Guest post from Holly Kearl, the lead organizer of International Anti-Street Harassment Week.

Thousands of people worldwide collectively spoke out against street harassment during the first ever International Anti-Street Harassment Week in March. During the week, the Internet, the streets, and classrooms swelled with discussions, messages, stories, and reclamations of public spaces. It was powerful to see so many people talk about the issue at once, amplifying each other’s voices, and bringing global attention to the unwanted sexual harassment that occurs in public places between strangers.

1. Read the thank you and wrap-up blog post
2. See the list of events that took place
3. View nearly 300 photos from events worldwide
4. Watch videos of events and messages from participants
5. See the list of media coverage

12 of the Anti-Street Harassment Week Initiatives:

1. In Canada, Women in Cities International released a report called Tackling Gender Exclusion: Experiences from the Gender Inclusive Cities Programme.
2. In India, Breakthrough launched a bystander poster campaign against street harassment, and groups like Let’s Talk and Safe Delhi Campaign organized rallies and activities to advocate for safe public spaces.
3. In Belgium, women walked to areas where they’d been harassed and reclaimed the spaces with sidewalk chalk messages.
4. In Yemen, across three days there were a series of discussions and seminars on different aspects of the issue of street harassment.
5. Women and men in New York City, USA, created a short video about responses men can have to men who are street harassers. It was viewed 200,000 times in just one week.
6. In Germany, women addressed street harassment by handing out 2,000 “red cards” against sexism and “pink cards” against homophobia.
7. In Norway, B Safe created a translation of the Stop Street Harassment website in Norwegian
8. College students at a university called SZABIST in Karachi, Pakistan, created a video PSA about street harassment as part of a class project and then held a discussion on the topic during the week of activism.
9. Film screenings took place in Turkey, Croatia, Canada, and the USA

10. Rallies, marches, sidewalk chalking, art exhibits, mud art, and flyer-ing took place in many places across the USA, including Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington, DC

11. Lots of activism and campaigning happened online. For example, the Women’s Media Center made their Wednesday Twitter #SheParty discussion about street harassment.

12. Hollaback, which is based in the USA and has chapters all over the world, launched a bystander “I’ve got your back” campaign.

Next year will be even bigger! I hope you can join in.

Last night, Sarah Harper of VoiceTool Productions organized a rally to celebrate Anti-Street Harassment at the 16th Street BART station in San Francisco, to raise awareness and offer people resources to fight street harassment in public spaces. Why BART? A recent New York Times article “Sex Crimes Pass Under the Radar on Public Transit” stated:

Bay Area public transit riders, especially women, said in interviews that they often face unwanted sexual advances

from strangers in the form of masturbating and groping on buses, on trains and in stations. Rider advocates and others who study such behavior on mass transit say the crimes are vastly underreported and so police statistics understate the problem.

Sarah made the following comments about the event:

Meet Us on the Street San Francisco met its goal:  to make it clear that street harassment exists, is a problem, and can and should be addressed.  Our crew of activists, students, and community members spoke with a variety of passersby at the 16th St. BART station on the issue of harassment.  We engaged many in dialogue about the effects of harassment as a reality in many women’s daily lives.  We also provided fliers for passersby (in English and Spanish) so that they may share the information with others.

The fliers included quick “how to’s” for dealing with harassment in-the-moment:  effective body posturing and phrases victims and witnesses may use to remain empowered while keeping themselves safe.  The fliers also detailed what constitutes harassment, so that potential harassers may begin to identify and change their harassing behavior.

This event was a seed-planting opportunity; we are already planning upcoming events to nourish that seed.  Follow our work and get involved!  Together, we can stop street harassment.

Anti-Street Harassment Week is here! As I posted last week, CALCASA is joining multiple national, state, and local partners to celebrate March 18-24. In her article, “International Anti-Street Harassment Week: 10 Thing You Can Do To Stop Street Harassment”, Soraya Chemaly interviewed organizer Holly Kearl who states:

“Harassment restricts girls’ and women’s access to public places,” explains Holly Kearl, author of “Stop Street Harassment” and founder of the week long project. “This is not what we want for the next generation of girls. This is a time for people to raise awareness about the issue and create community-based solutions to make public places safer for everyone.”

Curious about ways to get involved?

One idea: Request a free DVD copy of the award-winning four-minute film “Walking Home” as well as a Discussion Guide, created by the filmmaker Nuala Cabral, who writes:

Screening WALKING HOME for young people in high schools, middle schools and community programs has led to some necessary dialogue about street harassment and the issues it brings up, such as self-esteem, gender, sexuality, violence and community.

Use both the 4 min video and the discussion guide to generate a conversation with the class. Ask students to create their own 1 minute video about their vision of a safe community and upload it to our YouTube Channel.

Request a free DVD (censored version) by emailing Lauren Domino at Media That Matters, lauren AT artsengine DOT net

To learn more about the video, visit Media That Matters.

There is a movement happening on twitter in the last two days – women throughout the world are posting their stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault and why they chose to not report. There are thousands of tweets from survivors as well as people who are dismayed to find that there are such a high number of survivors who have not reported. As a preventionist, my hope is that the high volume of survivors telling their stories on twitter generates conversation about the need for prevention and cultural change to generate a climate where survivors feel supported, valued, and heard.

You can follow the convo with the hashtag #ididnotreport or go to https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23ididnotreport to read responses in real time.

Here is a sample of what I’ve been seeing online:

cate cate ? @birdgehrl #ididnotreport the man who would not listen to me when I said no, even though I was drunk.

Vicky Kapoor ? @hrsyofgrmnghst #ididnotreport because I have no faith in our justice system where so few rapists are jailed + victims are treated like perpetrators

Nicole Sullivan ? @stubbornella #ididnotreport because I was too little to know I had any right to my own body… to say no.

aimee ? @moewytchdog #ididnotreport because he was a police officer.

Rae Leaver ? @raethepain So much respect for those contributing to the #ididnotreport tag. I can’t, because I *did* report it and the police told me I had no case.

RopesToInfinity ? @RopesToInfinity The #ididnotreport hashtag makes for some pretty sobering reading. We have a depressingly long way to go.

David Aaronovitch ? @DAaronovitch #ididnotreport is an extraordinary hashtag. Saddening. Enraging.

witch of Angmar @gwrthryfel If you want to understand why feminism and feminist movements are still vitally important–> #ididnotreport

John Allsopp ? @JAScarb #Ididnotreport the 3 people in my school class (35 yrs ago) who got girl unconscious at party & screwed her & denied when she vistd in morn

In the newly released report, Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School, sexual harassment is shown to be pervasive in the nation’s schools.

Sexual harassment is part of everyday life in middle and high schools. Nearly half (48 percent) of the students surveyed experienced some form of sexual harassment in the 2010–11 school year, and the majority of those students (87 percent) said it had a negative effect on them.

The report includes recommendation for prevention. Administrations are recommened to make preventing sexual harassment a priority. Educators need to respond and educate about this issue, and students can speak up and take action in their own schools.

The report was released by the American Association of University Women, an organization that previously released the groundbreaking reports, Hostile Hallways (1993) and the 2001 follow up report, Hostile Hallways: Bullying Teasing and Sexual Harassment in School.

Click here for more information about this report.

A 14-year-old female honor roll student is being forced to choose between her education or her safety as a result of school district budget cuts. The Twin River Unified School District has decided to discontinue its school bus service that picks students up at predetermined locations and takes them to their local high schools. Without the bus service, the young girl must leave home at 6:30 a.m. — usually before sunrise — to walk approximately 2.4 miles to get to school by 7:30 a.m. On several occasions men have stopped while driving their cars to proposition the young girl regarding sexual acts. Some of these men proceeded to follow her for several blocks hurling insults at her because she ignored and rejected their advances.

The girl informed her mother that she is afraid to walk to school because of the numerous sexual offers being made by older men. The girl wants to stay at home and forgo going to school until a solution can be made that ensures she does not have to tolerate the inappropriate behavior and can feel safe going to and from school.

The mother is feeling helpless because she is blind and has great difficulty walking with  her daughter to school. In addition, the family is on a limited income (below the poverty level for a family of three) and cannot afford the $50 monthly city bus pass that would allow the girl to catch the city bus that is a mile away from her house and would drop her off one block from the school.

This week, the high school is closed due to President’s Week break, but session will resume on Monday February 28, 2011. I told the mom that I would assist them in coming up with  solutions to this problem. If you have any suggestions or advice, please provide it in the comment box below.

Recently, I came upon a story entitled, Women Workers Organizing Against Sexual Harassment, which featured a short video of female women who had organized against issues of sexual harassment at Guimarra Vineyards, where they are employed.  They were successful in gathering a petition of support signed by over 16,000 people and, as shown in the video, proudly submitted it to the Vineyards.

With SAAM 2010 quickly approaching, it’s important to keep in mind and highlight local movements such as these across the State.  One way that the Southern Poverty Law Center has been bringing attention to the issue of sexual harassment against farmworking women is through the Bandana Project. You can learn more about the Bandana Project here.

You can also read the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) press release regarding the Giumarra Vineyards case, here.

Robert Coombs

(69 min) This is a two-part presentation given by David Lee, Director of Prevention Services at the California Coalition Against Sexual Assailt, (CALCASA) and Robert Coombs, Directory of Public Affairs at the CALCASA. This presentation, titled Activating Communities and Individuals to Achieve Cultural Change, was given at the U.S. Army Sexual Harassment / Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP) Summit on April 9, 2009, in Arlington, Virginia.

In this recording, David Lee and Robert Coombs highlight lessons learned from CALCASA’s MyStrength program about using social marketing tools to shift cultural norms around sexual assault. They are introduced by Carolyn Collins, Director of the SHARP Program. Click here to view video clips from the Summit on the SHARP website.

[Go to Presentation Part 1]   [Go to Presentation Part 2]

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in Montgomery, AL, launched the Bandana Project through their program Esperanza: The Immigrant Woman’s Legal Initiative. Esperanza, which means “hope” in Spanish, focuses on the issues of harassment and sexual assault of farmworker women. The National Initiative provides education on workplace rights to farmworking women and works to raise awareness of this issue in communities throughout the United States.  Monica Ramirez, an attorney at the SPLC who directs the initiative,  began this program while working as an Equal Justice Works fellow in Florida.  She states:

“For a long time, no one was talking about this. Women were too often afraid to come forward. No legal services program was focusing on this issue, and few organizations had expertise or resources to dedicate to it. But we need to know about it, and we need to be outraged. We want these women to have a voice, and we want these companies to pay for the illegal behavior that’s being committed in their workplace.”

The program not only focuses on farmworker women but also on all immigrant women working in low-income sectors such as meat-packing plants, canneries, and  hotel and service industries. From the experiences of these women, the Esperanza Initiative decided to launch the Bandana Project as a campaign to help raise awareness of the exploitation of farmworking women. The reason for using the Bandanas came from the experiences of farmworker women who say that they use the bandanas, as well as over sized clothing, to try to hide their gender to protect themselves from sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace.  The campaign also uses the bandanas as a public display of solidarity and support for victims and survivors of this violence.

During Sexual Assault Awareness Month, many cities across the Nation invite their communities, including members of the farmworking communities, universities and other agencies, to decorate bandanas. These decorated bandanas are then displayed in public areas such as museums, libraries, and community centers throughout the month of April. Many Rape Crisis Centers in California are now including displays such as these during their SAAM activities and events.  Monica Ramirez adds,

“Through this project, we try to bring a sense of hope, confidence and the will to be brave. It is our wish that these women will see our encouragement as a sign that they no longer have to suffer in silence.”

Watch a video about Campaign here: Bandana Project

For more information about the Bandana Project and how you can begin a campaign in your community, visit the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website .