Stop Sexist Remarks

On this blog, we’ve discussed a range of settings in which women and men can take action to combat sexist comments, such as in the family, at school, and in the media. But there’s another venue in which nearly all women have been the target of sexist comments: on the street. 

There’s no reason that we should accept sexist remarks in public spaces as though they were an unavoidable fact of life. The effects of street harassment (a category of abusive behavior that includes sexist remarks) are pernicious. A 1993 article in the Harvard Law Review, for example, summarized the results of several studies: “. . . street harassment severely restricts the physical and geographical mobility of women. It not only diminishes a woman’s feelings of safety and comfort in public places, but also restricts her freedom of movement, depriving her of liberty and security in the public sphere.” The fact that restricted freedom of movement is the kind of thing you find in despotic regimes and prison camps conveys a sense of just how seriously street harassment affects women’s autonomy. 

But this year, one country may do something groundbreaking to end street harassment. In January, Egyptian parliamentarians introduced a law that if passed, would impose a year in prison and/or a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds on men who sexually harass women in public places. The legislation came about through the efforts of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, a grassroots organization started in 1996 by six women from Cairo. In 2005, the Center launched a campaign against sexual harassment, culminating in a 2008 study involving interviews of 2000 women. The Center’s investigation revealed that in Egypt, 83 per cent of Egyptian women and 98 per cent of foreign women had been sexually harassed, usually on the street or public transport. The study raised the profile of the issue, igniting a debate among Egyptian academics and policymakers about what should be done. Today, the proposed law is supported by both the ruling National Democratic Party and the opposition Muslim Brotherhood and so is expected to pass.   

If Egypt can get this close to enacting a law to end street harassment, imagine what’s possible in our country. For those wanting to take on this issue, there’s a new resource you might check out: the Stop Street Harassment blog, which offers statistics and stories about street harassment, strategies for responding to and reporting perpetrators, and information on getting involved in efforts to end harassment in public places. The blog’s author, Holly Kearl, also has a book coming out in August: Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women. 

When men and women convey a clear message that sexist remarks won’t be tolerated in public, it can strengthen our efforts to stop them in other settings too. 

Steve

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 12:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.