You’ve probably experienced it: the intense stares, the catcalls, the whistles and the groping. From mere nuisance to physical threats, these are real problems that women across the world have to endure in silence on the streets, in public transport, or at work. The worst part is that we are often told to get over it, because boys are just being boys.
Well, enough of that! We will not tolerate it anymore.
This short documentary by Vocativ records the problems of street harassment by strapping hidden cameras on one of its female interviewees as she walks down a busy New York Street. One of the women interviewed is Jen Corey, who was Miss District of Columbia in 2009 and a former top contestant of 2010 Miss America. Having been subjected to street harassments since she was a teenager, Corey uses her platform as a beauty queen to speak out against street harassment. Yet she still couldn’t escape harassment, and one night in 2013, she found herself being physically violated on a DC metro train while coming home from work.
“Street harassment is almost like a gateway drugs to other forms of more serious violence,” says a woman interviewed in the video.
What can be done about it? First, speak up. Tell the men you don’t like being harassed, or at least show them.
“I wish more girls would come out of their shell and tell somebody to just shut the fuck up, just do it, you’ll feel way better,” says another.
And sometimes it takes a bystander’s intervention to help another woman being harassed on the street. Another video, part of a reported series written by Terrel Jermaine Starr for NewsOne, highlights a campaign to get bystanders to help women being harassed on the street. The #YouOKSis project is a brainchild of blogger and scholar Feminista Jones . You can join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #YouOkSis.
You can report street harassment on ihollaback.org, or download the Hollaback app and share your stories. Also visit and “like” Stop Street Harassment on Facebook.
It’s time to speak up and let the world know that sexual harassment in whatever forms must end.
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