Collective Action for Safe Spaces

Followed and Harassed

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:06:14 +0000

Walking down H street with my female partner trying to catch the X2 bus. We were walking side by side, not holding hands. Man with group with a group of friends yelled, “Hey girls!” repeatedly as we approached – probably five or six times, we veered away from him and he even moved towards us. He continued to yell as we passed him. I turned around, made eye contact as I flipped him off. He followed for a half block and continued to yell at us. He eventually got bored and stopped. Street harassment makes me feel unsafe when I leave my house and it greatly angers me. I *never* consider this type of attention welcome or a compliment.

Submitted by bb

Location: H Street

Time of harassment: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)

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.

Terrifying Experience

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:54:59 +0000

Walking alone towards Dupont, hands full of bags, I was surrounded by a group of 5 young men. They circled me and taunted me with things like “I love you baby” and “Where are you going, we’ll walk you there.” One came very close to my face and asked if he could whisper in my ear. They refused to let me pass. People walked by and sat around without doing anything to help me out. I finally gathered my wits enough to tell them as loudly as possible to back off or I was going to start screaming. I guess they thought I just wasn’t worth the fight – they laughed and let me go. This was a terrifying experience, and I was VERY close to feeling like I needed to start using physical violence in self defense. The fact that people looked on as if it were entertainment was sickening. Groups of young men just sitting around on either side of a sidewalk are THREATENING and make Adams Morgan unsafe for women. More police presence is necessary to disperse these groups, and women must carry pepper spray and feel free to use it.

Submitted on 3/22/12 by Anonymous.

Location: 18th and Florida NW, DC

Time: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)

Hang Out With WIN

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:35:16 +0000

After a long day o’work, come out and hang with Women’s Information Network as they host a happy hour in honor of CASS. You can learn more about the RightRides DC program, and enjoy appetizers for WIN members. Today, 6:30pm – … Continue reading →

Hey is for Horses.

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:29:39 +0000

I was walking to the Columbia Heights Giant when I heard a guy say “hey girlfriend” in my direction. I looked around and found there were only a few other pedestrians around in what’s usually a pretty busy area. The man was sitting on the steps of the Tivoli. I looked him in the eye and said “that’s not appropriate” as I kept walking. He laughed and said “hey girlfriend” again in the same fake-sweet tone. I kept walking and shouted back at him “that’s harassment – don’t do that, you asshole!” When he predictably laughed more and said the same thing again, I turned around and looked at him from what was by then a half-block distance, and I shouted “NO” as loudly and sharply as I could. I shouted “NO” at him twice, the same way as I shout “NO” at my dog when she does something bad. A few other pedestrians stopped and looked at me. I didn’t hear him say anything else after that. I’m grateful that he wasn’t still there when I came out of the grocery store a short while later, but I was seething for at least an hour after it happened.

Submitted on 3/22/12 by JR.

Location: Park Rd at 14th St NW, DC

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

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.

Fly Away, Eagles Fan

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:48:57 +0000

I was crossing the street to at 1:30pm to return to my office from my lunch break. A man who was also crossing from the opposite direction walked up to me and grabbed my hip. He mumbled somethign [sic] unintelligible as he touched me. I turned around and said “what?” and then kept walking to my office because I didn’t want to engage. He was wearing an Eagles jersey.

Submitted by RD on March 8, 2012

Location: DC, on the streets

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

“A Man Exposed Himself On the Blue Line”

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000

A self-declared homeless man entered our metro car as the train was leaving Smithsonian. During the ride between Smithsonian and L’enfant, the man declared that he would do anything for money, including prostitute himself (he used more profane language). He proceeded to unbutton his pants and pulled his jeans and boxer shorts all the way down, exposing himself while standing in the center of the aisle.

Submitted by JOT on 3/1/2012

Location: Metro- Blue Line between L’enfant Plaza and Smithsonian

Time of harassment: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)

An Act

admin — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:02:11 +0000

Today, CM Bowser introduced legislation making it easier for Transit Police to arrest individuals who were engaging in lewd, indecent, obscene behavior on the Metro. One of the issues we’ve heard from Transit Police is they can’t arrest someone for masturbating, unless they see that person engaging in that behavior. Although we do NOT support more people getting arrested, we do want Metro to be safe for all, and not have to watch individuals doing obscene things while staring at you.

Here is the act:

______________________
Councilmember Muriel Bowser

A BILL

________

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

________________________

To amend section 23-581 of the District of Columbia Official Code to enhance enforcement of the indecent exposure law by allowing police officers to arrest suspects without a warrant when officers have probable cause to believe that suspects have committed lewd, indecent, or obscene acts.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
act may be cited as the “Sexual Harassment Prevention Act of 2012”.

Sec. 2. Section 23-581 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended as follows:
(a) Subsection (a-7) (D.C. Official Code § 23-581(a-7)) is amended to read as follows:
“(a-7) A law enforcement officer may arrest a person without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed the offense of misdemeanor sexual abuse, misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child or minor, or lewd, indecent, or obscene acts as provided in sections 22-3006, 22-3010.01, and 22-1312.”
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) b of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(3)).
Sec. 4. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and a 30-day period of congressional review as provided in Section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code §1-206(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.

What are your thoughts?

Sorry for Silence

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:28:57 +0000

It’s been a hectic few weeks. As you know, we are a volunteer run shop, with little to no funding. All of us running CASS have full-time gigs (some multiple gigs) and things get lost in the shuffle. With the WMATA campaign, potential partnership with ZipCar DC, and other events happening, we haven’t been updating the lovely blog.

A quick update on what happened in March:

CASS met with WMATA & Muriel Bowser after testifying in front of DC City Council in February. We attended two working group meetings, and assisted in distributing fliers on Monday.
Holly Kearl, Chai Shenoy, Council Member Muriel Bowser, Ben Merrion
We formed a Transportation Working Group with the individuals that testified and others who were interested in getting more involved with WMATA changes. If you want to join, send us an email at info at collectiveactiondc.org.
WMATA began working on mocking up PSAs from MBTA and asked for our input. We gave our input on how to make it more DC-specific and ideas to make the PSA campaign better.
CASS organized two events for International Anti-Street Harassment Week, including the REAL Metro Forum.
CASS talked with ZipCar DC about forming a partnership for the launch of RightRides DC this summer and they said it was a strong possibility it would happen.
We outreached with the LGBTQ organizations working on the hate crimes that are making our streets unsafe for our constituents. We attended a DCTC planning meeting, and hope to continue to strengthen that partnership.
CASS got you all to nominate bad ass feminists in the DC sphere to be invited to an intimate gathering with Jaclyn Friedman, author and badass herself. It was a great turnout of amazing women and men who are doing a lot in DC!
We got SWAG!! YEAH!!
…and we did a lot of media.

March Media Madness

In the meantime, please submit your experiences of street harassment here. You see, it is making a difference, one experience at a time.

Judging Street Harassment. What do you think?

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:43:18 +0000

we heard from a gov’t lawyer about how she used street harassment in one of her recent cases. here is a synopsis in her own words:

In a trial for Disorderly Conduct – Abusive Language or Gestures, the prosecutor argued that the defendant’s statements rose to the level of “abusive language said in a manner likely to provoke physical retaliation.”

The defendant made three statements to three different women walking in the street. One of the statements was ”hey bitches, you want some of this?”. The judge asked how a single statement to a strange woman on the street would provoke her to retaliate against the defendant. The government argued that the statement should not be considered in a vacuum. Rather, the judge had to consider the culture of street harassment and the power of the word bitch (as used against a woman) when evaluating the provocative nature of that comment, and its likelihood to provoke a physical response.

The judge acquitted the defendant. She found that while the language was abusive, it did not rise to the level mandated by the statute.

what are your thoughts?

Walk Home

admin — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:00:26 +0000

With all of these experiences with street harassment, we forget about the importance of caring for one’s self. Whether it be the physical and taking self-defense class to the metaphysical, thinking about our healing process is a necessity in finding a safe space in ourselves.

We have partnered with Luminous Warrior for International Anti-Street Harassment Week to bring you a two hour safe space to discuss street harassment and finding inner peace. It’ll take place on March 18 from 11-1 p.m. at the Luminous Warrior studios (near Metro Center).

Although it is a free event, gratuities are welcome (for studio space). Please RSVP here, and spread the word!

Let’s create some OM when walking/commuting/biking home.