Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Street Harassment Snapshot: December 5, 2010

By

Read women’s stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

Image via TIME

In the News, On the Blogs:

Upcoming Events:

  • Dec. 11, 2010: Webinar about writing street harassment op-eds with journalist Elizabeth Mendez Berry, HollaBack ED Emily May, and me, noon – 1:30 p.m. EST. Contact Kira for info (kira DOT zmuda AT gmail.com)
  • Dec. 14, 2010: Stop Street Harassment book giveaway and chat about street harassment during AAUW’s Cocktails and Convos at Nage, Washington, DC, 5 – 7 p.m. EST

Announcements:

Ten Tweets from the Week:

  • rightingteacher Vigorous defense of street harassment from one boy, much concerned about his right to leer and whistle, less so girls’ right to feel safe.
  • CatCall Tried to forget the grossest #catcall ever last night: no words just 2 men grunting & moaning in the most explicit way as I walked by. Eww!
  • SurvJustice @StopStHarassmnt I love your cause, street harassment needs to stop and not be excused or ignored
  • driftmako @bridraffen it isn’t intended to “work,” like most street harassment it is about the man performing/exerting power over you
  • meredithmo A bit of good, old-fashioned street harassment, English-style, circa 1959: http://ow.ly/3jIzA
  • iHollaback Hollaback (verb): To respond in a badass way to street harassment, to tell your story (via @nytimes http://nyti.ms/eB6QlR )
  • snakkula Does it ever really work for dudes when they whistle and catcall at girls when driving by? This should be evolutionarily removed by now
  • Bleeohmy Oh my walking down the street and a police officer tells me ‘is my duty to please that booty’ I’m pretty sure that’s harassment.
  • SpookSquad Not just in Tulsa either! RT @hkearl @MRambrose I forgot that street harassment turns into cruising car harassment in Tulsa, OK
  • BillyWerner ladies: please wear a miniature camera & take photos of dudes that catcall u. i am assembling a group of people to beat them to death
Share

96% of women in Delhi are afraid to be alone in public

By

Via Indian Express:

“As many as 82 per cent of women find buses to be the most unsafe place in Delhi and 96 per cent of women feel unsafe to venture out alone, says a survey done by the NGO CEQUIN, or the Centre for Equity and Inclusion.

With sexual harassment in public places on the rise in the Capital, areas like Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and Rohini are deemed the most unsafe localities for women, the study says.

The organisation, run by Sachin Pilot’s wife Sara and Lora Prabhu, said it had formed a working committee that would contact the key stakeholders and form ways to improve the safety of women in Delhi. Prabhu said the survey covered more than 600 respondents, who were asked questions about sexual harassment and their safety in the city.

“We were shocked to hear that women faced the most harassment in crowded places in the city,” Prabhu said.”

I’m shocked to hear that she is shocked. Around the world crowded city streets and packed public transportation are notorious sites for men harassing women. Just two months ago, a “Ladies Special” train service started in four of India’s largest cities to give women some reprieve from male harassment. There are women-only buses in parts of India for the same reason.

Maybe one of these years, after countless more women and girls are harassed by men, governments will decide to tackle the root of the problem – male socialization to harass women – instead of trying halfheartedly to address the problem by separating women from men.

Share