Day of Action against harassment in Parc-Extension

--------> Women Against Street Harassment and Violence

Saturday September 24th, 2011

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For: Womyn ages 14-20

419 St-Roch

William-Hingston Centre

Main Entrance

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A day of action will be held in Parc-Extension as a result of various girls and women bringing up the fact that they or their friends have been followed, whistled at, been bothered in public spaces (parc, metro, bus), or stared at to the point they have felt uncomfortable or threatened. A series of workshops will be held from 11- 4 p.m. Please see workshops' description below. Workshops will be held in both english and french.

11-12:30 pm Respecting Personal Boundaries

Interacting with someone or being in a relationship with someone means different things to different people. People have differences in how they deal with each other and what kind of relationship they want, but everyone, including women want to be treated with respect. This workshop aims to facilitate a discussion among Grrrlz to discuss what it means to respect oneself, and how to let others know what our personal boundaries when interacting with them.

12:30-1:30 pm Snacks/Lunch

1:30-3:00 pm Self-Defense Workshop

All women and girls can defend themselves, it's a matter of discussing and learning strategies. This 1.5 hour workshop aims to start talking about verbal and physical strategies around self-defense. It will be facilitated by a Womyn for Grrrlz aged 14 to 20. In order to organise the workshop, we need to know how many people are planning to attend before hand, and any other important information you think is important for us to know. Please send your name/age/list of any medical conditions to sawccyouth@gmail.com

3:00-4:00 pm Theatre pieces and Solidarity walk preparation

This hour will be used to coordinate skits and prepare posters that will be used during the Solidarity walk in Parc-Extension.

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Boys aged 14 – 20 years

Basketball activities for boys will begin at 1:30 pm – meet at the front entrance of the William-Hingston Center (419 St. Roch)

Snacks included. 

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---------> Women for Respect: Solidarity March

All are welcome!

Start: Saint-Roch and Durocher

4:00-5:00 pm Solidarity March

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WHY are we marching?

·         because we demand that public spaces should be safe for everyone

·         because we want everyone in parc-ex to be able to sit in the park

·         because we want everyone to respect each other near the metro

·         because we share the streets

·         because staring is not sexy

·         because girls and women are an important part of the parc-ex community

This event is being organised by an ad-hoc youth committee of the South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC). For more information, please contact: sawccyouth@gmail.com

Judge a book by its cover?

My mom and I were driving by the American Apparel store a few days ago and I commented on how the girls closing the store looked like they would be working there. One of them was wearing those awful, awkwardly shaped pants. You'd look better wearing a potato sack, trust me. Point I'm trying to make is - she fit with my image of an employee of a store that produces a very specific style of clothing. There are very many jobs that might require one to look the part - and I mean this in a less superficial (makeup/hair/clothes) way...

In the 90s, Friends was huge! I remember episodes when the women were swooning over cops and firemen. Men, who by virtue of their line of work, had to be strong and muscular (and presumably fast). The fact that the tall, dark and handsome trifecta worked for them - well, let's just call that a bonus.

So, when a few days ago I saw a Public Security officer standing in the street, fully equipped with his yellow security tape and sizeable beer belly.... let's just say he didn't quite have the same *swoon* effect as the cops who put out Phoebe, Rachael and Monica's "Boyfriend Bonfire" one Valentine's Day. Not that, that is what one looks for in Public Security or Police officers. But I didn't necessarily feel safe. More and more I'm seeing cops who in all honesty do not seem like they would be able to run after me if I snatched someone's purse (You thought I would say 'if someone snatched my purse' huh? What can I say, I like to keep my readers on their toes!). 

I just don't feel safe when I see cops who look like they could not protect if the need arose. Not to say that we should judge a book by its cover. Perhaps the cop has excellent stamina, great taser skills...but for some reason I feel like science would tell me that his BMI score might hinder his ability to run after a suspect in the street, let alone save a kitty from a tree. On the taser note, anyone think that equipping cops with tasers has something to do with lax requirements concerning how 'physically' capable they are to actually police? I wrote a post on the cops a while ago that took me through a similar thought process [link].

All I'm saying is that sometimes you need to look the part, sometimes it is about presentation. Perhaps there should be periodic strength training and endurance tests for cops? I've yet to contact a police station to ask...but I'll keep you all posted on how that conversation plays out.