One night earlier this week, 29-year old Janese Talton-Jackson was shot to death as she waited outside of a club. The man who shot her couldn’t tolerate her saying ‘no’ and refusing to share her phone number. Every few months stories like these make it into the news cycle, even though related harassment and assaults […]
Anti-Street Harassment Campaign Exposes Campus Rejection of Progressive Dialogue
The Women’s Center at North Seattle College joined in celebrating April 12-18th as International Anti-Street Harassment week. As a member of the Women’s Center I can attest that our goals for the week were to raise awareness of: – What street harassment is (it’s never a compliment, it’s always unwanted attention); – The incredibly high […]
Sexism is Not Sexy
As I walk down the street, I’m surrounded. Surrounded by images, curated by large conglomerates, political structures, and social infrastructures. We are surrounded, by these images, and their constant whispers. The question is what to do about it. My answer, is to write, to share, to sing and love as hard as I can, and […]
PoP Poster Asks, “What Can People Do To Stop Street Harassment?
Last week, DC blog Prince of Petworth (PoP) posted a story in which a reader recounted facing harassment from a group of men in Columbia Heights, asking the question: “What should you do when you’re being harassed?” Though it’s unclear from the original story whether the harassing incident described is gender-based, the behaviors — stalking, verbal threats — were quickly […]
Being Both Invisible and the Target: Street Harassment and Fatness
(Trigger warning: street harassment, fat hate, aggressive language) I was walking on my lunch break, as I often do. The DC sidewalks are crowded as people walk from their offices to food trucks and other lunch places. I was suddenly knocked to the ground. I couldn’t figure out what had happened until the bicyclist on […]
How Survivors of Sexual Assault Are Making Their Voices Heard in DC
Marisa is a founding organizer of the DC Justice for Survivors Campaign (DC JSC), along with staff from CASS, DCRCC and DC NOW. In December, Marisa — who is a survivor of a sexual assault that took place in DC – testified before the DC Council in support of DC JSC’s recommended changes to critical legislation to protect survivors report sexual […]
International Feminism: Battling Street Harassment
Wir haben uns so an sexuelle Übergriffe jeglicher Art im Alltag gewöhnt, dass wir manchmal vergessen, uns dagegen zu wehre “We have become so accustomed to sexual assault of any kind in everyday life that we sometimes forget to defend ourselves against it.” This comes from German blogger Maike Hank who was quoted in a […]
40 (Un)Justifiable Reasons To Sexually Harass Me On the Street
I’m wearing too much makeup I’m not wearing enough makeup It’s Sunday It’s Tuesday I’m walking too quickly I’m walking too slowly I’m too pretty to not let you enjoy a piece of it I’m not pretty enough to occupy the space marked “female” I’m wearing boots I’m wearing flip flops I haven’t let you […]