Street harassment syndrome: why men need to step up before it’s too late

Street harassment is thought by some people to be nothing more than harmless banter between the sexes.  Others see street harassment as the front lines in a battle between the genders.  I view street harassment as a more far reaching issue.  I believe street harassment can be described as a cultural disease that attacks the basic civility of society.

On the surface, street harassment shows itself in the form of inappropriate and threatening behavior by men towards women on the street or in other public areas. This learned behavior is infectious with certain urban areas such as New York City and Washington DC experiencing street harassment in epidemic proportions.

Beneath the surface, this disease, which I call Street Harassment Syndrome (SHS), is ripping the civil fabric of society. While SHS may have the most immediate effect on the young girls and women who are harassed, its damage doesn’t stop there.  SHS causes a degenerative cycle in the manner in which people treat each other.  Both men and women become accustomed and conditioned to treat each other with rudeness and indifference as opposed to politeness and compassion.

The less obvious, but wide spread symptoms of SHS can be seen in large cities where street harassment is the norm.  Some of these symptoms are (in no particular order):

• The majority of women are afraid of men they encounter on the street.
• Some men exhibit highly aggressive behavior towards women on the street.
• The majority of women purposely ignore men they see on the street.
• The majority of men become accustomed to being ignored by women on the street.
• Some men view the majority of women as “bitches”.
• Some women view the majority of men as “assholes”.
• Some women change their routines and style of dress to avoid the attention of men on the street.
• Both men and women become accustomed to “not getting involved”.
• Some women develop angry reactionary responses to males.
• Some men develop angry reactionary responses to females.
• Men and women engage in a destructive cycle of finger pointing and blame.
• Some women develop generally lower feelings of well-being.
• Some men become passive and intimidated of more verbally aggressive men.
• The majority of women learn to be silent and passive to verbal abuse.
• The majority of men see “calling out” to women to be acceptable behavior.
• Some men learn that outwardly aggressive behavior is an effective method to dominate both women and men.

The above examples are just some of the negative side effects of SHS.  The majority of these symptoms can be summarized as lowered feelings of safety, well-being, and civil behavior in the general population.

An incident of harassment is the wound that allows the entry of SHS into the culture.  Just like a contagious infection, the more incidents that occur, the faster the disease is able to spread throughout the culture.  What stops the inflection is a strong response from all members of society that both refutes and repels the behavior as it occurs.  Outspoken social disapproval from both men and women is needed in order to contain the spread of Street Harassment Syndrome and to ultimately remove it from society.

– Erik Kondo

Erik is the founder of the self defense nonprofit Not-Me!

This post is part of the weekly blog series by male allies. We need men involved in the work to end the social acceptability of street harassment and to stop the practice, period. If you’d like to contribute to this weekly series, please contact me.

Belizean Culture

I never experienced street harassment until I moved to Belize, Central America almost 9 years ago. I always thought that only very attractive women were harassed, as was my experience growing up and living in the USA. There is no ONE story of harassment in Belize. It happens to almost all women nearly everyday, from little girls in primary school uniforms to elderly grandmothers. We are constantly harassed on the street for the simple fact of being women.

Harassment takes all forms from some, “hey, beautiful!” to graphic descriptions of what men want to do to you, to touching and following. A particular Belizean practice is a “hissing” noise that sounds like how someone would call a dog. Many times the ones who touch or follow are drunk or under the influence of something else. One of the most disheartening things is that all my female friends can talk with “reasonable” men we know and be told how it makes us feel, ruins our days, etc. and we are told we should be flattered and that lots of women “like” it and respond positively to it. I’ve been told over and over, “it’s just a part of Belizean culture.”

It’s not uncommon to see police officers IN UNIFORM harassing women. Sometimes we chose to ignore, sometimes to speak up assertively, and sometimes use humor to diffuse. As a self-defense instructor working with women and girls, this concerns me. I thank you for this forum to share experiences, tips and ideas! Until street harassment ends, women will remain “second class citizens.”

– S. Renee Wentz

Location: Belize

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

Weekly Round Up Jan. 24, 2010

Stories:

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

• On this blog, a woman tells how a man followed her home from the metro in St. Louis, another talks about her vulnerability to harassment while riding her Vespa in Dallas, a woman in Michigan has a guy regularly leer at her at her work, a woman talks about how men harass her on her way to her volunteering appointments, and a woman in California had a man touch her butt at a restaurant.
• On HollaBack DC! a woman tells how a man exposed himself to her and masturbated.

In the News:

• Taxi drivers harass, assault women in Canada and Australia.
• An Italian tv presenter groped David Beckham during a tv interview.
• When groping victims talk back (via The Washington City Paper)
• Battling phone sexual harassment in Egypt

Announcements:

• Want an easy way to report harassers from your phone or want to receive a report showing all the places harassment has recently occurred? Then vote for HollaBack 2.0! This is a proposed project by HollaBack NYC and RightRides and they’re in the second round of a competition for funding to make this a reality.

Events:

• Eight weeks of self defense classes through Defend Yourself begin Jan 26. Learn more, sign up.

Resource of the Week:

• Street Harassment Project’s archives of harassment stories

Egyptian women fight street harassment with karate

“What should be a leisurely stroll through Cairo’s streets, for some women has become more like a gauntlet run… Campaigners say the male-dominated society leaves women feeling vulnerable and unprotected by traditional forces like the police.

Al Jazeera’s Amr el-Khaky met one group in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, who are taking the fight into their own hands: they are taking lessons in karate.” – AlJazeeraEnglish

I’ve written about street harassment in Egypt a lot across this past year. To add to the list — here’s an interesting video called “Egyptian women fight harassment” on the AlJazeerEnglish youtube channel that’s definitely worth a look. Many related videos show up after the end of the video clip if you’re interested.

 

 

Street Harassment Round Up – June 14

New Feature:

• Visit the Stop Street Harassment Website’s “Map It” page to see where various street harassment incidents have occurred – click on the pushpins to read their stories. (Note: if the pushpins don’t show up at first, try refreshing your browser once or twice. Not sure why this is happening but refreshing eventually makes them show up). Submit your story.

Stories:

• On this blog, a young woman in London, Ontario, Canada, tells how a boy slapped her on the backside from his bike while she was running. Her anger at the harassment led her to write an article about street harassment for her college.
• On Holla Back NYC, a contributor tells how a man groped her under her dress while she was buying a Metrocard at the subway!
• Holla Back DC! has a contributor post from a woman who used to be catcalled every day in her neighborhood and one day a man followed her and threatened her by saying her address and saying he’d come find her, so she better not go to sleep!

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem!

In the News:

• Emily May of Hollaback NYC wrote an op-ed for New York’s Metro newspaper about how harassment and other misdemeanors must be included in the MTA’s crime count because without subway transparency, the crimes will continue unabated.
• In Salt Lake City, UT, a man was arrested for groping two women (two different incidents) in public. The police fear there may be other victims and encourage any to come forward.
• In San Francisco, CA, a man was reported to police for sexually assaulting women on the Muni transit system. Anyone with tips about the man can call (415) 553-1651.
  

Upcoming Events:

• June 15: RightRides Volunteer Orientation
• June 18 (7:30 p.m): Holla Back DC! is hosting a dinner for WIN’s 20th Annual Women Opening Doors for Women Event. The goal of the dinner is to network, create an open dialogue on how to address harassers, and brainstorm policy changes to develop safe public spaces. The event takes place after the evening’s reception (5:30 p.m.) and keynote speaker (6 p.m.) at the AFL-CIO. Tickets for the night start at $40.
• June 27 (2-4 p.m.): Girls and women ages 12-25 are invited to share their stories about sexual harassment on the Chicago buses and subways with the Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team. Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL.
• June 27 (11 a.m. – 2 p.m.): Defend Yourself’s Intro to self defense for LGBTQI, downtown DC (near Mt. Vernon Sq. and Convention Center)

Street Harassment Resource of the Week:

• 2005 “Question of Law” video about street harassment from the Massachusetts School of Law