Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Study: Sexism like Street Harassment Affects Young Women

By

Via Refinery29:

“Young women who experience sexism are five times more likely to suffer from clinical depression, a new study has found.
The study also found that women aged between 18 and 30 are more likely than those in any other age group to experience sexism – be it at school, work, on public transport, in taxis or outside of the home.
More than four in five young women who said they’d experienced sexism reported being subjected to street harassment.
“I think it’s easier for people to get away with sexism in public because harassing a stranger doesn’t usually have any consequences,” a panel member told the Young Women’s Trust and University College London, who jointly conducted the study. “The victim doesn’t know the other person and probably won’t see them again later.”
The study also found that young women aged between 18 and 30 who experienced sexism were most likely to report mental health problems four years later. Another panel member said: ‘Sexism sits in the core of you and if you try and ignore it and don’t address it, it rots away and the problems permeate to other areas of your life.'”
Share

UK: UNmuted’s Vlog Part 1 – Talking Street Harassment at Young Feminists London

By

londonNess Lyons for UNmuted Productions, UK, SSH Blog Correspondent

On Sunday 6th November, myself and new UNmuted Productions member Nicola Bland had the pleasure of performing poetry and leading an audience discussion at a fab event hosted by Young Feminists London. There were several wonderful other poets and speakers taking part and it was a real joy to talk feminism – and womanism – with such a great group of women and men.

After Nicola performed the full-length version of my spoken word poem “I Smile Politely“, (including sections that are not in UNmuted’s short film of the same name), we asked for volunteers from the audience to answer some questions on camera about the themes raised in the piece. We made these interviews, together with a few snippets of Nicola performing ‘I Smile Politely’, into a two-part vlog for Stop Street Harassment.

This is Part One, with funny, thoughtful and smart answers to the questions:

• What’s the most ridiculous catcall or unwanted chat-up line you’ve had?
• What does street harassment mean to you?
• When (if!) you’re ‘smiling politely’ in response to unwanted sexual attention, what are you actually thinking?

Watch here and please share!

umutedyfl

Ness Lyons is a playwright, filmmaker and spoken word poet. She runs UNmuted Productions, is a member of Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab and is currently developing a script with an award-winning production company. Follow her work at: nesslyons.net and on Twitter: @lyonsness

Share