Sexual Harassment Awareness Week: harassment out in the open

This week we learned a lot about sexual harassment at work, at school and on our streets. Together we have given women a voice to tell their stories of harassment and to reflect on these stories.

Too often we let things slide, we are silent in the face of harassment; too embarrassed, filled with guilt and frightened to speak up. We keep the stories to ourselves and justify the silence with simple catch-all phrases that we have heard repeated throughout our lives: “It’s not a big deal,” or “It’s normal, just learn to live with it,” or even “You should have expected that.”

What else can you do?

The first step is often to talk to someone that you trust like a friend, co-worker or your parent. Being harassed is something that you shouldn't keep to yourself.

Recently, people have been taking to twitter and other social media to tell their stories: 

I was having an okay day.
It’s Sunday, and I didn't have a lot that was required of me today, except to drop my bike off to be painted. So I relaxed, had a slice of apple pie with my breakfast. Talked to Captain on the phone for an hour. I lazily had a shower and got ready, it was so gorgeous outside, I put on shorts and a tank top. I took this picture of myself before I left.

I hopped on my bike and went on my way to take it to it’s destination, where my dad was going to meet me to help and then take me home.
On my way, which was probably a mere 15 minute ride, I came across two young men, 20-25, approaching from the opposite direction. One was riding the bike and the one was sitting on the handlebars. As we got closer I steered extremely to the right to leave room for them to pass. When they neared me they started jeering.
“Hey baby” the one on the handlebars said, making lewd masturbatory movements and licking his lips. “Nice ass!” yelled the other.
I said nothing. I was Emma Frost. My face stayed expressionless and we passed each other.
“Are you fucking kidding me?? Bitch!” I heard from behind me. I flipped them the bird with my face still looking ahead, focused on my mission. I was coming up to a busy street. “Stop! Turn this around” I heard. I looked behind me. They were turning their bike around to follow me.
“Get the fuck back here!!”
I biked. I biked faster than I ever have in my entire life. And after a block they stopped following me.
When I arrived my dad looked at me for only a moment before asking “What’s wrong?? Are you okay?” I immediately burst into tears and told him. “Do you want me to go look for them?”
“No, I want to go home.” I choked.
I was having an okay day.
I was. 

--Angelina, or ALB from http://albinwonderland.tumblr.com

Talking to someone will help you determine what your next course of action will be.

Situations like online bullying/harassment and street harassment are a little harder to deal with, as they don't fall under the institutions of school or work, where measures are taken to ensure harassment is dealt with.

Cyber bullying can take it's toll, and can be very dangerous. Perpetrators often have more confidence, and are not afraid to throw insults and lewd comments over the net because they feel they are protected by anonymity.

The best thing to do if you find yourself being bullied online is to take screen shots, and record any possible information you can about the person harassing you. If you are being threatened, or are fearful for your life contact your local authorities and present them with the evidence you have gathered.

You can also check out this Canadian resource for "cyber stalking" where you can find information on what to do to protect yourself from cyber bullies.

Empowerment & finding our voice:

Being able to talk about sexual harassment, and addressing the issue head on is a form of empowerment. Sexism and sexual harassment are still prevalent in our society. Even though the definition of sexual harassment is clear, it still happens on a daily basis to girls and women around the world.

Check out these resources and projects that are helping women everywhere find their voices and become empowered through addressing sexual harassment.

The everyday sexism project, an increasingly popular campaign out of the UK put out this video yesterday:



On their twitter feed, and their website you can read stories from victims of sexual harassment. The project hopes that addressing these stories will re-open discussions about sexism and sexual harassment, which are still prominent in our everyday lives.

The Ontario Women's Directorate has a great resource on sexual harassment. This site has information on your rights, what to do if you are being harassed, a section on online bullying and more.

UFCW Canada has a Sexual Harassment Reference and Rights

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter have a Sexual Harassment fact sheet that outlines the definition of sexual harassment, why it happens, what the consequences are and more.

All Women's Action Society is hosting Sexual Harassment OUT (SHout) Campaign. The SHout Campaign is a national campaign focused on ending sexual harassment in Malaysia