Violence Against Women
How Another Town Responds
After yesterday's discussions on Hellhole regarding the young student that was sexually assaulted, I thought it might be interesting to see how another town is responding to the seemingly, growing trend towards violence against young women and women in general. This is not, as someone commented to me yesterday on Hellhole, to imply in any way that New York does things better than Chicago. I don't believe that for a New York minute.
I just happen to be an ex New Yorker. When the abduction of a young woman on Sheridan Road and East Lake Terrace occured in November, I was curious then, to see how my old town responded to similar incidents of violence and I found these sites.
We will also reprint the original "Abduction" post that is on 24 / 7HowardWatchers
Hoping that some of the differences of opinion from that original post can be set aside for now, we thought this issue, of violence against women needed more awareness and more discussion.
Considering how many sites are devoted to this issue in one city, these are just a few, we wondered about a couple of things.
Some Questions?
Is this type of violence an increasingly, growing trend or has it always been this way? Or are women and people in general speaking out, using new media, reporting crimes and acting out more as in the tactic used by HollabackNY?
Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you're commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of someone's fantasy. So stop walkin' on and Holla Back: Send us pics of street harassers!
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Bucket o' Jersey
I was on the PATH train minding my own damn business when I heard a bunch of grunting and laughing from behind me. It was this group of ***holes - first they were making fun of a homeless man who was selling newspapers on the train. When I turned around, the one on the right yelled something uncomprehensible at me. I looked away, and heard the dumbass on the left: "What, are you a **** or something?" The first one also had a bunch of nasty dandruff flakes all over his coat collar, gross.They were totally absorbed in their stupidass bantering (they had moved on to other targets) and didn't even see me bust out my phone and snap a photo. It was the first time I did it and a little scary, but I encourage all the grrls to get up close for them photos if it's safe - these ******* need exposure & humiliation!-jenna
Men Can Stop Rape has trained more than 6,000 youth-serving professionals across the country.
And from Alaska to California to Florida and all states in between, Men Can Stop Rape has conducted Awareness-to-Action workshops for more than 30,000 youth and youth-serving professionals.
Our workshops and trainings raise awareness of the costs of sexual abuse, dating violence, and other forms of men's violence, and build young men's capacity to take a public stand alongside their female peers in fostering safe and strong relationships.
The Street Harassment Project
BECAUSE women are terrorized daily in public spaces, our personal space violated by men who block our paths, stand too close, use a too intimate and insulting language toward us...
BECAUSE this behavior is implicitly menacing and threatening and often becomes overtly threatening when a woman expresses her anger at these affronts...
BECAUSE the line between verbal harassment and physical menacing is often crossed...
BECAUSE on June 11, 2000, hundreds of men assaulted, stripped and fondled over 56 women in the public space of Central Park and the rage of women in the city exploded...
Gary Fuschi
How Another Town Responds
After yesterday's discussions on Hellhole regarding the young student that was sexually assaulted, I thought it might be interesting to see how another town is responding to the seemingly, growing trend towards violence against young women and women in general. This is not, as someone commented to me yesterday on Hellhole, to imply in any way that New York does things better than Chicago. I don't believe that for a New York minute.
I just happen to be an ex New Yorker. When the abduction of a young woman on Sheridan Road and East Lake Terrace occured in November, I was curious then, to see how my old town responded to similar incidents of violence and I found these sites.
We will also reprint the original "Abduction" post that is on 24 / 7HowardWatchers
Hoping that some of the differences of opinion from that original post can be set aside for now, we thought this issue, of violence against women needed more awareness and more discussion.
Considering how many sites are devoted to this issue in one city, these are just a few, we wondered about a couple of things.
Some Questions?
Is this type of violence an increasingly, growing trend or has it always been this way? Or are women and people in general speaking out, using new media, reporting crimes and acting out more as in the tactic used by HollabackNY?
Considering this new Chicago Police Community Alert, the Loyola student incident which may or may not be related, the recent DePaul dormroom break ins and the abducted woman, who is also a student at a major university, is this a trend we are seeing or just coincidence of timing here in Chicago?
Maybe Mr. Google and Mr. Yahoo aka Thomas Westgard, can help us out with some links.Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you're commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of someone's fantasy. So stop walkin' on and Holla Back: Send us pics of street harassers!
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Bucket o' Jersey
I was on the PATH train minding my own damn business when I heard a bunch of grunting and laughing from behind me. It was this group of ***holes - first they were making fun of a homeless man who was selling newspapers on the train. When I turned around, the one on the right yelled something uncomprehensible at me. I looked away, and heard the dumbass on the left: "What, are you a **** or something?" The first one also had a bunch of nasty dandruff flakes all over his coat collar, gross.They were totally absorbed in their stupidass bantering (they had moved on to other targets) and didn't even see me bust out my phone and snap a photo. It was the first time I did it and a little scary, but I encourage all the grrls to get up close for them photos if it's safe - these ******* need exposure & humiliation!-jenna
Men Can Stop Rape has trained more than 6,000 youth-serving professionals across the country.
And from Alaska to California to Florida and all states in between, Men Can Stop Rape has conducted Awareness-to-Action workshops for more than 30,000 youth and youth-serving professionals.
Our workshops and trainings raise awareness of the costs of sexual abuse, dating violence, and other forms of men's violence, and build young men's capacity to take a public stand alongside their female peers in fostering safe and strong relationships.
The Street Harassment Project
BECAUSE women are terrorized daily in public spaces, our personal space violated by men who block our paths, stand too close, use a too intimate and insulting language toward us...
BECAUSE this behavior is implicitly menacing and threatening and often becomes overtly threatening when a woman expresses her anger at these affronts...
BECAUSE the line between verbal harassment and physical menacing is often crossed...
BECAUSE on June 11, 2000, hundreds of men assaulted, stripped and fondled over 56 women in the public space of Central Park and the rage of women in the city exploded...
Gary Fuschi
5 Comments:
thisaintoz-
yep, n.y. is unique and unliveable imho.
i understand the point re: universities attracting creeps, there was plenty of that in n.y. too.
i guess my question is, statistically, is this activity increasing or is it relatively stagnant. i understand all the data is sometimes hard to find because universities tend to quiet these crimes when they can.
we know the abducted woman. she believes she was stalked and the circumstances re. "others waiting" supports that belief.
paradise-
i think it depends how truly threatened you feel. the hollabackny advocates a very aggressive response.
personally, that wouldn't be my choice. the police arrested the person who threatened my life this past summer under the charge of "verbal assault".
we should try and clarify the distinction between what you experienced, which is assault in my mind, and what the law is on the limits of verbal assault.
i have someone to call if it would help.
paradise,thisaintoz,-
i read the comments both of you had on the hole and i igree 100% with the arrest, confiscation of vehicle and publish the photo concept. this is the old "scarlet letter" shame you in public practice with a technological twist.
in ny, personal EYE contact with intimidators is a very risky response and more often than not leads to the escalation of a violent response from the intimidator.
the hollaback response is to use the "camera" to make eye contact which creates a "third party" inclusion and witness to the event. it seems, at least from the postings on their blog, to at least temporarily "stun" the intimidator into the realization that his or her actions might be used as evidence and that the exchange is being viewed by a wider audience.
it's obviously a very aggressive tactic. evidence seems to indicate that the arrest, confiscation and publish photo of the john in the local paper tactic has a chilling affect, at least in the towns that use this response.
the hollaback response is an empowering tactic that tries to shut the "loophole" in the law that exists with this type of intimidation. because, as thisaintoz has said, this behavior is not a punishable crime in most cases.
paradise-
i've been reading your recent posts in the hole as well as rpr and i recognize your fear and your anger. i am sorry that you had to experience that.
there is an immediate bond that exists with people who have experienced the shock of being violated whether its intimidation, or actual physical crimes such as sexual assault, robbery, rape or abduction. these crimes are all emotional and physical traumas and the personal response of the victim is often an anger or rage that needs affirmation.
talking about it is very helpful for many people and i admire your courage.
physical and punishbale crimes, if they are prosecuted and the offender caught, allows the victim the minimum "satisfaction" that there is justice and that the perpetrator is safely behind bars. this can be a path to the healing process.
unfortunately, the street intimidators are still out there and lurking and that is a tremendous source of fear and frustration to all of us, but especially someone like you.
i sense that you have beeen shocked into the realization that your personal space is no longer as safe as you once thought it was. is that true?
paradise-
that edgy and defensive behavior is like a communicable disease. rebbecca posted that inference in the "are we too connected" piece.
and we don't realize that we are feeling or acting this way because the daily absorption of all this news and personal experience is slow and incremental. it just creeps into your conciousness over time.
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