The Day After: International Anti-Street Harassment Day

As Chloe has covered, yesterday was the first annual International Street Harassment Day, where people around the world engaged in various forms of activism and awareness-raising to fight street harassment, challenged its social normalization and simply reminded folks that spring is no excuse to street harass.

It’s incredibly awesome this was created into an actual day, as street harassment is actually degrading for all folks involved – Hugo points out, this isn’t about what a woman is wearing, but about this social myth that women’s bodies are simply too irresistible to hetero men’s natural desires that they simply “can’t help themselves.” The reality is that street harassment has  nothing to do with sex, and all to do with power. Here are a few highlights of activism around the day:

• Stop Street Harassment collected a list of amazing plans of action from groups across the world on what they were doing on the day — street performances, online activism, public protests, and creating safe zones in their neighborhoods.
• Folks shared their own stories of street harassment on blogs and twitter, some reminded people about the importance of youth education, others talked about how street harassment is a symptom of and enables rape culture.
• Last week, Hey, Shorty! hit the bookstands — a guide for schools and activists to combat street harassment (and harassment in schools) by an inspiring organizer I had the pleasure of working with who has been in the field of social justice and gender equity for over the past decade, Joanne Smith.

What did you do for International Anti-Street Harassment Day? Share in comments!