More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Street harassment—unwanted comments, gestures or acts directed at someone in a public space—is unfortunately a common experience for women across the globe. Yet this behavior is often not taken seriously. Here at Ms., we recognize that street harassment is a real and dangerous form of gender-based violence.
We need to socialize men differently and create a united force of activists. Men need to be a part of the larger conversation, and work to dismantle the idea that reproductive choice is simply “a women’s problem.”
Reproductive choice is not just a women’s issue. We all are well aware that it does not take just a single person to get pregnant. If Roe falls, it will affect everyone.
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.
Whether you read for knowledge or leisure, books are so important. May is a big month for new releases by women and writers of historically excluded communities; I’ve highlighted 60 of them here, but there are many more. I hope you’ll find some here that will help you reflect and act in whatever ways you can.
Coordinated harassment campaigns. Crowds of angry picketers. Tracking doctors to their homes. If the current anti-trans tactics sound familiar, that’s because they’re borrowed from anti-abortion campaigns.
“An individual provider who has a wolf at the door? It has led some people to say ‘I’m just not doing this work anymore,’” said transgender rights advocate Erin Reed. “We are losing providers, good providers.”
The other day, I received an email from my medical school in response to increased acts of violence and hate against Asians—like me. The Department of Public Safety was offering “Situational Awareness” training sessions. While well intended, situational awareness training returns the onus and therefore responsibility of safety squarely on the shoulders of victims of violence.
Chalk Back uses social media and street art to resist gender-based street harassment—and you can too.
Here are some expert tips from our young activists on how you can reclaim spaces, fight gender norms this week (and always!) and have fun along the way.
On Saturday, actress Laverne Cox announced that she and a friend had experienced a transphobic attack while walking in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.
The attack comes at the end of a year that has proved one of the deadliest on record for trans people, on the streets and in the courts and statehouses.
“As we follow the new norms of social distancing, I find the lack of respect for my boundaries to be even more shocking than usual: Why are men comfortable getting in my face during a pandemic for the sake of a sleazy comment?”
Girls are not prey. Let’s stop encouraging men to be predators.
When surveyed, a poll by Nottingham Trent University found that 93.7 percent of respondents had experienced or street harassment. When the Nottingham police began accepting reports of misogynistic actions as hate crimes, the number of reports skyrocketed.
Laws signal what is okay—and what is not. That’s why laws against street harassment matter, and it’s why new laws in France and the U.S. show promise for a future without public abuse of women.
