Hollaback! : Against Street Harassment
“It made me feel completely powerless.”
“But their staring made me feel vulnerable and exposed. And I hated every second of it.”
“No one intervened, even though they could clearly see him doing these things, and the discomfort and shock he caused me was obvious. I was truly horrified.”
These are excerpts from some of the stories that have been shared in a new online community, Hollaback! Korea. Hollaback! began 10 years ago when Thao Nguyen experienced sexual harassment in New York City on a subway; a man stared at her and began to masturbate. Nguyen snapped a photo and took it to the police, where she received no assistance. After posting the picture on Flickr, the image went viral and hit the front page of the New York Post, sparking dialogue about street harassment. Thus, Hollaback! was born.
Since then, the community has grown internationally to include 71 cities in 25 countries. It aims to educate people and end street harassment through education, research and the implementation of its core values.
“Building an intersectional space requires recruitment effort and trust-building among our members,” site founder Chelle B. Mille explained. “Our community works hard to make sure everyone feels welcome to the project and to keep educating ourselves. Our message requires dialogue. We learn from each other about how gender, race, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, class and employment can relate to harassment. Self-education leads to more effective work to address harassment and helps us support one another.”
A survey conducted in 2010 by the online job portal Career found that out of 828 Korean workers questioned, four out of 10 had experienced harassment during their daily commute. Of the 42.5 percent who were harassed, 79 percent were women.
Since its site launched on December 3, Hollaback! Korea has garnered interest and support throughout the country, with founding members in Gwangju, Busan, Jeju, Seoul, Daejeon, and Seosan. The group is composed of male and female volunteers, both Korean and foreign.
The Hollaback! Korea website provides a platform for individuals to share their experiences of harassment. The stories range from first-hand accounts of those who have experienced harassment to those who witnessed it and/or intervened. Users can anonymously submit their story to the site in both Korean and English, where others can read it and express their support via a green button labeled “I’ve got your back.” Once the story has been posted on the site, a country map places a pin on the location of the harassment incident. Pink pins mark stories of harassment, while green pins label instances of harassment where the individual received bystander intervention during harassment or intervened in harassment that was witnessed.
“Hollaback! is a project that promotes public education about how we can all take action to address street harassment. I want to see more green dots on our map to indicate bystander intervention,” Mille said. Other chapters of Hollaback! have compiled data with these stories, mapping out street harassment in cities and countries in order to target problem areas and focus on how best to promote education and prevention.
The data can also serve as a useful tool to implement legislative changes. For example, currently no law in Korea exists specifically stating street harassment is illegal. It is also illegal in Korea to publicly post photos online or through other channels of an individual’s face as Nguyen did in New York.
Despite higher reported instances of experienced harassment among women, the Hollaback! Korea team aims to put emphasis on the fact that it is not a gender-specific issue. One of the main Hollaback! Korea core values is understanding the negative impacts and repercussions everyone experiences due to street harassment and how it can take many different forms.
“Men and women from all walks of life start internalizing catcalling, gestures and comments,” social media contributor Reshma Kamath explained. “Often times this process of internalization makes them feel weak and powerless, like mere sexual objects, when they are so much more than that. Once, twice, thrice and so on, as it keeps happening, it chips off a part of the person’s self-esteem and self-worth. Street harassment can also be a powerful trigger to many men and women who have gone through sexual violence and other forms of abuse.”
Another cornerstone of the Hollaback! movement is creating a safe space for all individuals – one that is free from criticism. As defined by Hollaback!’s core values, harassment is “defined by the person who experiences it.” Hollaback! Korea aims to promote a community where individuals can seek support and the necessary tools to help educate others on this persistent issue.
“For anyone who has never experienced street harassment,” Kamath said, “I’d just like to say one thing: please don’t take that away from someone else’s experience. Be open to listening with a non-judgmental attitude and don’t try to make the victim feel like it was their fault or that they could have done something to prevent it.”
Hollaback! Korea plans to hold informational discussions, camps and movie screenings throughout 2014 in Gwangju as well as other cities. For more information about the organization and upcoming events visit korea.ihollaback.org or facebook.com/HollabackKorea.
