Where: Bread Brew (bonus: Bread and Brew is donating 10% of the proceeds to CASS!)
When: 3pm-4:30pm
What: Find out how you can get involved with us to make DC a safer place for all!

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to info@collectiveactiondc.org.

We look forward to meeting you!

Tomorrow night, January 21st, local bands Miyazaki, Ra Ra Rasputin, and supergroup Volta Bureau will help us raise awareness and funds for some of our programming at an all-ages benefit concert at St. Stephens run by Positive Force. The bands have spoken out in a series of PSA videos for TVD, and we hope you join them in solidarity tomorrow night!

Volta Bureau

Ra Ra Rasputin

Miyazaki

Find out more about these incredible local bands on The Vinyl District!

What if this post started with a comment on your outfit, or the shape of your body? What if it made a disparaging homophobic comment directed at you? This kind of harassment is a daily experience for a lot of people in the Washington, D.C. area, and Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) is dedicated to empowering them to speak out against it.

Through online activism, public advocacy and education, and community building, we work hard to make the streets of DC safe for everyone.

On Saturday, January 21st, local bands Miyazaki, Ra Ra Rasputin, and supergroup Volta Bureau will help us raise awareness and funds for some of our programming at an all-ages benefit concert at St. Stephens run by Positive Force. The bands will be speaking out themselves this week in a series of videos at TVD, but first we have a playlist to remind you to empower yourself.

Fugazi – “Suggestion”

I’m not sure anything better has been written expressing the frustration, anger, and injustice tied up in public sexual harassment than this song. Why can’t everyone walk down the street without suffering the judgment of complete strangers? The lyrics remind us to overcome our reactionary ideas about gender, or else we only “play the roles that they assigned us.”

Sonic Youth – “Swimsuit Issue”

This one was suggested by Patrick Kigongo of Ra Ra Rasputin, who will be playing Saturday’s benefit show. It’s a noisy invective against the male gaze and exploitative gender roles that makes it hard not to want to smash the patriarchy.

Le Tigre - ”Hot Topic”

Not only is this one to play while getting ready to head out on the town, the song pays tribute to a raft of influential feminist artists, musicians, and writers. Band member Kathleen Hanna could easily be included in such a list. It also provides some of the best advice an activist can hear: “Don’t you stop.”

No Doubt – “I’m Just a Girl”

This may be an obvious choice, and I hate to be predictable, but I think that every girl who was old enough to operate a discman in the mid-’90s rocked out to this song and loved it. I recommend that anyone reading this now undertake my after-school ritual from almost every day of the beginning of sixth grade: close the door to your room, turn this up, and flail.

Diana Ross - ”I’m Coming Out”

With its bouncy beat, classic disco vocals, and catchy hook, this song would be a perfect way to forget the haters. Add an empowering message and it’s a shoe-in for this list. A world without harassment is one in which everyone is free to be their authentic selves, and Ms. Ross reminds us not to lose sight of that goal.

I was cold, tired, a little disappointed, and just in no mood to really deal with anything. So when one of them started trying to get my attention, making “psstt” noises, I just ignored it and kept walking. They continued doing this and saying things like “what, you don’t hear me?” before I heard something land in the street a few inches behind me. Immediately they erupted into laughter and a chorus of, “shit, that was so close!”, and threw something else at me (neither hit). I heard one of them say, “you guys are fucking assholes.” Thanks. After that I think I lost my novelty and they let me walk home in angry, disturbed, resentful, pissed-off peace. I don’t think any good would have come from confronting these boys harassing me on the otherwise-empty street, but damn, I wish I had.

Submitted by L on 1/14

Location: Pershing Drive, Silver Spring

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.

Anyway, as expected, one of the men did turn out to be a verbal harasser, and said “girl, i wanna taste that little ______.”

What I didn’t expect, was that one of the other men would intentionally bump into me. The verbal harassment, coupled with this physical touch, was really unsettling. To make matters worse, I was audibly and visually disgusted by both the comment and the contact, and the man who originally verbally harassed me appeared to be offended and became even more threatening by shouting back at me, “I could, too!”

I took this as a serious threat, and was pretty jarred by it. The man’s words hurt, not just because of their offensive nature, but because they reminded me of the last time someone had taken something from me just because he “could.”

I’m a survivor of a previous sexual assault and have had to really work on healing to get to a point where I even feel like I can walk around the street by myself and not have anxiety. These guys set me back. Again.

Submitted by ALH on 1/10

Location: 4th and V, NW

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

During the third week of March (March 18-24), all the amazing and activists working to hard to fight street harassment and individuals around the world will join forces to collectively raise awareness about street harassment.

In 2011, we collaborated with Holly from Stop Street Harassment to organize community safety audits in honor of the first ever, Anti-Street Harassment day. This year, we are once again joining forces along side of Stop Street Harassment as well as a number of other organizations and individuals to raise awareness about this global epidemic and discuss solutions.

We’ll keep you posted as details become available.

See you on the streets!

was talking a walk down the street with a girlfriend one afternoon and a truck with two men slowed down beside us. The passenger yelled out of the window, “Hey baby! Where are you going! Want to come with us?”

We ignored the men and kept walking. After about 30 seconds from when they initially accosted us, the passenger threw a glass bottle at us from the vehicle and shouted expletives before racing away.

Another time, on the metro in DC coming home from high school, I made the mistake of dozing in my seat. I awoke gradually to the feeling of the man sitting next to me groping my leg beneath my school uniform skirt. The train was extremely crowded and I wasn’t able change seats or even move to another area of the car. I was so scared and I didn’t know what to do. He got off the train several minutes later.

Submitted by Anonymous

Location: 10th St and Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC

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.

Submitted by JG on 12/30/11

Location: 11th St NW between Otis and Monroe

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.

Details:
Doors at 7pm
Music 8pm
Done by 11pm
All Ages Welcome

We can’t wait to get down with all of our supporters, and we especially can’t wait to bring you the programming that gets more and more crucial every day.  Please join us on Saturday, January 21! If you are interested in volunteering at the event, please email dchollaback@gmail.com.

DEFEND YOURSELF from A to Z 

In this eight-week class, you’ll learn how to deal almost everything, from harassment and other verbal situations that make you uncomfortable all the way to physical attacks. You’ll learn to defend yourself from the ground (not just standing up); you’ll practice almost-infinite varieties of verbal and physical defense scenarios so that the skills are part of your “muscle memory” and you can rely on them when there’s no time to think.

Call, email, or check the web site if you want details.

• Mondays, Feb. 6 to March 26, 7-8:30 pm
• For women and teen girls age 16+
• 14th St. and Florida Ave., NW, DC (near U St./Cardozo on the Green Line)
• Discount for registering before Jan. 8

Learn self-defense basics in one afternoon

If all you’re looking for are some quick skills, sign up for “Introduction to self defense”: Saturday, Jan. 28, 1 pm at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Derwood (Rockville), Md. For details go here.