I’m really excited to announce that author and activist, Holly Kearl will be at The University of Iowa this month to discuss street harassment. The Men’s Anti-Violence Council is cosponsoring the event with the UI Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance. The event is free and open to the public. It is on Thursday October, 21 at 7:15 p.m. in 100 Philips Hall.
Street harassment doesn’t have a formal definition. I find it easy to think of it how Holly describes it on her blog, sexual harassment that happens in public. A good start is to think of all of the behaviors and language that would be inappropriate or illegal at work or in the classroom. It could be disrespectful, unwelcome, threatening, harassing and is most often of a sexual nature.
Holly’s lecture will begin with several students from the university describing their experiences and reactions to street harassment. Hopefully, we’ll get a discussion going about the potential intersection of race, class, perceived sexual orientation and gender on the occurence of street harassment. There will be time for Q&A after the presentation.
One of the most important aspects of Holly’s work, and what I am the most excited about, is how to create an effective response in reducing and preventing the behavior. Discussing how recipients, witnesses and the community can respond is a major focus of our work at MAC. Stop by and join in the discussion. You can download the flier here.
Visit Holly’s blog: www.stopstreetharassment.com
Read about her book: http://www.greenwood.com/books/printFlyer.aspx?sku=A2949C
