Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Humanities III
Gender based street harassment is, “unwanted comments, gestures, and actions forced on a stranger in a
public place without their consent and is directed at them because of their actual or perceived sex, gender, gender
expression, or sexual orientation”. All over the world, gender based street harassment is a violation of human rights
Gender based street harassment denies women status in society by allowing men to capitalize and comment
on a woman’s physical appearance. Yale Journal of Law and Feminism states in a paper entitled ‘The Woman In
The Street’, that “Street harassment itself silences women, inhibits dialogue, and promotes sexual oppression. Street
harassment does not contribute to political discourse or meaningful conversation.”This study from Yale proves that
no matter the location of the verbal harassment, it is unwelcome and unkind, especially when it comes from a place
Gender based harassment is also a prevalent factor in preventing women from becoming equal to men in
the workforce, society, and in day to day life. The LA Transit society found in 2015 that “19% of riders have been
harassed in the past year, and passengers younger than 18 reported the highest rate of unwanted touching of any age
group.”. When a public service or space becomes an unsafe area for anyone to use, it no longer becomes public
space.
Gender based street harassment creates a culture that forces women to find alternative modes of
transportation and lifestyles because of potential harassment. In a study conducted by Cornell University Professor
Beth Livingston gathered data that states, 85% of women in the United States experience street harassment before
the age of 17, and that 77% of women under 40 have reported being followed by a man or a group of men in the last
year. The potential danger of being harassed is enough for many women to avoid taking certain streets home.
Making the conscious choice to go out of your way to not be harassed, can have serious psychological damages. A
2008 study done by Stop Street Harassment proved that street harassment has a direct link to “self-objectification,
Some people think stopping street harassment can only be evoked by women, but in order to create real
change, men need to contribute. In an opinion piece posted by The Atlantic, the author, Conor Friedersdorf, voices
that “Soliciting the perspective of catcallers and engaging them in conversation might also increase our
understanding of the problem and facilitate persuasion, though large swaths of contemporary activism and opinion
journalism are so heavily invested in sanctimony and stigma that few have tried it.”. The issue with this statement, is
the inaccuracy and ignorance of it. In fact harassment is /illegal in most cases, “Under the California civil code,
verbal harassment is outlawed when it the harasser does so wilfully or knowingly and it would cause a reasonable
person to suffer “substantial” emotional distress. A victim of this type of verbal harassment may file a temporary
restraining order in certain circumstances.”, according to Hollaback, an anti-street harassment organization. Stating
that the answer to street harassment is a gentle persuasion, completely disregards the possibility that verbal
harassment will escalate to physical assault. Statistically, 75% of female respondents in an online survey conducted
by Stop Street Harassment, “have been followed by an unknown stranger in public, Nearly 57% of women reported
being touched or grabbed in a sexual way by a stranger in public, and 27% of women report being assaulted at least
once in public by a stranger.”. Friedersdorf’s argument stems from a privileged male perspective, and the studies
surrounding verbal street harassment clearly do not support his solution for women to gently persuade harassars to
stop.
Harassment in all scenarios, whether that be street, workplace, malls, or public transportation harassment, is
a violation to all human rights. Gender based harassment is the largest factor in denying women status, fairness, and
certainty in society. This epidemic is one of many that needs to be prevented, in order to create total equality of the
sexes.
Works Cited
Haparimwi, Charlene. “Street Harassment Isn't Just Annoying: It's Psychologically Damaging.” The
isnt-just-annoying-its-psychologically_us_57cf0248e4b0273330aae785.
Moore, Peter. “Catcalling: Never OK and Not a Compliment.” YouGov: What the World Thinks,
today.yougov.com/news/2014/08/15/catcalling/.
www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/statistics/sshstudies/.
www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/statistics/statistics-academic-studies/.
Thompson, Deborah M. “The Woman in the Street .” The Woman in the Street , Yale Journal of Law and
Feminism, 1993,
www.bing.com/cr?IG=58845FACAC92433B8BFF71E08BC8B25D&CID=033C77A7A5816956253F7C1
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%2fdigitalcommons.law.yale.edu%2fcgi%2fviewcontent.cgi%3farticle%3d1090%26context%3dyjlf&p=D
evEx,5069.1.
Villa, Monique. “Street Harassment: Know Your Rights.” Street Harassment: Know Your Rights, Sept.
2014, www.ihollaback.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Street-Harassment-Know-Your-Rights.pdf.