“I felt so angry, violated and offended.”

Posted on November 19, 2012 by renee

Location: North Capitol St and L St NW
Time: Evening Rush Hour (3:30pm-7:30pm)

I was walking home from work around 7pm up North Capitol Street from Union Station. As was passing Mt. Airy Baptist Church on the NW corner of L Street and North Cap, I suddenly felt someone slap my behind. I was on the phone with my sister at the time (my mistake for being on the phone, right?) and was so taken off guard that when I turned around and saw a young teenager jogging away from me all I could do was yell “That was extremely inappropriate!” I was just so surprised.

I kept on walking, continuing to talk on the phone about what had just happened, and within 30 seconds, I hadn’t even traveled a whole block, it happened again! Only this time he slapped my behind harder. Something ticked in me and I started yelling my lungs out after him, and admittedly, I started running after him. I felt so angry, violated and offended – I didn’t know how to react. I quickly learned that he could run twice as fast as me, so I stopped running, feeling helpless. Fortunately, there was a woman getting out of her car in front of the apartment building on the SW corner of M st and North Cap, and she spoke with me and calmed me down, but no one saw the boy’s face.

I reported the event to the police 24 hours later because I was very upset about it when it happened; in hindsight, I wish I had reported it when it happened. They told me there were some cameras around the church. Next time, I will call them right away.

Submitted on 11/7/12 by “RL”

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:
Please consider reporting to Metro Transit Police: www.wmata.com/harassment; 202-962-2121.

The “Dupont Circle Bike Groper” & Sentencings for Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse

Posted on September 6, 2012 by chai

For those who don’t know, let’s be clear: It is hard to report the crime of groping to police. You know why? Because many victims of groping may internalize the crime as petty and not as big a deal as other physical assaults. Another reason why? Well, because there is a theme in our communities of how police react to these crimes: “If you don’t know what he looked like, then we don’t know if we can move forward.” In comes Liz.

Liz reported the crime to MPD. She gave a description, location, time. She called the police immediately. It was a moment of strength, determination, and “damn, we shouldn’t be dealing with this crap” that moved Liz. To be fair, it really got the conversation going again. We, DC Metro residents, shouldn’t tolerate street harassment, particularly that type of harassment which is an affront to our physical space. Your hand should not touch my ass. Nor should your hand, because your brain decided it, attempt to go up my skirt.

It appears many women reported assaults by the same suspect. And, it appears, that the police took these cases seriously. Applause. They combed through surveillance footage, did stake outs, and interviewed witnesses. Check, check and check. And, then they caught the alleged perpetrator, showed him the video, and he admitted his guilt to the crimes that were caught on camera. He also stated that he did it to several other women. Now we drop the “alleged.”

He was charged with misdemeanor sexual abuse and released to a halfway house. Keep in mind, a misdemeanor sentence is light.

Before we start getting rattled on this, let’s applaud MPD for their efforts in nabbing this guy. It may not sound like we should. But, we should. We hope they continue pulling out all the stops in all areas of DC, for all victims of sex crimes, for whenever these sex crimes take place– day or night. Seriously, awesome! Keep it up!

And, let’s take a moment to realize how messed up the criminal justice system is. It’s a complicated affair to be happy on a global level when a man of color admits guilt to misdemeanor sexual abuse. We understand that street harassment—sexual violence—is complex. Someone somewhere said that this behavior, sexually violating a person’s body without their consent, is fine. It’s okay. It’s what everyone does. We are up against a lot to change the way we teach, talk, and love one another.

But, what we can’t expect is the futility of reporting a sex crime. Here is the statute:

Whoever engages in a sexual act or sexual contact with another person and who should have knowledge or reason to know that the act was committed without that other person’s permission, shall be imprisoned for not more than 180 days and, in addition, may be fined in an amount not to exceed $1,000.

If the point is a slap on the wrist, will it matter? Does it move the ball forward if a perpetrator who grabs a woman’s breasts does not get in serious trouble? Do these laws actually stop a potential perpetrator from violating a woman’s body? With laws reflecting our moral standards, are we okay with this?

Collective Action for Safe Spaces is not pro-criminalization. We are pro-ending street harassment. This comes in many different forms—from community education and forums to potential jail time. From restorative justice mechanisms to tougher sentencing options for those who admit to sexual assault. We are pro-survivor. Sometimes the target of street harassment wants to report to police, sometimes he or she does not. We are pro-community. We take our community where it is — potential perpetrators, potential victims, and everyone on the edges and in between.

You’ve heard our opinion. Now, you tell us yours. Do you want the sentencing of misdemeanor sexual abuse to be stronger?

Harassed and Assaulted by Metro Police

Posted on September 13, 2011 by guest

This altercation with the Metro Transit Police occurred on July 1, 2011 at about 9:30pm at the Verizon center/Chinatown Metro on the entrance across the street from Rosa Mexicana on 7^th & F st in Washington, DC.

The incident began when one of my friend’s metrocard was not working due to it being demagnetized, and I was trying to explain to the metro attendant, along with one of the Metro transit police.

After they chose to ignore my explanation I made the comment

“This is why nobody respects DC police, look at what they are doing to these guys” because at this time some of the officers had three gentleman detained and searching them.

Ana's arm after after the incident.

At this point my friend was coming back from getting her metro card, and my friend and I were walking towards the escalators to the metro. After this, before I knew it I had a metro transit officer walking briskly towards me. He grabs me, and eventually pins me to the ground. He gets me up and handcuffs me. For the next 45 minutes I am interrogated by four officers, including an undercover female sergeant who was held back by other officers from me while I was handcuffed. The officer that assaulted me ran my information and then let my friends and me go home. He also stated, that the female sergeant wanted to arrest me, but he told her that “I had a child so I had to go home,” which is not true.

The next day I woke up to bruises and pain on my torso, and all of my limbs.

Continue reading →

“No. I am not a piece of meat…”

Posted on July 28, 2011 by renee

Photo by Sweet One via flickr

Hey, y’all, I posted this on facebook and tagged Hollaback DC, but wanted to submit it the blog, too because I feel so great!!

I was just holla’d out outside the Potbelly at CT and L NW (on my way back from getting lunch at another shop) by bike messengers who are always making trouble. I turned around and said “No. I am not a piece of meat and I am not a sex object. I am a woman!” One of them got mad saying he was just telling me I looked nice, and I told him that he was treating me like an object.

He then told me I was a “nasty ass slut” so I flashed my wedding band and said “I’M MARRIED!” and walked away. Got back to my office and called the Potbelly and spoke with the manager, Frank. He was sympathetic and understanding. He said he had been dealing with this problem for 5 years, but he can’t get any help from the police or the golden triangle people and they’re not actually on the premises since they’re outside the fence area.

He also said the police tend to not want to do anything because they think these jerks should be able to say whatever they want, even when it turns into harassment and vicious name calling. I’d like to see what happened if the sister/wife/mother/daughter of an MPD cop got holla’d at.

Submitted by Kat on 7/27

Location: Connecticut and L NW

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.

A small victory in the fight against street harassment

Posted on June 15, 2011 by renee

I took the red line back home to Union Station where my car was parked to drive home for the evening. I had just finished up a wonderful dinner with some lovely lady friends of mine, who gather to discuss women’s issues in a group called “Feminists Unmodified.” I was walking under the awning in front of Union Station and a man seated on a ledge with a hat on and a neck gator on pulled up over the bottom of his face started making that sound that many women have heard before: the slimy sound of smooches aimed at your direction followed by a “Hey baby, you want some?”. I froze in my tracks and thought, “what am I going to do?”

Then, I did something many Holla Back contributors have done but which I personally had never done before in such a situation. I pulled out my phone and took a picture. He thought this meant that I wanted to engage with him but I corrected him and said, “No, I have your picture and I’m going to show it to the police,” even though I didn’t know if I could even find police nearby. He didn’t care; he just laughed. Now, I was even more determined to find a police office. Guess what? I found three!

I found three police officers right inside Union station and showed them the picture (see attached). I said, “This man just harassed me with crude remarks. I know there’s not much you can do, but this sort of thing happens all the time and I feel like nothing is ever done about it. Is there anything you can do? He’s right outside.” The male officer turned to the two female officers and said, “Yeah, we can make him leave.” And sure enough, they all went outside and confronted him. I stepped back to ensure I didn’t cross paths with him again once they made him leave but I lingered long enough to see them escort him off the premises. And the best part, it was pouring rain! His disrespect for women made him loose his cozy, dry spot in Union Station. Maybe he’ll think twice next time before harassing a woman.

I know this is a small victory but it means a lot to me. Almost two years ago, I had two frightening incidents, which I shared with Holla Back DC! (http://hollabackdc.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/why/) that made me question my ability to stand up for myself. In my last post in 2009 I wrote “if something like this ever happens again, and I pray it never does, I will be even stronger.” Well tonight I was stronger and it felt really, really good.

Submitted by Alicia

Location: Union Station