Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Update on Washington, DC-Area Anti-Harassment Transit Campaign

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Anti-Harassment Transit Ad, Washington DCIt’s been more than 3.5 years since we began working with Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) on an anti-harassment campaign.

Periodically, we meet with the sexual harassment taskforce at WMATA to discuss the campaign and next steps, etc. Today was one of those meetings, with myself, four WMATA staff members, and CASS’s interim executive director Jessica Raven.

For a status update on what the campaign currently entails:

* A second wave of anti-harassment ads are up across the system.

* More trainings are underway to ensure that all 4000 front line employees know what to do if they witness or experience street harassment or if someone reports an incident to them.

* There is an online reporting form that makes it easier to report incidents.

* We jointly hold annual outreach days, distributing materials at metro stations during International Anti-Street Harassment Week. This year, we were at five metro stations across VA, DC and MD.

Metro outreach day, April 2015

I am excited that today at our meeting, WMATA committed to a third wave of ads next year. They will survey riders before the end of this year to better understand their experiences with harassment and their feelings about the first and second waves of ads, and ask for their thoughts for the next wave. We discussed having a message focused on bystanders and/or the community-of riders generally, but we will see what riders have to say.

11.23.15 WMATA - SSH - CASS meeting. (L to R): Jason Minser, Jessica Raven, Lynn Bowser, Holly Kearl, Deputy Chief Leslie Campbell, and Morgan Dye
11.23.15 WMATA – SSH – CASS meeting. (L to R): Jason Minser, Jessica Raven, Lynn Bowser, Holly Kearl, Deputy Chief Leslie Campbell, and Morgan Dye

WMATA wants to collaborate on four flyering/outreach events at Metro stations in 2016: 1) during Anti-Street Harassment Week in April, 2) mid-summer, 3) around the back-to-school time, and 4) on December 10 for Human Rights Day.

We discussed a few other ways that we may collaborate to help spread the word about the campaign among WMATA staff and the larger Metro-area community. More on those ideas when they are solidified.

All in all, it was a productive meeting.

I am so proud and happy every time I see one of the Metro ads (and on my metro ride to/from the meeting I saw two different ones), not only because I am part of the campaign, but also because I feel great pride in knowing that my city takes this issue seriously and is expending significant time, resources, and staff power to help people feel safer on public transit. Thank you, WMATA!

Also of note –

* The history of how our collaboration came about is featured in my new book Stop Global Street Harassment: Growing Activism Around the World.

* If you’re in the DC-area, join WMATA, CASS, Defend Yourself, the DC Rape Crisis Center, and SSH staff and many community members in testifying about street harassment before the DC City Council next week, Dec. 3.

 

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Today’s Events – April 15

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Virtual Events:

1 p.m. EDT: @EvrydayFeminism will host a Tweet chat about what communities can do to address street harassment.

 

International Events

France: Stop Harcelement de Rue – Lille is holding a meeting with comic book author Thomas Mathieu who created the Projet Crocodiles tumblr. In this tumblr, Mathieu illustrates stories of everyday sexism sent to him by readers. (To be confirmed)  6 pm. Location: Maison de l’Etudiant (Lille 1 University)]

Nepal: Youth Advocacy Nepal (YAN) and Activista Nepal in partnership with like minded social organization are organizing  an Anti-street harassment March –  a huge rally with the participation of more than 500 young people including others with placards with anti street harassment slogans. The objectives of the program is to increase the awareness on anti street harassment and exert the pressure to concerned authorities for adopting appropriate policy and laws and implement the laws prevailed in Nepal effectively.

Nepal: The Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj (Nepal Women Unity Society will release the findings of an audit of public space of Tripuresor area of Kathmandu Valley.

 

USA Events:

California: UCI Campus Assault Resources and Education will be promoting Stop Street Harassment at their Take Back the Night event [7pm at the Flagpoles]

California: Valley Crisis Center will have a button making machine where individuals can make/design their own button describing what they can do to fight street harassment/catcalling/degrading comments and also empower others to do the same. [Merced Community College Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 10-1PM]

Georgia: Hollaback! Atlanta will be hosting HOLLA Coffee Hour. Hosted by Holla!ATL’s Kiersten Smith [4pm – 6pm at Octane Coffee Bar, 437 Memorial Drive Suite A5, Atlanta, GA 30312]

Illinois: Volunteers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne campus are holding an informal dialogue on street harassment [6-7pm, Illini Union (space TBA)]

Nebraska: The sociology, queer alliance and radical notion clubs at Hastings College will be chalking campus!

New Mexico: The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at the University of New Mexico invites you to stop by their table to discuss street harassment as part of their larger SAAM actions! [10:30-1:30pm at the Duck Pond, UNM Campus] INFO

New York: dianINQUE will be hosting a community meeting in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Ohio: In Athens, The People’s Justice League and EMBODY Consent will host a screen printing table. Students and community members are invited to come by with t-shirts, pillow cases and other articles of clothing to have one of several available Cats Against Cat Calls designs printed free of charge [2-6pm outside of Baker Student Center]

Washington, DC-area: WMATA, SSH, Collective Action for Safe Spaces, DC Rape Crisis Center, Rally Against Rape and more will be distributing information about harassment at five Metro stations from 4-6 p.m.

 

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Feb. 19 Day of Action: Safer Transit System in Washington, DC

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Note: This is the report submitted to the Huairou Commission. This meeting was part of a global day of action called Delhi and Beyond: Concrete Actions for Safer Cities, a chance for grassroots women and women’s organizations to partner with government authorities and concretely build safer cities. Fifty cities participated. The day was organized by the Huairou Commission, Women in Cities International, Women and Habitat Network Latin America, Jagori, GROOTS International, ICWIF and FEMUM-ALC.

The actions taken during the day will be presented during the UN Commission on the Status of Women on March 8, 2013.

Attendees of the meeting at WMATA’s offices in Washington, DC

Report: This morning, Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) staff member Renee Davidson and board member Ben Merrion and Stop Street Harassment founder Holly Kearl met with the following key staff at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA): Deputy Chief Campbell, Zina Gowan, employee communications, and Caroline Lucas, who heads the task force on addressing sexual harassment.

In February 2012, CASS organized individuals to testify about sexual harassment on the WMATA system during the performance oversight hearing of the transit authority before the DC City Council.

Out of those testimonies – and the many stories members of the public submitted to WMATA agreeing that this is a problem – WMATA formed a task force in early March 2012 to address sexual harassment on the system.

This meeting was to touch base nearly a year later to see what has been achieved and to discuss what we can do during the second year to continue to address the issue.

Main achievements this year and goals for next year:

Achievements:

1. New online form for reporting incidents

2. Starting to track all forms of sexual harassment (previously they only tracked harassment that was criminal)

3. A transit-wide PSA campaign

4. An internal awareness campaign among WMATA staff

5. A new law to make it easier to report/prosecute indecent exposure in DC

6. 126 reports of harassment

Goals:

1. An improved online form that can lead to better reporting

2. A second phase of the PSA campaign this summer or fall

3. Training for all WMATA employees

4. More efforts to spread the word about how to report and the importance of reporting.

5. Working with Virginia legislators to pass the same law that passed in DC to make it easier to prosecute indecent exposure. Maryland already had this law before DC.

We are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting and with the continued commitment of WMATA to making the Washington, DC-area public transportation system free from harassment for all its riders.

Stay tuned for more information about the meeting and what DC-area transit riders can do to improve reporting.

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VOTE!

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L to R: Holly Kearl, Chai Shenoy, Council Member Muriel Bowser, Ben Merrion

If you’re in the USA, I hope you’re voting today (if you didn’t already by an absentee ballot or early voting)!!!! People have fought hard, starved, and died to ensure that more than just white men can have this right, so use it!

Here’s just one reason why I think it’s important to vote — because we need people in office who understand our issues and care about them and will act. A perfect example of this was when I joined a group of people organized by Collective Action for Safe Spaces to testify about sexual harassment on the Metro system in Washington, DC, earlier this year. The all male Metro leaders said sexual harassment wasn’t a problem. But the DC City Council chair was a woman, Muriel Bowser, and she said, “As a woman, I feel differently” and told them to do something!! And they did. Without her, the fight would have been much harder.

VOTE!!

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“No one should make you feel uncomfortable”

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Farragut West Metro Station Anti-Harassment PSA

My fellow commuters looked at me like I was crazy when I stopped to snap a photo of this sign at the Farragut West Metro station in Washington, DC. But that’s because, as readers of the blog know, with Collective Action for Safe Spaces, I helped get this anti-harassment campaign going and I had not yet seen the PSA in real life. I can’t stop grinning! #SocialChange

If you’re in DC and experience or witness sexual harassment on the transit system, you can report it! One of the easiest ways is via this form: http://wmata.com/harassment.cfm

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