Undercover camera reveals street harassment women regularly face

A video of a woman simply dressed in an unassuming black T-shirt and jeans walking through the streets of Manhattan demonstrates how frequently women are publicly harassed. Around every street corner this woman seems to encounter a fellow who calls out “What’s up girl?” “Here’s my number!” “Hey beautiful!” “Hey Baby!” “Sexy American Eagle!” In one case a man puts his arms around her and in another a guy walks alongside her for several blocks.

The nonprofit Hollaback aimed at raising awareness around street harassment put together this clip with an undercover camera. Ten hours of footage of a woman on the streets of New York revealed 100-plus instances of verbal street harassment.

A man calling out his phone number might seem benign but any woman will tell you that remarks like this make her feel uncomfortable and unsafe. Kara Brown over at Jezebel explains the feeling well:

It’s hard to fully articulate how goddamn infuriating, frustrating and at times, terrifying, street harassment can be. And to be clear, all of it sucks, which we see in this video—from the seemingly innocuous, “Hey what’s up girl,” to the man who, after she ignored a “compliment” yelled: “Somebody’s acknowledging you for being beautiful. You should say thank you more.” Sir, f— your compliment and f— your entire existence on this planet.

http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2014/10/28/undercover-camera-reveals-street-harassment-women-regularly-face/