Yesterday (March 20^th 2011),  was the first International Anti-Street Harassment Day. The point of International Anti-Street Harassment Day is to globally put an end to street harassment and "make public places safe and welcoming for women." It was started by Holly Kearl, an author and social activist who is an expert on the subject. Street harassment is a global problem, and at the very least it is just harassment. Being heckled, leered at, and called out to on the street can be extremely embarrassing for the person on the receiving end.

In my lifetime, I have been whistled at, called out to, leered at, and even followed. My most recent experience with street harassment occured last spring as I was walking to my car after leaving a counseling session (for sexual assault) at my local Rape Crisis Center. A man walked up the sidewalk, he stared at my butt, called out to me, and began to walk towards me. Since I was all alone, I prayed I could get into my car before anything else happened. This didn't exactly instill any confidence in trusting people, something I'd been working on. 

I thought it was really ironic, in a disturbing kind of way; to be sexually harassed after leaving a counseling session for being sexually assaulted. It just goes to show that there are still many men out there who do not identify women as people with thoughts and feelings. In fact, lewd street harassment paired with the recent political assault on women's reproductive rights clearly indicates that American women are increasingly being objectified. 

The street harassment is an obvious sexual objectification. While the cessation of our reproductive rights is a more covert objectification; it undermines a woman's ability to make her own reproductive decisions. It renders her incapable to do so by unjustly setting the boundaries of choice upon the moral beliefs of certain religious beliefs.

Some people think women should take the gestures and comments associated with street harassment as a compliment. I think that most women who are on the receiving end of these comments do not feel it is a compliment and strive to be treated with respect and decency.  To me street harassment is a big issue. The acceptance of this behavior reflects the political climate: a climate where women have less rights than men, a climate where each day more of our reproductive rights are stripped away and threatened. 

Although being objectified by way of street harassment is annoying and embarrassing; it is the least dangerous thing that could happen. Some victims of street harassment are groped, stalked, and even murdered. Regardless of the degree of harassment, we should all strive to live in a society where both men and women can walk down the street without fearing for their safety and dignity; a society where a woman's ability to make reproductive choices aren't threatened or questioned, a society where women are wholly regarded as people not objects. 

To read more about National Anti-Street Harassment Day, please check out more articles at Gender Across Borders.