#ihollaback

International Anti-Street Harassment Week (March 30-April 5)

In honor of International Anti-Street Harassment week (March 30-April 5), I’m providing some statistics on street-harassment. To find out how you can fight back against street-harassment go to http://www.ihollaback.org/ or http://www.meetusonthestreet.org/. Hollaback! is an international organization which fights against street-harassment through raising awareness and providing a venue for…

I really don’t like talking about social justice, and I certainly have never written a post myself relating to the subject, but let’s git er dun, boi.

In case you haven’t heard, a site called HeartMob recently opened, which aims to “save the Internet.” How does it try to accomplish this, you ask? By attempting to provide support for people who have been victims of online harassment.

This isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but their promo video certainly raises a few questions.

First of all, anyone who has been on Facebook (the social network the person in the video is apparently using) for more than a year can tell you that harassment to that sort of degree is almost nonexistent. Can anyone tell me why a group of people would explicitly target someone on a social network which requires you to use your full name? I’ve never even seen someone commenting on someone’s selfie with something like “you’re ugly” or “please stop taking pictures of yourself”. The worst case of online harassment I’ve ever witnessed is the case of Zamii, which ironically happened on Tumblr.

Second, if you listen to the guy talking who’s supposed to be harassing her, he says “I know where you live.” If someone is making threats against you, IRL or online, and you feel that the threats are legitimate (and that you have a good sense of the culture of the site you are on, someone on /pol/ saying that they’re going to kill every LGBT person they meet is obviously bluffing), then you should definitely seek help from the police, and report the person to the admin of whatever site they made the threat on. But on HeartMob, even though you can include “Threats” in the case of harassment, what’s the point? What are the staff at HeartMob going to do about it? Are they going to politely ask the perpetrator to stop? Your first stop for reporting threats of violence should be the police, not HeartMob.

Lastly, it seems that HeartMob is the very definition of a hugbox. That meaning, someone says something mean to you, you put up a post about it, and people that know nothing about you say things like “Don’t worry, you’re awesome!” It just seems so empty, what else would they say on a site meant for positvity? They know absolutely nothing about what you look like, your interests, your friends, or your personality. And while I don’t think that people you only know online are incapable of cheering you up, I wouldn’t want my first interaction with someone to be “Don’t worry you’re beautiful.” If you’re feeling down and want some support, I feel that it’s a lot better to get support from someone you have a relationship with, either IRL or online.

On October 28, 2014 a video entitled “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman” was published on YouTube and a national debate was sparked. The video, created by Rob Bliss Creative, a viral video agency, and sponsored byHollaback!, a non-profit fighting against street harassment, features an actress named Shoshana Roberts, walking around different sections of New York City with a hidden camera recording the different things that men say to her on the street. According to a statement released by Hollaback!, the video was “viewed more than 15,000,000 times in the first three days.” Much of the ongoing controversy surrounding street harassment today stems from this viral video and lies in the differing opinions of what really constitutes harassment on the streets of NYC.

“There is so much footage that people have not seen and that’s just one day,” Roberts said in an interview with the Guardian. “It disrupts my daily life. Not only does it stop my train of thought but it just creates unnecessary stress of comment after comment.” Comments on the viral YouTube video range from “Men shouldn’t do this to women (and vice-versa). People (women and men) should be treated with respect. It’s not okay for a stranger to say ‘hi, beautiful’, or ‘damn’ in the way they did in this vid. It’s creepy and disrespectful” from user Tiago Gomes to comments such as “Why would you include ‘How are you this morning?’ and ‘Have a nice evening’ as harassment? Some of these are genuinely disturbing, but when you include ones that are just being friendly, it detracts from the message, because it makes it seem as though you’re being overly sensitive” from userDarkMatter2525.

Following the viral circulation of the video, Roberts began to receive rape threats from YouTube users:

Hollback! tweeted after Roberts began receiving rape threats

“The majority [of feedback] is positive. And that’s what matters to me — that the ‘thank yous’ are the loudest. There are so many people who say ‘thank you, this happens to me and you are letting the world know,’” Roberts said in another interview with The Washington Post. “I can only share my story, but this story is the same for so many people.”

On April 11, a few months following the release of the video April 11, Emily May, co-founder of Hollaback! hosted an Anti-Street Harassment Rally in Washington Square Park in cooperation with various non-profit organizations, local activists and artists all with the same mission of ending street harassment. Hundreds of people gathered to listen and share personal stories of street harassment and the different ways it can be dealt with. There was also buckets of chalk available to all as a way to express their anguish in opposition of street harassment.

“I think the root cause of street harassment is sexism and depending on who you are it could be also racism or homophobia. And I think that as long as we have those things in this world, we’re probably gonna have street harassment, it’s just a symptom of those larger problems,” May said. “And I think that it has probably existed since the advent of streets. It’s not anything that’s new but it is something that really, for the first time in history, I don’t think we’ve ever seen this much attention paid to the issue”

Jennifer L. Pozner, media critic, public speaker and founder of Women in Media & News, an organization aiming to increase women’s presence in media, believes that pop culture plays a large role in the establishment of street harassment as it glorifies the behavior in many instances through film, television and music. “Everything in the media that they’ve [street harassers] ever seen about this says that this is just a normal, fun, all-American apple pie thing to do,” Pozner said. “Everything from, you know, the most recent music video. Who likes the song Uptown Funk? I like it, but the video starts with street harassment!”

Jamie Ziolkowski, one of the many young women attending the rally, said she has been living in New York for four months and experiences street harassment daily. “The people that catcall don’t have empathy towards women. In their minds women are not human, but objects and that’s how they justify harassing women,” Ziolkowski said. “That is why they won’t understand when I tell them that they are vocally assaulting women, which leads to further escalations of physical violence against women.”

“At least once a day I hear a story from friends who also live in New York about how they experienced street harassment at various times during the day,” said Taylor Reynolds, another young woman at the rally. “What are they [street harassers] expecting to happen? A woman smiles and that guy's day is made because he thinks he has control over all women? Grow up.”

According to a 2014 National Report from non-profit organization Stop Street Harassment, “Street harassment is a human rights violation and a form of gender violence.” Of the 1,058 men and 982 women surveyed in the United States, 57% of women reported experiencing verbal street harassment while 18% of men reported the same. So, the question remains: what exactly constitutes harassment on the streets of NYC?

Views on what is and what is not street harassment will vary from person to person. One clearer definition comes from Stop Street Harassment: “‘Street harassment’” describes unwanted interactions in public spaces between strangers that are motivated by a person’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, or gender expression and make the harassee feel annoyed, angry, humiliated, or scared. Street harassment can take place on the streets, in stores, on public transportation, in parks, and at beaches. It ranges from verbal harassment to flashing, following, groping, and rape.”

Data taken from Stop Street Harassment 2014 National Report

I didn’t think much of my decision to take a walk to the corner store in the clothes I had worn for work. A simple and modest black skirt paired with a floral blouse seemed far from provocative. Nonetheless my attire invited the stares and even comments of multiple strangers. 

When the organization #Hollaback released their video documenting street harassment I had mixed feelings about it. Was this making a mountain out of a mole hill. There are always going to be rude people in the world. Shouldn’t we just learn to ignore them? The more I thought about it the more I realized how important it is that we make an effort to combat this behavior. 

I remember the first time I realized that part of the reason I was carrying more weight than I wanted to was because there was a part of me that felt protected by it. When you’re just a little chubby you avoid a lot of stares and cat calls. Anytime my weight start to get back to where I would like it my experiences with street harassment increases and subsequently my motivation to lose weight is subconsciously diminished. 

I was surprised when I spoke with other women how many of them said they had noticed the same thing about themselves. Sometimes it manifested in other ways. Some women may modify how they dress or avoid styling their hair or wearing make up to avoid attention. 

okidokiokami - self-shot - 2015.02.20

One size does not fit all for approaches to street harassment. Some harassers pose more danger than others and some situations are easier for confronting them than others, like a public bus/transit where there are witnesses. Here's some that might help:

Assertive Response

iOS and Android App with Suggestions on how to deal with street harassment based on the context ("Not your baby" app)

More on Responsing to Harassment

Some statistics about street harassment and it's effects

When and how to report harassment (especially important if you're under 18)

iOS and Android App Mapping Street Harassment and bystander intervention and Providing Tips about responding to street harassment

When and if you report, a photo of the harasser/s in question helps. If the police try to ask what you were wearing or any number of victim blaming and dismissive things, respond with something like,"Sorry, officer, I don't think that's relevant in this situation. The harasser was wearing..." and continue on. Remember: you've done nothing to cause street harassment: it's the harasser's fault and, on a wider scale, society's fault.

Also potentially helpful (on self defense):

Free self defense guide by Girls Fight Back

Self defense classes in the Bay Area (includes teen classes)

Girls Fight Back Shop

Another #iSupportCari lesson is white men actually do sexually harass women of color, despite what @iHollaback would lead you to believe.