Aspiring Humanitarian Joins Efforts to End Street Harassment

I am very pleased to announce that I have joined the Board of Directors  of Stop Street Harassment, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending gender-based street harassment worldwide.

Many thanks to SSH Founder Holly Kearl  for inviting me to contribute to this great work!

Read more about Holly and the other Board Members of Stop Street Harassment.

Gender based street harassment can be defined as:

“Catcalls, sexually explicit comments, groping, leering, stalking, public masturbation and assault. 80 to 100 percent of women worldwide face sexual harassment in public. In many countries, including the United States, this is called “street harassment,” and in other countries it’s called “eve teasing” or “public sexual harassment.” Street harassment is bullying behavior but instead of being treated as such, it is often normalized as “the way things are,” treated as a minor annoyance, a compliment, or women’s fault.

Stop Street Harassment works to create public spaces that are safe for everyone, and joining this movement fits in line with my mission to work to build more equitable and inclusive communities for all people and my journey as an aspiring humanitarian.

I am also very excited at the opportunity to address other men in anti-sexist ways more publicly. Gender-based street harassment is an ill that is perpetrated by men and devalues women in the human family all over the world and to work against it, men have to be involved.

I believe this involves challenging patriarchy and heterosexism and educating young men and boys about redefining manhood.

“Allies are needed to fight against every type of oppression. We must use our privileges to level the playing field.  Just as people of color should not be solely responsible for ending racism, just as people in the LGBTQ community should not be solely responsible for ending homophobia, women should not be solely responsible for ending sexism in its many forms.” –Excerpted from (N.A.H.) Blog Post: “It’s Not a Compliment, its Harassment”

As  Board Member, I’m also a part of the team working to raise funds so we can do a groundbreaking national study on street harassment to bring attention to the issue, help improve prevention efforts.

Please donate and help make that happen.

From time to time, I may reach out to you for support via the blog or using some of my other social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and my personal and blog twitter handles.

For More information about what street harassment is and find to find resources about ways you can act against it individually or as a community, visit StopStreetHarassment.org

Grace & Peace,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins, MSW

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