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Sydney Albertson

Mrs. Indira Hood-Esparza

Humanities III

March 6th 2018

Harassment Is Not A Compliment

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

because it denies women status, fairness, and certainty in society.

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

of trying to demote a woman to her physical appearance.

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,

depression, eating disorders, anxiety, and a harder time focusing in school.”.


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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

“Definitions.” Stop Street Harassment, www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/definitions/.


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Haparimwi, Charlene. “Street Harassment Isn't Just Annoying: It's Psychologically Damaging.” The

Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Sept. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/street-harassment-

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/.

“Statistics - Stop Street Harassment Studies.” Stop Street Harassment,

www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/statistics/sshstudies/.

“Statistics - The Prevalence of Street Harassment.” Stop Street Harassment,

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

FA42E6889&rd=1&h=mPI5DZuYYb7c66Vy7HxNunUa3LB30z0R9uqmGEa77nk&v=1&r=http%3a%2f

%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.

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