Dr. Kimberly Fairchild is one person women can always count on to be on their side. The assistant professor of psychology spoke to a group of about thirteen students and faculty on Wednesday, February 18th about her research regarding women's reactions to street harassment.
It was part of a Brown Bag Lunch series in Cornerstone sponsored by the Women in Gender Studies cluster, a minor-like option at Manhattan College. The informal lunch discussion focused on a study that Fairchild put out online to various psychology websites and social networking sites. Most of the responses she got were from women, detailing themselves and their harassment experience, which Fairchild defines as “anything from catcalls and whistles, to leers and stares, to grabs and gropes.”
Typical harassment experiences were found to occur between 12 pm and 6 pm, while on the street, at a construction site or in a parking lot. “This makes sense and fits the model because it's when people are out in the world and active,” says Fairchild, who received her PhD and the idea for this study at Rutgers. The consequences of such incidents include “increased self objectification, restriction of movement (for example, taking a longer and more complex route to avoid the situation) and fear of rape.”
There were four types of responses reported in the study: a passive response (brushing it off), a joking response (thinking it's benign or flattering), a self-blame response (a woman believing she brought it upon herself) and an active response (standing up and protesting).
Lindsay Farrell, a junior at St. Joseph's University, was harassed walking in the city with family and says, “My aunt was upset because I was so young, but to be honest, I wasn't that offended by it at the time. Sadly, I think our generation just expects to be seen as objects, and I wish we had better views of ourselves.”
The majority of the study participants took the passive route, like Farrell. Still, there are growing active response methods that women may take if they feel disempowered. One method is a website called hollabacknyc.com. This site allows women to blog about their experiences in addition to posting pictures of their harasser. A New Paltz University junior Nikki Wertheim credits the site as “allowing women to take back the street. It's awesome.”
Another route a woman could take is the legal one. “It might be tough to find a lawyer who would take the case on contingency but one thing you could do is stop and file a complaint with a police officer or ask your harasser for his information. You could sue for up to $5,000 in small claims court based on the City Human Rights Act. This act has a section on public accommodations, which include streets or subways,” says Barry S. Gedan, a local attorney. “But just imagine what would happen if women wore buttons that say 'you harass, we sue'...it might make people think twice!”
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