by Holly Kearl
-USA-

Carrying banners and signs with messages like, “We will not tolerate harassment,” “Islam forbids men from insulting women,” and “I have the right to walk freely in my city,” on July 14, 50 brave women and men marched together from Kabul University to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. As they marched, they handed out fliers to raise awareness about the problem of street harassment in their country.

by Holly Kearl
-USA-

What does a woman in Bangalore, India, standing on a busy street corner, waiting for a bus have in common with a teenage girl in Queens, New York, dressed in her school uniform, waiting for the subway? Or with a woman in her 20s in Drammen, Norway, wearing a winter coat, walking home alone from a friend’s house after dark?

For three years, women like them, hailing from 30 countries, have shared their street harassment stories on my blog, Stop Street Harassment. They detail the sexually explicit comments, sexist remarks, following, groping, vulgar gestures, whistling, and public masturbation men impose on them on the streets, on public transportations, and in stores - simply because they are female and in public.