City Council Here We Come

Posted on February 21, 2012 by admin

GROUP CALLS ON WMATA TO ADDRESS SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT

Collective Action for Safe Spaces attends February 22^nd DC Council Performance Oversight Hearing on WMATA to Recommend How to Prevent Sexual Harassment and Assault

WASHINGTON, DC— During the DC City Council’s Performance Oversight Hearing of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) tomorrow, Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS), private citizens, and a street harassment expert will testify about public sexual harassment and assault that occurs on the transit system.

Across three years, CASS has received hundreds of stories about public sexual harassment and at least 30 percent of the experiences took place on or around transit stations, trains, buses or bus stops. CASS will recommend a three-pronged approach to curtailing these crimes.

“We want WMATA to institute a public service campaign, giving information on how to report sexual harassment and assault,” says Chai Shenoy, co-founder of Collective Action for Safe Spaces. “The fact is that this is a public safety concern—where obvious, egregious, and repeated acts are taking place in our transit system and not enough is being done to address these acts.”

Behind New York City, Washington, DC has the second largest transit system in the country, but among the top four largest transit systems, it does the least to address sexual harassment and assault. For example, while the three other cities, Boston, Chicago, and New York, instituted anti-sexual harassment PSA campaigns in 2008 and 2009, Washington, DC still does not have one.

In addition to a campaign, the advocacy group wants the DC City Council to urge WMATA to collect data on sexual harassment and train their employees and the Transit police on how to address sexual harassment and assault complaints. In addition, the training would underscore the importance of not sexually harassing passengers.

The hearing will take place on February 22, 2012 in the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, Room 500 at or around 1 p.m. It will also be streamed live at http://dccouncil.us/granicus.

Collective Action for Safe Spaces is a grassroots organization that aims to empower the DC Metro area to build a community free from public sexual harassment and assault. It is accomplished through online activism, public policy and advocacy, community workshops, and innovative direct services. Find more information at www.collectiveactiondc.org or Twitter @hollabackdc.

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If you would like more information about this topic, or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Chai Shenoy at chai@collectiveactiondc.org or (202) 556-4232.

Inappropriate and not necessary.

Posted on February 21, 2012 by admin

I work in food service in MidPike Plaza (I can’t disclose the specific place because I don’t want to lose my job), and there’s this guy that came in when I was working alone. He keep on making comments about what I was wearing, all of them I just glared back at him. I would have said something but I was scared because he was much bigger than I was an it was just me and him in the store. He knew what he was doing was making me feel uncomfortable, and when I finished ringing him up he said “you should smile it would make you look nicer” and left. Inappropriate and not necessary.

Submitted by anonymous on 2/18

Location: Mid Pike Plaza

Time of harassment:Night (7:30P-12A)

Did You See Us?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by admin

We are in the Washington Post this morning covering the planned testimony to DC City Council’s Performance Oversight of WMATA this Wednesday. It’s exciting because it’s the first time we are testifying in front of the Council and perhaps the first time the Council is hearing from at least five different individuals about their experiences with Metro sexual harassment.

Overall, Dana did a good job of getting my quotes. There is one glaring issue: her lede

A man walks up to a woman on a Metro train and tells her she looks good in that skirt.

Is that an insult, sexual harassment or a compliment?

A grass-roots group says it’s a form of “street harassment” that has become all too common throughout the transit network.

First, I was never given that example and asked if it was a compliment, insult, or sexual harassment? So, there is that. Second, if I was given that example, I would have said, it depends. Not to be all lawyerly, but the reality is that it does depend. Much of what we are dealing with in defining public sexual harassment is creating a community definition. We said that from the start of our online presence. We–the staff, Board, volunteers–are not the Merriam Webster of what is street harassment. Rather, YOU are. You, the individual that felt harassment. You, the reader of the website. You, the commenter. That is what makes this space unique. Things that occur now and deemed appropriate would be considered offensive in Downton Abbey. Culture shifts, definitions move, and human beings interact differently.

What I would have said if Dana asked me the question, is if that person who gave the compliment got angry/insulted and started saying curse words and invading her space, that would be considered public sexual harassment. If that person who gave the compliment got angry/insulted and then decided to follow the target of his compliment (period) and/or attempted to touch her or take pictures of her underneath her skirt without her consent, that would be public sexual harassment (and attempted battery/assault). But, if that person who gave the compliment and the target of his compliment didn’t respond, and he continued on his merry way, it would be considered whatever the person who received that compliment considers it to be. Most people who receive that compliment would not consider that harassment. And, we at Collective Action for Safe Spaces don’t necessarily consider that public sexual harassment. But, let’s be real here.

MOST OF THE EXPERIENCES PEOPLE SUBMIT ON THIS SITE ARE OFTEN OF THE FORMER, NOT OF THE LATTER.

Phew. Okay. There.

We know people minimize public sexual harassment and assault and boil it down to a woman being a target of a compliment and not being happy with it. Or not finding the person who stated the compliment attractive enough. Again, even if that does happen, our concern is to get WMATA to address incidents like this one, or this one, or even this one.

Public sexual harassment and assault is a big deal.

Really?

Posted on February 13, 2012 by admin

A few weeks ago, I was waiting for a friend outside the Chinatown Metro station. A guy walked by said “Hi.” When I said “Hi” back. He replied, “I love you.”

Really? You couldn’t just leave it at “Hi”, you just had to add on the “I love you.”?

Submitted by anonymous on 2/13

Location: 7th & H

Time of harassment: Day Time (9:30A-3:30P)

Do you have a personal experience with gender-based public sexual harassment or assault you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out the online submission form. All submissions are posted anonymously unless you specify.

Vigil for Deoni Jones

Posted on February 9, 2012 by admin

Cross posted from Stop Street Harassment:

Last Thursday at 8:13 p.m., 22-year-old Deoni Jones, was stabbed in the cheek at a Metrobus stop at East Capitol Street and Sycamore Road NE in Washington, D.C. She died from the wound.

Deplorable. What senseless violence and end to such a young person’s life.

From video footage in the area, police described the suspect as “a black male between 30 and 40 years old wearing blue jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt and black jacket. Anyone with information on the person of interest is advised to contact detectives investigating Jones’ death via the MPD tip line at (202) 727-9099 or texting to 50411.”

Via the DCist.com:

“Jones’ death brings up memories of a wave of attacks last year against members of D.C.’s transgender community. Perhaps most jarring was the killing last September of

Gaurav Gopalan, an aerospace engineer and theater director. One activist told DCist last week that 61 percent of transgender people experience some kind of violence against them, and in the case of transgender people of color, like Jones, the rate is even higher.”

Last night I joined two of my fellow Collective Action for Safe Spaces board members and about one hundred community members, family members and friends of Deoni at the bus stop for a vigil. We held lit candles and listened to prayers, memories shared of Deoni’s life, and condemnations of the senseless killing from trans-rights organizations and representatives from the mayor’s office and the police department.

Releasing balloons that represent the lives of murdered transgender individuals like Deoni Jones

Near the end of the vigil, someone let loose a bunch of colorful balloons. Each balloon represented the life of a transgender person who was murdered in DC over the last few years. People shouted out the names of their loved ones, including Deoni’s. It was a touching tribute and also sobering to see the visual showing just how many hateful murders have taken place.

The streets should be safe for everyone.

Via the DC Trans Coalition site:

“If you have been a victim of violence, or if you know someone who has, you can reach out to us at 202.681.3282 or email dctc@dctranscoalition.org. You can also call Transgender Health Empowerment at 202.636.1646 or HIPS via their 24-hour hotline at 1.800.676.HIPS. If you need police assistance, dial 911 or call the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit at 202.506.0714.”