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Holla Back Against Street Harassment
Hannah Spector, 11.18.08
Street harassment is sexual harassment that takes places in public spaces. |
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Have you experienced sexual harassment or watched someone you know get harassed? You're not alone. Far from it, in fact: In a recent study of girls 12-18 years old, nine out of 10 reported being sexually harassed at least once.
For teenagers, sexual harassment can be a part of everyday life. On buses, subways, and sidewalks, when driving, shopping at the mall, and strolling through the park, women and sometimes men experience a form of sexual harassment called "street harassment."
Street Harassment
Street harassment is sexual harassment that takes places in public spaces. It can come in many different forms, including cat calls, whistling, hooting, grunting, lewd gestures, degrading and sexual remarks, and grabbing.
Each person who experiences street harassment may define it differently, since everyone has different and very personal experiences with it.
Harassers can be your peers, neighbors, relatives, or strangers, and they can come in all different shapes and sizes, races, and genders.
It's Not About You
Sexual harassment affects women regardless of how much money they have, the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, whether they're gay or straight, or what their body looks like.
"There really weren't any differences in terms of where students were from," says Professor Christia Spears Brown, a psychology professor at the University of Kentucky, regarding her study about how sexism and sexual harassment affect young women. "These were universal experiences."
Many women say that street harassment can make them feeling frightened, scared, helpless, frustrated, angry, uncomfortable, confused, or all of the above. Some women ignore it, cross the street, or laugh it off. Many talk with a friend, sibling, teacher, or parent about their experiences.
And then there are those who Holla Back.
HollaBackNYC
Meet Emily May. Emily and some of her friends — guys and girls — founded the blog HollaBackNYC three years ago as a response to street harassment. The founders were inspired by a young woman who saw a man masturbating on the subway and took a picture with her camera phone. He was convicted of public lewdness in February of 2006.
The HollaBackNYC blog encourages women to "holla back" against street harassers by posting photos and stories about their experiences. The website creates a safe space and a community where people can team up to blow the whistle on street harassment. The forum exposes the perpetrators, but more importantly, it opens up a dialogue around issues of sexism, harassment, and safety.
"Women really want to feel like they are not alone," says HollabackNYC founder Emily May.
Although the blog focuses on the big city of New York, the stories are universal. The plot stays the same. It's only the landscape that changes. Since HollaBackNYC's founding in 2005, many sister blogs have popped up all over the country — from Washington to Arkansas to Texas.
These sites are based on the shared idea that all people have a right to feel safe in public places, whether they are walking, taking public transportation, riding their bikes, dancing, or sitting on a park bench reading the newspaper.
Hey Shorty!
The HollaBack blogs aren't the only ones sounding alarms about street harassment. Seventeen-year-old Ashley Lewis, a former intern at Girls for Gender Equity, directed a powerful documentary about street harassment called Hey Shorty!
Ashley worked with five other teens for eight months researching street harassment and documenting women's experiences in Brooklyn, NY. The teens interviewed women as well as their harassers. The harassers showed off their street harassment or "holla" skills, and the filmmakers questioned the ways that they address women.
It's All About You
Women are frequently blamed for inviting street harassment because of what they wear, how they walk, who they walk with, or who they don't walk with. Whether a woman wears a short skirt or headscarf, or walks alone or with friends, she should be able to feel comfortable in public.
So what can you do about public sexual harassment? Talk about it and raise awareness! Educating your community will send a message that harassing behavior affects everyone and creates an environment of fear and anxiety. It will also let people who have been harassed know that they're not alone.
If you see something and feel comfortable, say something. Educate, speak up, set an example — holla back. |
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