The consequences of victims of sexual harassment goes further than being momentarily uncomfortable. It effects women's feeling of safety, self esteem and value. Often public sexual harassment is brushed off as a cultural habit of men, but women do not ask for it nor appreciate it. Treating women on the street as sexual objects decreases their personal value and belittles them by catcalling. Frequently leaving them feeling very violated. It is not uncommon for sexual harassment to lead to sexual assault and rape.
45% of women say they do not feel safe walking home alone at night, compared to the 27% of men.
Sexual Harassment in the United States
In a 2,000 person survey done by Stop Street Harassment in the U.S, it found that 65% of women had experienced street harassment. Of these, 23% had been sexually touched, 20% were followed, and 9% had been forced to do something sexual.
Via: www.stopstreetharassment.org
Where is sexual harassment prevalent in Minneapolis?
When surveyed, students of South high also stated where they had been sexually harassed. 65% of where students said they had been sexually harassed were places within a couple blocks of our school. (Such as lake street, lake street target, the train station, on their walk to school) This shows how students are affected by public sexual harassment on their way to and from school, and shows how present sexual harassment is in our area.
Sexual Harassment in Minneapolis
In our school, Minneapolis South, we did a survey of over 200 people evaluating their experiences of sexual harassment. We found that 66% of females and 8% of males who surveyed had been publically sexually harassed. Of these females, 93% said it made them feel uncomfortable and or scared.
Do you feel safe on public transportation?
Men's Response
Since so much public sexual harassment occurs on metro transit, and in the street when people are alone, we decided to also ask if people felt safe from sexual harassment on public transportation.
Women's Response
It was incredibly noticeable that women feel much less safe from sexual harassment then men do.