti-street harassment movement are all too familiar with, the study found that the victim-blaming usually focused on what the person was wearing and what they were doing.

So how was the research conducted?

The researchers of the study wanted to test a theory called “defensive attribution” which suggests that people will try to protect themselves from blame in a given situation. Using this theory, the researched hypothesized that victim-blaming men would be the ones who were most likely actual or potential harassers.

To test the theory, researchers asked 119 college men, ranging in age from 18 to 28, to take a survey measuring how likely men are to sexually harass women.

Via Live Science:

“The survey doesn’t ask men directly whether they harass women, but rather asks about attitudes associated with harassment, such as whether women use sex to their advantage or are flattered by sexual advances…

Next, the men read eight short vignettes about instances of sexual harassment. In one, a male restaurant server tells his female coworker that her tips would be higher if she’d show more skin. The study participants were then asked how likely it was that they would be in the shoes of the man in each vignette and how much the fictional men and their victims were to blame for the harassment.

Unsurprisingly, the men with a high proclivity toward sexual harassment, as rated from the initial survey, said they felt more similar to the fictional harassers. They were also less likely to blame the harasser for his behaviors and more likely to blame the victim, [fitting with the self-protection theory].

The men’s attitude seemed to be, ‘I might do that kind of thing and I don’t want to get in trouble.'”

The researchers noted that their study only focused on college-aged men and focused on sexual harassment in a workplace setting, so more research is necessary.

But it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to think that men who are okay with engaging in sexual harassment in the workplace (and blame women for it) would act the same way about sexual harassment of women in public places (street harassment).

As study researcher Colin Key said,

“The current research should provide some comfort — and an early warning — to women who have been sexually harassed and encountered victim-blaming….[They can think], As a woman, when I get blamed, maybe I shouldn’t give a crap about what that guy thinks because maybe he’s the kind of guy who would do this to me, too.”

So remember that – if someone blames you for the harassment based on what they’re wearing, there’s a good chance they’re a harasser or would-be harasser or a harasser-sympathizer! So call them out on it.

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“Maybe something about the way you dress is triggering them”

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I can’t believe some people are still blaming women for street harassment. I just read this on a forum:

“In my experience, cat calls have almost disappeared. I’m not only speaking of me – I don’t even see them directed at other women. Therefore, I have to hesitantly say that maybe something about the way you dress is triggering them.”

From another woman, shamefully enough.

– Anonymous

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

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Volunteers needed for SlutWalk

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The number one myth I hear around street harassment is that it’s women’s fault because of the way we dress.  That’s also a common myth when you hear about the sexual assault of women. Case in point:

On January 24th, 2011, a representative of the Toronto Police stated, “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

Outraged folks in Toronto are doing something about that victim-blaming — they’re holding SlutWalk.

SlutWalk is scheduled for Sunday, April 3rd, 2011.
Speeches at 1:30. Walk at 2:00.
Starting location is central Queen’s Park,
heading to Toronto Police Headquarters at 40 College Street.
Facebook Event Page

More on the Why:

“As the city’s major protective service, the Toronto Police have perpetuated the myth and stereotype of ‘the slut’, and in doing so have failed us. With sexual assault already a significantly under-reported crime, survivors have now been given even less of a reason to go to the Police, for fear that they could be blamed. Being assaulted isn’t about what you wear; it’s not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behaviour creates an environment in which it’s okay to blame the victim.”

Volunteers Needed:

  • March 26: They have a prep day this coming up Saturday where they need people to come help with making signs, etc
  • April 3: They need volunteers on the actual event day
  • Starting Now: They need people to just keep spreading the word through word of mouth/social media/etc.

People interested in volunteering can contact Erika Scholz, at volunteer@slutwalktoronto.com

If you’re not in Toronto, think about starting your satellite SlutWalk, info here.

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