It’s Not A Compliment: Melbourne duo’s campaign takes a tough stand against street harassment
Safe public spaces – where people can walk the streets without being catcalled or harassed – is not just one of the bedrocks of a welcoming city but also has substantial positive economic and social repercussions. It puts less pressure on the local constabulary and law enforcement agencies, enhances a country’s safety index and infuses citizens with confidence in the security of their surroundings. Therefore, it is baffling that Australia, a first-world nation and one of the most preferred places to immigrate to, doesn’t take street harassment that makes many women, some even younger than 18, its victims, seriously.
A Plan International report aptly named Sexism In The City surveyed 500 women and girls from Sydney asking them about their experience with street harassment, and an alarming 83 per cent said they had been either whistled at or catcalled. Almost 30 per cent of those surveyed had their paths blocked by an unknown male perpetrator.
According to another paper by Community Council of Australia, about half of the Australian women surveyed said they found walking alone at nights unsafe; the highest amongst OECD countries. It further noted women’s threat perception also stemmed from a lack of confidence in their community to believe their experience and protect them should they be in a distressing situation.
Pic: Nynno Bel-Air
It’s Not A Compliment (INAC) was created to bridge this disconnect between people - women, LGBTQI+, and people of colour, among others - who have faced/or face street harassment and a community that seemed oblivious to their fears. Founded by Aakanksha Manjunath and Annelise Lecordier , INAC chooses to challenge the almost apodictic rules of gender and power imbalances in our society that manifests into various forms of abuse like street harassment through the powerful art of storytelling. It encourages everyone – irrespective of their gender, nationality and ethnicity, among others – to share their stories of either being harassed or witnessing harassment.
Only seven months old, the initiative has already made waves with its campaigns aimed at creating conversations around street harassment and challenging the existing narrative that chooses to relegate it to a lesser form of abuse.
TAL caught up with Aakanksha, one of INAC’s founders to understand the linkages between street harassment and gender-related violence and power imbalances, the initiative’s advocacy plans, and strategies for future actions.
Pic: Nynno Bel-Air
Before we begin, please tell us something about yourselves – the founders.
I, Aakanksha Manjunath (26) along with my colleague Annelise Lecordier (25) started INAC almost a year ago. I work as a Campaigner at Fair Agenda, while Annelise is a Tutor for the Monash Indigenous Academic Enhancement Program, and Email and Content Manager at Oaktree.
Your initiative is quite unique, for it is challenging to find many organisations tackling the issue of street harassment in Australia. What prompted you to start this initiative?
Annelise and I met at a Fellowship organised by Democracy in Colour in partnership with Co-Health. As part of our Fellowship, we were encouraged to think of a project we would like to work on. During our discussions, we realised that numerous campaigns targeting critical social issues like global warming, human rights violation, and poverty, among others, were already in place.
We wanted to focus on something centred around the everyday. On doing further research, we found that there isn’t a specific campaign that addresses street harassment here in Australia, especially one that doesn’t only focus on women and girls. So, we decided to start our own initiative, and thus INAC was born!
We are not a registered NGO but an independent grass-roots campaign run by volunteers.
Through INAC what do you aspire to do and what are your objectives?
As an independent grass-roots campaign based in Melbourne, Australia, we seek to raise awareness around what constitutes street harassment towards members from a range of marginalised communities, change the existing narrative and shift attitudes around the acceptability of such behaviour. Ours is a highly inclusive campaign, with the ultimate goal being making public spaces feel safer for every member of society.
Pic: Nynno Bel-Air
We aspire to be able to walk on the streets without being concerned about our safety. The primary way to achieve this ambition is to adopt a community-centred approach where we look out for one another and intervene when it is safe to do so. We also hope to expose the linkages between street harassment and gender-based violence, thereby encouraging people to take this issue more seriously.
You mentioned about adopting a community-centred approach, can tell us a bit about that? Is advocacy, interacting with local council members and connecting with other NGOs on the cards?
Our three main goals are awareness, policy and advocacy.
Advocacy: The only way to successfully resolve a problem is first to comprehend it, and that is why we are currently focusing on raising awareness about the issue itself and the different behaviours associated with it. That way, we – as a society – will be able to identify and call it for what it is, harassment.
Policy and advocacy: Before COVID 19, we were already in talks with local council members and Members of Parliament on ways to tackle the problem of street harassment. While there have been several studies on street harassment across Australia over the years, these have not always had the sample size needed or had a strong enough focus on the experiences of certain groups to understand how harassment impacts different individuals and communities. Therefore, our first policy goal is to advocate for the implementation of a Victoria-wide survey (an Australian state with Melbourne as capital) on street harassment to collect more accurate and up-to-date data on the issue.
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This survey will enable us to gain deeper insights into the problem across a wide variety of areas and communities, ensuring that targeted policies and interventions are eventually developed that will address the needs of all vulnerable groups. It will also comfort those who have been harassed to know that their experiences have been taken seriously.
Since its inception, how many campaigns have INAC launched? And what has the reception been like?
We have launched five series aimed at getting conversations around street harassment started, and are working on more at the moment.
Our biggest success story has been the creation of a platform that encourages people to share their stories of street harassment. These stories have resonated with many who have faced similar incidents and have helped create a community that is happy to raise awareness about the cause and us.
We have gotten so many messages thanking us just for existing and helping people realise that they are not alone. These validations warm our hearts and keep us going!
What kind of research did you undertake before starting this initiative?
Our initial research focused on looking at existing statistics on street harassment and previous campaigns that had tried to raise awareness about the same in both Australia and globally. We found that while the existing campaigns have done great work, they focussed primarily on facts and excluded inclusivity.
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Our attempt, on the other hand, is on sharing stories that more people are likely to identify with, and we have also ceased to mention the gender of the person unless they want to say it themselves. Stories create continuum and reflect human experiences. They act as a catalyst leading to changes in problematic behaviours.
The issue of inclusivity is of utmost importance to us, and we are tackling it by partnering with everyday people and NGOs who represent people from different sections of Melbourne’s society.
We keep our messaging simple so that the broader community understands the complex linkages between street harassment, consent, respect, gender equality and violence.
We also noticed that many deemed street harassment as ‘nothing serious’ or as harmful as other forms of gender-based violence. It is imperative to understand street harassment is not an isolated issue, but can be and is linked to concepts of consent, dignity, gender equality, racism, ableism, and much more.
I have read numerous heartbreaking stories on the site, and I wonder – given the sensitive nature of the subject – was it easy to get people to talk about their experiences?
Surprisingly it was not difficult to get people to talk about their experiences. Also, having many stories published under ‘anonymous’ gave the storytellers a sense of security and assurance. More importantly, we believe, many people were just grateful to find a platform where they could finally voice their stories, read others’ encounters and realise that they aren’t alone in their experiences.
Pic: Gunvor Jakobsen
Through INAC, people felt less isolated and realised that there is a community that believes, supports and will always be there for them. We have gotten innumerable messages thanking us just for existing!
We believe every single story is an act of bravery because it takes immense courage to share a personal experience with a stranger! They are not only recognising bad behaviour but also taking a stand against it through the simple act of sharing a story.
Aakanksha, you have previously lived in India, the Netherlands, United States and now in Australia. How do you think street harassment varies in these four countries and which country, according to you, fares the worst? Do you mind sharing a personal harassment story with us?
Based on my own experiences, there’s not much of a variation in street harassment instances across the four countries. However, if I had to pick, I’d say that the Netherlands fares the worst.
After moving there, I was wolf-whistled at and catcalled several times while cycling or just crossing the road. Once I got off at a tram stop after visiting a friend in the hospital and suddenly a car full of men, who were waiting at a traffic signal, starting honking at me, calling me vulgar names. It was Sunday evening, and there was hardly anyone around. My phone was dead too, which meant I couldn’t alert the police if something untoward were to happen. I have never felt so terrified and anxious!
Pic: Gunvor Jakobsen
After what felt like ages, the traffic lights turned green, and the men drove away. I just sprinted towards my home and didn’t stop till I’d closed the doors securely behind me. The mere thought of that incident still gives me goosebumps.
Why do you think, despite being a first world country, Australia has such a high rate of violence against women? Did your research throw up some facts about it?
As exemplified by The Netherlands and the United States, being a first world or developed country doesn’t automatically mean the rate of violence against women is low.
A research done by Our Watch on violence against women in Australia is a real eye-opener. In Australia, two significant drivers of this type of abuse are adherence to rigidly defined gender roles and the uneven distribution of resources and power imbalance between men and women. Violence against women can be attributed to deeply entrenched historical, political and social norms. Therefore, to bring about a significant change, we will have to tackle these patterns first, while keeping in mind that different groups experience gender-based violence differently.
Pic: Gunvor Jakobsen
I have to play devil’s advocate here; men get catcalled too! Is there a space on your platform for them to share their stories? And, have men contacted you with their experiences?
We, as a community, will always provide a safe space to anyone – irrespective of their gender – wanting to share their stories of harassment. Yes, men, statistically, are the main perpetrators of street harassment, but that does not mean they might not have experienced, witnessed or know someone who has had a similar experience. In fact, we have gotten a few submissions from men writing about witnessing street harassment. We hope more men come forward and write to us; only when all of us get together in defiance of street harassment will we be able to create safer streets for all.
What are your organisation’s plans for the future?
Before COVID 19, we had many on-ground events planned. However, we’ve had to tweak those plans a bit. We have decided to use the next few months to reflect on what type of streets we want to go back to. From April 19 to 25, as part of International Anti-Street Harassment Week, we had an online activism event focusing on expanding community understanding of what constitutes street harassment. People from all over the world participated! From May onwards, we will be concentrating on bystander intervention and the role of men in perpetuating street harassment. We believe there’s no better time than the present to start setting better guidelines and define a new, safer normal.
We also have other exciting things in the pipeline! We are currently collaborating with some of our international allies on cross partnerships, creating our own resources and guides on bystander intervention, working with Women’s Health Victoria on a project focusing on sexism in advertising, and producing a policy framework which we will roll out early next year. We are using the model adopted in Washington D.C, which focuses on changing attitudes towards street harassment through education, not criminalisation.
Pic: Gunvor Jakobsen
We are also working on a new educational series which might be released towards the end of this May. Every two weeks, we will be focusing on one specific concept and its connection to street harassment and broader issues. Examples of the theories we will be concentrating on are dignity, body positivity, misogyny, toxic feminism and bullying, to name a few. The purpose of this series is to break down complex concepts into a simpler format for easier comprehension and help create understandable linkages between them and broader issues of gender-based violence.
Mostly, we hope to create public spaces where anyone can walk confidently and are not forced to look over their shoulders constantly.
Cover Pic: Nynno Bel-Air
To learn more about INAC’s work, head over to their website.
