The Public-Private Partnership

We made you wait.  It was a ploy to make you come to the party. We hope it worked. If not, your loss as you missed out on the awesome fishbowl prizes.

Thanks to the following businesses for donating their services/products to Holla Back DC! to make our event a success. Not only do these business rock for donating during an economic crunch, but they all believe in the mission and work of HBDC! Please support these businesses by buying their services and letting others know about these wonderful small businesses.

Self Defense Class by Defend Yourself

Defend Yourself works to empower people – especially women and others targeted for abuse and assault – to end violence and create a world where they can be fully themselves. Participants learn skills to help them prevent, heal from, and end violence and abuse.

All Defend Yourself instructors have training in self-defense theory and techniques, in research on violence, and in teaching skills.

Thirty Minute Coaching Session w/Creatuitive Coaching

Creatuitive Coaching is the premier life coaching business that empowers young women to lead authentic and creative lives. Through one-on-one coaching and group workshops, Creatuitive Coaching guides women to unearth their passions and create more meaning in their lives. Their clients thrive on Creatuitive Coaching’s mindful, inspiring, and creative approach to helping them achieve their personal and professional goals.

One Month of TKD classes & Uniform by Yong Studios Tae Kwon Do

Yong Studios are a full time Martial Arts school in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area that provides both children and adult martial arts classes. They primarily study and teach Tae Kwon Do – a Korean Martial Art best known for its advanced kicking techniques.

Practicing martial arts brings fluidity to motion, grace to movement, and physical harmony. For some it may awaken self-strength, self-knowledge, self-confidence, and self-control.

One Dozen Rhonda’s Cupcakery Cupcakes

Named after its two owners – Rhonda Pope and Rhonda Waller – Rhonda’s Cupcakery was born out of the desire to offer cupcake lovers fresh, delicious, home-made from scratch, gourmet cupcakes for all occasions.

Rhonda’s Cupcakery is currently operating as a virtual entity and open for business! Cupcakes are not just for birthdays or baby showers they are an everyday affair! Try us for your next office party, sorority meeting, book club meeting, pot luck, date night, housewarming, or wedding. Cupcakes are perfect for all occasions! (NB: Honestly, one of the best cupcakes in Washington, DC, hands down. )

The Launch Speech

Yesterday night was fantastic!  Considering the rain, we had a great turnout of supporters of this new venture.  Although our private balcony at Cafe Citron was lovely, it was loud.  Therefore, we weren’t able to give our ten minute speech we prepared, but we promised to put it up on the blog.

“Thank you all for coming to today’s launch party. Holla Back DC is a website dedicated to highlighting street harassment in America’s capital by empowering Washingtonians to speak out against gender based public sexual harassment. We are a broad coalition effort of straight, gay, trans alliance of concerned citizens who are vulnerable due to their gender and/or apparent lack of gender on the streets, public transportation, and venues in the greater DC area.

“As you know, several things fall under the umbrella of gender based public sexual harassment, like vulgar remarks, heckling, insults, innuendo, stalking, leering, fondling, indecent exposure and other forms of public humiliation. We are very excited to be part of the international, national, and local communities working on similar issues. We started Holla Back DC! because we were collecting stories from friends and family who were being harassed in DC. We saw there wasn’t a forum addressing these issues and giving a platform for people to share their every day stories of street harassment.

“Don’t Touch Me!”

Last Friday night I was with my boyfriend, roommate, and some other friends bar hopping in the Dupont Circle area. We had just come out of Lucky Bar around midnight and were deciding where we wanted to go next. We were all standing in a circle and then I felt someone’s hand graze my butt. At first I thought it was my boyfriend since he was standing close to me but then I realized he wasn’t close enough to me to touch me from behind. As I was realizing that it wasn’t my boyfriend, I felt it again but stronger. Like someone was hitting me with the back of their hand as they walking by. When I turned around I saw an older man in his 50s staring at me. I was so shocked that the whole incident had happened, he had walked away before I thought to say anything to him. I was so angry at myself for not calling this guy out and making him look like the ass-hole that he is. The fact that there were men in my group didn’t even deter him!

You have no right to touch me! Not that it should matter what I was wearing, it was not revealing or “slutty” – just a plain black dress (with some fierce shoes). Even so, no one has the right to touch you without your permission. I got so pissed off that I couldn’t even enjoy a night out with friends without being harassed by a nasty dude. Women should be able to dress up and go out with friends without being sexually assaulted. Hell, women should be able to walk down the street without be harassed!

I think everyone woman I know has felt uncomfortable while out in public due to remarks, glares, or actual advances made by men. I hope that this site helps bring this issue to light and empowers women to take a stand.

Submitted by Pissed Off!

Have a story you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out the online submission form. All stories will be posted anonymously unless you specify.

TWO Spankin’ New Features

After many emails, followed by test runs, we got it DONE before our official launch event tonight.   What did we get done??

An online form for you to submit stories!

A street harassment map to track where street harassment is occurring.

YIPPPEEEEE!!

We are working on embedding the online form to our platform, and as of right now we can’t embed the Google map. If you have suggestions on the blog, the new features, and/or other ideas for the blog, HOLLER BACK, by dropping us a comment or an email.

See you all tonight!

“Hey boo boo!”

photo by FredoAlvarez

I’ve just left my friend’s and am waiting across the street at the bus stop on 18th and Jackson NE (Brookland). We had been sitting on her porch and seen two guys in a black Corvette go FLYING down the street, and remarked on how dangerous that was (street is very hilly, amazing they didn’t catch air). About an hour and half later, they come the opposite way up the street. The bus stop is just south of the intersection. They get into the middle of the intersection, stop, and BACK up until they are directly across from me on the street. I have my headphones in, but I hear the guy yelling “Hey boo boo! Boo-boo! Come over here and talk to me! Where’s your man at?” This went on for about 5-7 minutes. Finally, the driver yelled “Must be nice to be such a bitch!” and sped off.

I called my friend, and she came onto her porch (which was across the street) and told her what happened. She asked if I was okay, and we stayed on the phone until my bus came. We tried to laugh it off, but as the car was about 10 feet away from me, it was really disconcerting.

Submitted by Anonymous

Have a story you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out our easy to use submission form. All stories will be posted anonymously unless you specify.

“Hey, pretty lady, give me smile”

I am walking down 8th street (near G) in Eastern Market. A guy yells, “Hey, pretty lady, give me smile”. I don’t respond. He gets really close to me, points his figure a few inches from my face, and sternly says, “I said, give me a smile.” My heart skips a beat and I am a little frightened but I calmly reply, “Please get your finger out of my face”. He does and I keep walking.

Submitted by Anonymous

Have a story you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out our easy to use submission form. All stories will be posted anonymously unless you specify.

Updates on Launch Party

We are really giddy about the opportunity to see some familiar faces, along with new ones, especially those who we have only met through the Internet, as we host our first event tomorrow!! We promise that you will enjoy the speakers, the drinks, and the folks who will be in attendance.

Over here, we are really big on creating a community, which is a beautiful word for networking.  In the spirit of public-private partnerships, we have brought on four businesses/non-profit organizations that are donating a service to a HBDC! supporter.  Modeling ourselves after Potbelly, we will pick your business card out of the fish bowl and hand you a lovely prize.   And believe us, they are really worth it!  Wanna know who they are?

You got to come to the event to find out….Awwww snap.

Poem by Lindiwe Nkutha

Last Wednesday, in one of the sessions at the UN Durban- Against Racism Review Conference, Lindiwe Nkutha of the Coalition of African Lesbians in South Africa shared this poem, written during the time when Jacob Zuma, soon to be President of South Africa, was acquitted of rape:

Today I woke up in a place that said to me be free
so long as I kept my mouth shut and made no
demands that my freedom actually be taken seriously

I woke up in a place that said be what you want to be
so long as what I wanted to be did not include
me being a woman who wears a kanga,
has a history of mental illness
is prone to forgetting
or has in the past been raped

I woke up to a dream, and I realised that I am stronger than I was yesterday
but this dream rapidly turned into a nightmare
right in front of my eyes as I began to see
that I had in fact been rendered much weaker than I was,
just yesterday

Our Anti-Racism Stance

Over the past few days, some commenters have left comments about harassment they have received and used really derogatory, racialized language about their harassers.  We acknowledge that survivors heal in different ways, and one of those ways is releasing their anger in the form of racist epithets.  We also allow commenters and those submitting stories to use race, but you must make sure its relevance is explained clearly and constructively in your post. Although there are safe spaces for survivors to do that, we do not accept racism here at Holla Back DC!

We make that clear through our anti-racism policy that explains our reasoning.

Initiatives combating various forms of sexual harassment and assault have continually struggled against the perpetuation of racist stereotypes, in particular the construction of men of color as sexual predators.

Those who perpetrate sexual violence in all forms come in ALL shades and sizes. Violence doesn’t discriminate.

We are not here to lecture you on racism. Although some people believe we are living in a post-racial society, many of us do not see it that way. Racism continues to permeate through our legal system, our social fabric, our every day occurrences. Regardless of how you feel about the person hollering back, it is not a cultural norm in that racial/ethnic community. No. Patriarchy is a cultural norm in all communities, all countries, and is a strongly held global “value.” This site, among others combating gender based public sexual harassment, is built to help break down that system through continued acts of activism, education, prevention, and building a community from dialogue and support.

If you have any questions about our stance, please don’t hesitate to first read through the articles linked on this page and then ask away via email at dchollaback@gmail.com.

Sunday Harassers

It’s sad that even on the Lord’s Day street harassment is rampant!
I went to Tenleytown for my yoga class this morning, and prior to it I ran to CVS. On the way there some Street Sense guys were hanging out. Everyone else who passed by was spoken to respectfully, but to me it’s “Princess! Can we talk to you?”

“I’m not your princess!” I snapped, and walked into CVS. Coming out of CVS 10 minutes later, they said “Have a good day!” but I wasn’t in the mood.

I went to my yoga class, and an hour later I had to go back to CVS to try to get a receipt I’d left there. I was unfortunately sans receipt, but one of the Street Sense guys (the one pictured in the green hat) approached me and apologized.

“Sorry for calling you ‘Princess’,” he said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Getting an apology from a street harasser is a good feeling!

“Thanks,” I said. “Just say ‘Hello, miss’ or ‘Hello, ma’am’ the next time you see a woman. That’s all you have to do.”

He shook my hand and introduced himself to me. I’m glad to know that I may have changed a street harasser’s ways.

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Since the weather was nice out today, I decided to walk halfway home instead of hopping directly on the Metro. At the bus shelter at Wisconsin Avenue and Tenley Circle, a bunch of old men were hanging out. The positive chi from yoga class and the good feeling of an apology from the first harasser went down the drain when these men started catcalling at me.

“Here she comes, here she comes,” one said to me. There were also “Mm-mm-mms” and kissing noises made. They were beckoning to me as if I were someone’s pet.

“Come here baby, come here, you [sic] cute,” they kept saying. Nasty!