Collective Action for Safe Spaces

Cleveland Park Resident Takes A Stand Against Street Harassment!

renee — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:21:02 +0000

Last week, Lucia, a Chevy Chase resident, wrote a message to the Chevy Chase listerv about experiencing street harassment from a construction worker working on her street. She confronted the harasser during the first incident, but the harassment happened a second time when she later walked down her street with the 3-year-old child she nannies.

“I can understand how some might feel that repeated harassment could have been avoided, simply by walking down another block,” she wrote. “But I live here, and I am not in the wrong. I should not have to avoid walking down my own street for fear of harassment.”

Lucia shared contact information for the architect with the listserv, noting that “if others have had a similar experience, please do let this construction company know. I refuse to put up with it day after day until their project is done.” Her call to action spurred a torrent of supportive emails and calls to the construction company by her neighbors. The company soon got in touch with Lucia and let her know that they would address this problem with her harasser, even offering to facilitate a conversation between them.

We’re so pleased to see a community take *collective action* to support a survivor of harassment! BIG CASS props to Lucia for showing us the power of raising your voice and engaging your neighbors. We’re continually encouraged by evidence that companies are listening to concerns and taking public sexual harassment seriously — including, relatedly, trivializing stereotypes of construction workers as harassers.

As our friend Holly of Stop Street Harassment points out, there’s still much work to be done, and Lucia’s story shows us how speaking out and challenging the normalization of street harassment is within our power. We welcome you to speak out and share your own stories with us any time, anonymously or not.

With Lucia’s permission, the story is reconstructed below through email exchanges between CASS and Lucia and the Chevy Chase neighborhood listerv.

To: ChevyChaseCommunityListserv@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 9:19 AM
Subject: [ChevyChase] Harassment – Livingston St. construction site

Yesterday, in the early afternoon as I walked on Livingston towards the Starbucks on Connecticut, I passed an on-going residential construction site.

Several workers were on-site near the porch area of the home. One of them decided to start harassing me via cat-calls. The others laughed. He was doing so quite loudly, in Spanish. I speak Spanish fluently. I sped up the sidewalk, but it continued. I turned around and said “Excuse me?” in Spanish and left. More laughter.

30 min later, I walked back down Livingston heading home. This time I had my 3yr old charge with me.

Same exact harassment. I was so disgusted and angered by the lack of respect, especially in front of a child, that I decided to take action. I informed them that their comments were not appropriate, appreciated or professional. I snapped a picture of them with my cell phone and let them know that the construction company they worked for would be hearing from me. I don’t think they would approve of their employees harassing women on a job site.

On a side note; I noticed that other women (Caucasian) were not harassed, even just a few yards away from me. Perhaps the thought process was that I, a young Hispanic female, would be an easy target.

I can understand how some might feel that repeated harassment could have been avoided, simply by walking down another block. But I live here, and I am not in the wrong. I should not have to avoid walking down my own street for fear of harassment.

If others have had a similar experience, please do let this construction company know. I refuse to put up with it day after day until their project is done.

Follow-up Email from Lucia to the Cleveland Park Listserv:

The first person to contact me was of course the architect, who had the misfortune of posting the one piece of use-able contact information on the construction site. He was shocked and gave me the contractor’s name. He also offered to phone the home owner and make her aware. Unfortunately, as the day progressed, he started to receive concerning phone calls and emails with negative remarks on his business associations. Clearly, he had no say on who was hired for the job.

The home owner was appalled. She called her contractor who in turn assured us that he would speak with the person involved directly. I did speak with the contractor. He explained to me that he had sub-contracted a roofer who had been on this particular job site for the first time yesterday. He had asked for several references before hiring him and was surprised to hear that said roofer had harassed me. However, he set up a meeting with him, tomorrow, to sort it all out and has asked if I’d be interested in attending to identify the perpetrator directly. I’m still debating that. In any case, this person will not be invited back to the job site.

I cannot say enough about how the homeowner, architect and contractor have decided to react. I feel confident that this will soon be resolved. I do feel badly that this might reflect negatively on their businesses, and ask that we focus the actual perpetrator and the fact that we final say on what becomes the norm in our neighborhood. I am posting this under a new Topic thread in hopes that listserve members realize that the incident was indeed handled very well by the homeowner, architect and contractor.

Email to Lucia From the Contractor:

“I wanted to let you know that I spoke individually with my four regular workers who were at the job site this week. Each had a blank, deer-in-the-headlights look when I inquired about the incident. Two were aware that someone had taken a picture of the project, but did not seem to know why.

In contrast, the roofer who fit the physical description you gave and who was a first-time subcontractor reacted as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He did not acknowledge making inappropriate comments, but his facial reaction and the change in body language indicated that he was not comfortable with the discussion. He did state that he looked at a pretty lady walking down the street in the afternoon and that latinos talk a lot when working…maybe she misunderstood. His jaw dropped when I informed him that you speak fluent Spanish.

I realized that in my earlier conversations with the homeowner and you that we had not discussed the time of day when the event occurred. I called the homeowner and confirmed that you had reported it was in the afternoon. With his reference to an afternoon event I am confident that we have identified the source of the problem. I assure you that he will not perform any additional work for our company.

Most of my workers have been with me for many years. Our clients allow us into their homes where we have access to all their possessions. We recognize and value the trust they place in us. I routinely receive compliments from our clients about the care and concern our workers display when working on projects. This incident was in sharp contrast to our business practices, and I extend my sincere apologies.

With best regards,
[REDACTED]

Case closed. Thanks again for the supportive comments,

Lucia

“I was sexually harassed at least 6 times while walking home from work in Dupont.”

renee — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:13:32 +0000

Location: Walking from Dupont to Howard U
Time: Daytime (9:30am-3:30pm)

Walking home from my job in Dupont, I was harassed in varying degrees of lewdness no less than six times – and that’s just what I noticed with my headphones in.

Everything from gross sound effects to people singing songs about my ass as I walk by to unintelligible catcalls followed by dudes high fiving each other. Ugh. My route is 17th to New Hampshire to U to 14th, most harassment on U and 14th.

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/16/13 by “Leah”

Do you have a personal experience with gender-based public sexual harassment or assault?
Submit your story to help raise awareness about the pervasiveness and harmful effects of street harassment. All submissions are posted anonymously unless otherwise specified.

If you experience or have experienced sexual harassment on the DC Metro system:
Whether the event is happening at the moment or occurred months ago, we strongly encourage you to report to Metro Transit Police (MTP): www.wmata.com/harassment or 202-962-2121. Reporting helps identify suspects as well as commons trends in harassment. Recommended tip: Program MTP’s number into your phone so you can easily reach them when needed.

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).

Ud. Trabaja o Vive en DC e Utiliza WMATA? Favor, Toma Nuestra Encuesta!

renee — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:09:22 +0000

NOTE: This is the Spanish version of our survey. Need the English version? Find it here. We want to reach as many folks from as man background as possible. Please send to any Spanish-speakers you know!

Ud. ha sido víctima del acoso sexual en tránsito público en DC?
Ud. trabaja o vive en DC e utiliza WMATA?
Favor, toma nuestra encuesta!

Gracias!

<3 Collective Action for Safe Spaces

I was sexually assaulted at the Cleveland Park Metro: “We need to think of sexual assault as a CRIME.”

renee — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:46:41 +0000

Location: Inside the Cleveland Park metro station
Time: Evening Rush Hour (3:30pm-7:30pm)

Just as the train approached, a group of noisy 4-5 teenage boys ran behind me. I thought they were running to relocate to a different part of the train. I felt a hand quickly tap the underside of my left butt cheek and I heard someone “Whoot!” When I looked over at the boys, one of them turned back to look at me and laugh. I was already late to a friend’s birthday party so I just got on the train.

I called metro police later and they were very helpful and comprehensive when asking me the details. Unfortunately, it was already 4 hours after the incident and I had no clear descriptions of my assailant since it all happened so quickly. In hindsight, I wish I had not gotten onto the train, and I wish I had called the police immediately. I could have been able to identify the assailant with his fingerprints on my jeans. I could have located them inside the station or at least that train if they had gotten on.

We, as a society, are taught to respond in set ways to theft but we have no guidelines on how to react to sexual assault. If my purse were stolen, I would have reported it immediately. But when my body was touched, I had no idea I had rights. I had no idea what options I had.

To readers out there, I strongly urge you to first think of sexual assault as a CRIME. Stop what you are doing immediately. Life can wait. Call the police. Stay where you are and try to remember all details.

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/11/13 by “A.S.”

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).

“All The Stories Submitted to CASS Inspired Me To Confront Street Harassment!”

renee — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:13:33 +0000

Location: Mt. Pleasant Street and Park Road NW
Time: Evening Rush Hour (3:30pm-7:30pm)

Street harassment is not a compliment! Image via http://wechalkwalk.tumblr.com/

Seeing CASS’s posts in my Facebook feed recently has made me more aware of street harassment and more emboldened to respond. Several days ago, two young men were walking behind me, talking generally about the rear ends of women of a certain race (my race).

After listening for a bit, I had a sense that their conversation was directed at me and that they intended for me to hear. So I stopped, turned to them, and waited until they caught up to me. “That’s completely unacceptable. You can’t talk about women’s bodies that way,” I told them firmly. Although they protested that they weren’t talking about me, I repeated “that’s not okay” a few times (and couldn’t think of anything better to say).

After ten seconds or so, one apologized. I told him I appreciated the apology and would appreciate his not talking about women that way again. We parted ways.

After this exchange, I felt great. Although I hadn’t said anything brilliant, I protested, and that seemed to be enough. (And bonus points: I hadn’t angrily cursed or insulted them, which is often my instinct.)

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/10/13 by “AM”

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).

Harassed By DC Bus Driver: “I was relying on him to get me home, not hit on me & make me feel unsafe!”

renee — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:40:59 +0000

Location: ”E” bus from Friendship Heights to Petworth
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)

I was rushing to the Friendship Heights bus stop after work around 11:30pm but slowed down once I saw that the driver was still standing outside the bus. As I approached I reached into my bag to pull out my metro card and a slip of paper fell out; I picked it up and went to get on the bus. I then hear from behind me, “hey, you dropped my number back there” and turn around to see it was the bus driver. I find that “pick-up line” to be very uncreative and just plain stupid (as most of them are) so I reply “Oh yeah?”, annoyingly chuckle, and continue to board the bus while ignoring him.

Its a full bus and I sit near the front so when its time for me to get off at my stop I walk towards the front exit. As I’m turning to walk down the steps of the bus I feel someone reach out and tap my hand. I turn around once again to see the bus driver with a stupid grin on his face and he is starting to rattle off his phone number. I immediately say “ha”, give him a dirty look and step off the bus.

What I really felt like doing was yelling at him to leave me the hell alone. I encounter street harassment on the regular, as many other people do too, and it is never ok. This particular situation made me uncomfortable because it was someone that I was relying on to get me home, he was on the clock for a public service job, and he reached into my space and physically touched me. Don’t violate my space, looking for attention!

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/9/13 by “Sara Shaw”

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).

Help Us Make DC Safer: Tell us about your transit needs!

julia — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:13:31 +0000

At Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS), we have much love for each and every member of our active and informed community who contributes to the blog, engages with us on social media and rolls up their sleeves to lend a hand. Whether you’re an active contributor or a quiet supporter, we think you’re the bee’s knees.

As CASS prepares to launch RightRidesDC (modeled after New York’s award-winning RightRides program that has been operating successfully since 2004), we want to know about your transportation experiences, including public transit, private taxis, car services, and walking or biking late at night around DC! This information will be invaluable to our efforts to meet the safe, affordable transportation needs of our community.

The survey closes Friday, May 24. Please, tweet, post on FB, send to your listervs and forward to friends, colleagues, strangers who live or play in DC! As a small gift for helping us out, at the end of the survey, you’ll be able to submit your email address to be included in a drawing for a $25 gift certificate.

ABOUT RIGHTRIDES

RightRides provides free, safe rides home to women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and gender non-conforming (LGBTQGNC) individuals on Friday and Saturday nights, from 11:59 P.M. to 3:00 A.M. Rides are provided by friendly volunteer driving teams made up of a driver and a navigator (one of which identifies as female) to see riders home safely and help advocate for their increased personal safety. All driving teams are pre-screened to meet high safety standards.

Since 2004, RightRides in New York City has driven more than 6,000 Riders safely home. Last year saw a 51 percent increase in reported sexual assaults in DC, as well as over 40 reported hate crimes based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, we want to bring RightRides to DC. The RightRides motto puts it aptly: “Because getting home safely shouldn’t be a luxury.”

Street harassed at Fort Totten: “Sexual harassment does NOT do me any favors!”

renee — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:23:35 +0000

Location: Fort Totten Metro Station – Green/Yellow Line
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)

As I was walking down the metro platform (after leaving training for volunteering at a rape crisis center no less), a man felt the need to tell me he was going to “eat my pussy” and that he was sure I “must be very wet.”

When I kept on walking without acknowledging him, he began to assure his friends that it “must be really sour” and that he would be doing me a favor.

I’m still shaken up, and really angry that I didn’t do anything about it except continue on walking.

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/7/13 by “nmd”

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).

No, You CANNOT Touch My Body: “I shouted back at vulgar street harassment.”

renee — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:38:43 +0000

Location: Columbia and 18th St NW (Adams Morgan)
Time: Late Night (12am-5am)

I was walking next to a male friend of mine and coming from the other direction was a man stumbling a bit was walking straight towards me and I could tell he was going to say something to me. He said to me as we passed each other “Let me suck your pussy.” I screamed “shut the fuck up” and as I walked by I heard a couple “ohs” in surprise from other men on the street.

I usually don’t say anything but must have felt safer since it was a crowded street and I was next to a male friend.

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/7/13 by “SBS”

Street harassment is just that – harassment.

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).

“I witnessed a man talk about taking advantage of an intoxicated woman on the Metro. What can we do to intervene?”

renee — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:20:59 +0000

Location: Blue Line, Pentagon Metro Station
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)

This happened a year ago. My friend and I were riding home on Metro after class, around 10pm. Across the aisle from us (the seats that face each other) was a girl who had a little too much fun at happy hour. She was barely staying awake. As we were approaching Pentagon station, she got up to get out. As people were filing out, a middle-aged man who was sitting next to us got up, bent down and commented to me and my friend about “going home with her tonight,” and got off the train just as the doors were closing. As the train pulled away we could see him go up and talk to her.

We were stunned. I wanted to help but I did not know what to do. My stop was the next one but what would I have reported? Yes he was unbelievably inappropriate but I don’t feel like I saw enough. There interaction could have ended on the platform for all I know. Still bothers me when I think about it. Watched the news for days afterward seeing if anything did happen and was reported to police. Luckily I never heard of anything.

I would appreciate some guidance on what I could have done to help her in case I ever witness this in the future.

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/6/13 by Anonymous

Sex without consent = sexual assault; Don’t Be That Guy Campaign

If you need assistance in coping with public sexual harassment or assault, please contact the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) 24/7 crisis hotline at 202-333-RAPE (202-333-7279).