Saturday, October 24, 2009

Hollaback UK: South London Sleaze

Via Swimsuit Issue (cool Transpontine-linking feminist blog) comes news of the start of Hollaback UK, 'a place for women to fight back against street harassment. Whether you're commuting to work, out shopping or going for a night out - you have a right to feel safe where you live'. It is based on the US (and indeed now global) Hollaback phenomenon whereby women not only describe their experiences of harrassment, but post photos of the offenders online (see for instance Hollaback NYC).

The UK version hasn't got any photos yet but it already has some depressingly familiar stories, including this 'South London Sleaze': 'I'm from South London and this happened to me this morning. I got off the bus on the way to work and a man standing outside a shop said 'hey sexy'. I ignored him and carried on walking and he started to follow me!! He said 'hey, I'm talking to you, where are you going?'. I kept going, didn't turn round. As I was walking into my work he yelled through the doors - 'Bitch! What makes you think you're so f****** special?'. Nice'.

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