Hollaback!

I happened across this website called hollaback!, a “movement dedicated to ending street harassment using mobile technology.” It’s a website committed to stopping street harassment of LGBTQ individuals and women by having those who have been harassed share their stories. Street harassment happens on such a regular basis, I know I can count on being barked at, or aggresively chatted up by male strangers at least once a month.

Hollaback questions the socially accepted idea that being harassed by men just comes with being a woman or LGBTQ. Hollaback believes that street harassment is a “gateway crime” and because it is almost universally accepted across the US, that acceptance creates an environment of other gender-based violence.

Hollaback points out the clear lack of legislation that protects individuals from street harassment. This is due to the lack of solutions to stopping street harassment. Hollaback has stepped up to be that answer. Because of the explosion of smart phones, this enables Hollaback to be even more accessible. Hollaback encourages those who have been street harassed to share their stories and to support the statistics of how pervasive street harassment is, with real-life stories.