Free To Be

GIRLS SPEAK OUT ABOUT STREET HARASSMENT

There’s no one solution to street harassment and violence, there are many! Working together – with individuals, organisations and individuals playing their part – we can put an end to the harassment and violence faced by girls in our cities.

“I'm tired, street harassment hurts me to the bone.” Girl, 16, Lima

Girls in cities have more opportunities and are more likely to be educated but they face sexual harassment, exploitation, and insecurity as they navigate urban environments. Our ground-breaking crowdmap – Free to Be – gave girls the chance to share their experiences of public places – like our streets, public transport and universities.

Girls and young women living in Delhi, Kampala, Lima, Madrid and Sydney contributed more than 21,000 testimonials to Free to Be. The analysis of their stories in our report, Unsafe in the City, found that in all five cities, boys and men grope, chase, stalk, leer at, verbally insult, and flash girls and young women.

It found this behaviour is condoned by society with authorities rarely taking action, and bystanders usually doing just that – standing by. This forces girls to adjust their behaviour to protect themselves.

DOWNLOAD THE GLOBAL REPORT: UNSAFE IN THE CITY

DOWNLOAD UNSAFE IN THE CITY: SYDNEY

IT ENDS WITH US

Girls can’t end harassment on their own - everyone has a role to play in making cities safer and more inclusive places.

Whether you’re making a commitment as an individual or getting your CEO or MP to stand up for change, together we can stand up and declare that our cities belong to everyone.

The more commitments, the clearer the message that no one should be made to feel unwelcome or unsafe in a public place.

Individuals

Pledge to stand with girls against street harassment.

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Organisations

Make a commitment to help end street harassment as an organisation, business or government body.

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MOMENTUM IS BUILDING

Check out what governments and organisations are doing to make cities safer, more inclusive places for everyone.

Monash University stands with girls against street harassment.

Understanding and designing for gendered experiences cannot be a reactive afterthought. The approach of Monash University’s XYX Lab is future-focused and places the safety of citizens at the forefront of the discussion. Building on the foundational awareness of intersectional gender issues XYX Lab frame community responsibility as a method to uncover shared visions.

CrowdSpot stands with girls against street harassment.

This year, CrowdSpot partnered with Plan International and Monash University’s XYX Lab to launch the Free to Be Sydney, Lima, Kampala, Madrid and Delhi - giving girls a chance to share their experiences in a powerful way. Read more from CrowdSpot about their work on Free to Be.

Taxi companies in Honiara are working with girls to address harassment and violence.

Girls are driving change through the Safer Cities Program in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Thanks to their advocacy one taxi service is working on a gold plan for providing security for women and girls at night time. Another taxi service has a woman taxi driver joining their fleet, giving girls another option if they don't feel safe travelling with male drivers.

This International Day of the Girl, girls are also meeting with the two largest taxi fleets to share their experiences of harassment and violence and to begin a dialogue on how taxis can be safer for all girls in Honiara.

ARUP stands with girls against street harassment

ARUP is an independent firm of designers, engineers, architects, planners, consultants and technical specialists working across every aspect of today’s built environment. ARUP has pledged to stand with love girls and implement solutions to make Sydney safer and more inclusive for all.

Transit workers are fighting sexual harassment in Hanoi

In Hanoi, over 1,350 transit staff are being trained on gender based violence and street harassment through our Safer Cities for Girls program in Vietnam. Ticket collectors, like Khanh, now have the tools to intervene when sexual harassment occurs.

Committee for Sydney stands with girls against street harassment.

Girls can’t end harassment on their own - everyone has a role to play in making cities safer and more inclusive places. The more individuals and organisations who chose to stand with girls, the clearer the message that no one should be made to feel unwelcome or unsafe in a public place.

Motorcycle taxi drivers in Kampala are campaigning for girls safety

In Kampala, transit operators are uniting on the streets to campaign for girls’ safety. In a show of solidarity the Bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) Safety Club for Girls rode through the streets in a mass public awareness campaign, wearing brightly colored reflector jackets and calling on their fellow transport operators to respect girls’ safety.

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WHAT IS FREE TO BE?

We are campaigning to end harassment thanks to the thousands of girls around the world who shared their stories through Plan International’s Free to Be maps.

Free to Be was designed in collaboration with CrowdSpot, Monash University’s XYX Lab and, crucially, young women. It’s a crowd-mapping tool that enabled young women in Sydney, Delhi, Kampala, Lima and Madrid to identify and share public spaces that make them feel uneasy, scared or happy and safe. It has empowered young women in these cities to call out unsafe experiences and geographically identify spaces where change needs to occur.

View the archived maps here: