International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2021
Started in 2011 by Stop Street Harassment, IASHW is all about amplifying and uniting the voices of organisations and campaigns from around the world in the fight for safer public spaces. After 2020, which was the first time a Melbourne-based campaign took part in IASHW through INAC’s involvement, we wanted to take further steps to achieving street justice for all.
For 2021, we organised two main contributions to IASHW — our #NoSpaceForHarassment campaign and our Research Report, A Snapshot of Street Harassment Experiences in Victoria.
#NoSpaceforharassment
#NoSpaceForHarassment is a multi-fold project that highlights the prevalence of street harassment in Australian society. This year, our campaign coincides with International Anti-Street Harassment Week, which raises awareness about street harassment and the right to public space.
Our #NoSpaceForHarassment campaign focuses on the intersectional nature of street harassment, recognising that it is often a multi-layered form of harm, not only affecting individuals in terms of gender-based discrimination, but also in terms of race, class, sexuality, and ability. #NoSpaceForHarassment aims to redefine the way we all view public spaces and recognise that, for too many of us, they are often far from neutral spaces they should be. The campaign involves postcards about people’s experiences of street harassment (which can be found in public spaces in locations such as Brunswick, Fitzroy and Carlton), as well as social media and audio content.
We encouraged our community to join the conversation and be part of the solution by using the hashtags #NoSpaceForHarassment and #ItsNotACompliment.
“I was walking towards one of the entries and I’ve just parked my car, and I'm just walking and I see these two guys about 100 metres away walking in my general direction. One of them jokingly nudged his mate, said something, but one of them came towards my direction and that's when I started to feel really anxious. He approached me and made a comment which was, ‘you look like my future girlfriend’ and as he said that he put his arm out to pull me closer or hug me, i don’t even know. In that moment, I literally, it’s like fight or flight, do I hit this person, do I run away, do I scream? I said ‘I’m here to do shopping not be harassed’ and then kept walking off with my head held high.”
“One thing, this is a place where I am a frequent visitor to, it’s almost like the audacity they had. I wasn't making eye contact with them, I was just by myself doing my own thing. There's so much evidence yet people still do it, they do it without thinking and they do it without control and they do it without the thought of the ramifications. It made me feel very uncomfortable because, you know, I'm alone.”
Research report: A snapshot of street harassment experiences in victoria
On 16th April 2021, INAC launched the first survey of its kind in Victoria to investigate the impacts of race, sexuality, gender identity, disability, and housing on experiences of street harassment and their aftermath.
Our research report’s results paint a stark picture of street harassment in Victoria, with 86.7% of respondents having experienced street harassment - 34.4% of which had their first experience before they were 12. Of the minority who sought justice following an incident of harassment, 91.5% reported being dissatisfied with the outcome.
Based on the report’s findings, INAC posed various suggestions for addressing street harassment and achieving street justice for all, including establishing a legal definition of street harassment and launching a funded state-wide survey.