Street harassment- a detrimental issue.

Women from a very early age become self-aware and self-cautious of what they wear, where they go, how they act, how they walk, how they talk when crossing a public area with a majority of men, some even avoid crossing unfamiliar or quite places because they fear something ‘bad’ is going to happen to them. Coming from a south-Asian background, I can tell you that there are many unacceptable things and behaviors considered as ‘norms’ one of them is street harassment. Even though street harassment is not gender biased and both men and women experience it, Women statistically experience it more, henceforth Mahliqaa, a talented growing artist and I have decided to shed light at the street harassment faced by women. 

(By: Mahliqaa)

Street harassment is a form of harassment that involves inappropriate sexual and unwanted gestures, comments, whistles or being touched by strangers in public places. I asked women on my Instagram and Twitter how old they were when they first experienced harassment, I was not surprised when almost everyone said that they were under-aged, from the age of 5 to 17. According to a survey conducted by Stop Street Harassment , 65% of women had experienced street harassment. Among them, 23% had been sexually touched, 20% had been followed, and 9% had been forced to do something sexual. It’s worse in brown communities that are controlled by patriarchy because Patriarchy protects harassers. Many women refuse to walk out alone in fear of being harassed, many women accompany a male family member to walk with them to feel safe. Women have no liberty and freedom to walk around. 

(By: Mahliqaa)

But, Why do men enjoy street-harassment?

Many assume that it’s the woman’s fault for dressing a certain way or acting a certain way, Men have no problem harassing women wearing the most modest forms of dressing like Abaya and Niqab, Men have no problem harassing women who quietly cross a street. What makes you think acting and dressing a certain way has anything to do with this?

Men harass to show their power and dominance they get from patriarchy, they do it to make women feel humiliated, it’s a dehumanizing act of asserting power. They're (men) aware of the fact that nobody is going to question or stop them, because society tells women to shrug it off and quietly walk-away, society shuts down women so these men can continue objectifying, degrading and threatening women.

(By: Mahliqaa)

While most men argue this to be ‘just a few words’ or a ‘compliment’ , it leads to many physical and psychological effects such as anxiety, depression, dizziness, nausea, trouble in breathing. These are just a few of many effects of street harassment. Women also fear being victims of rape and murder. According to an article published by Harvard Law Review, It’s fair for women to think that since one in three women have been victims to rape or attempted rape in their lives. Rapists harass women to check which women might be an easy target, this is called ‘rape-testing.’ The rapists often select their targets by determining how the woman reacts to being street harassed, if she looks afraid, the rapists assume that she may be a vulnerable and easy target. Harassment can often times make women believe that it’s their fault and they may have done something wrong for men to harass them, this ideology is pushed by the society upon women. Women are told how not to become victims of harassment, instead of teaching men how it’s wrong to harass women, very similar to the rape culture. Cat-calling, whistling at us or passing comments are not compliments, we feel threatened and unsafe. Men don’t know how it feels for women to feel reassured when they walk in a store and see another woman there because we don’t feel safe around a group of only men. 

(By: Mahliqaa)

Society needs to stop its inherent habit of shutting women and start calling out these men for their harassment. Women are not public property, we do not live to please men, we are not objects. We are human beings and we deserve equal respect and we deserve to feel safe when we walk out of our doors.