Staring at women and fixating on our boobs IS a form of sexual harassment
LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned commuters that “staring” can be a form of sexual harassment, along with cat-calling and cyber-flashing.
He has launched a series of Transport for London posters that feature the mayor and British Transport Police’s emblems. Critics have said “intrusive staring of a sexual nature” is too vague and may incriminate innocent people.
Below, a campaigner and a legal writer debate the issue.
Yes, says Maya Tutton
Maya is part of Of Our Streets Now, an organisation campaigning against harassment
"STARING can absolutely be a form of sexual harassment. If someone is looking you up and down on a train or staring at your legs continually for ten minutes, how is that not harassment?
Intrusive staring can be very intimidating and this campaign by TfL says it is valid to feel scared when it happens. We must stop thinking that sexual harassment only happens when you are assaulted.
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There is a big difference between innocent daydreaming and prolonged, intrusive staring which can escalate into verbal harassment or even sexual assault. It’s about creating a culture of respect in public spaces.
We are all paying the same fare on public transport, so why are some of us being harassed and intimidated?
Plan International UK conducted a survey of 1,515 girls and young women aged 12 to 21.
From this, 37 per cent were found to have experienced public sexual harassment on a form of public transport.
In London, 41 per cent of women have made changes to their clothing, commutes or what time they travel on the Underground in an effort to avoid sexual harassment.
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Imagine being a schoolgirl on a train and a man comes up to you and starts looking you up and down, refusing to look away. You leave the carriage and he follows. It is terrifying and we receive hundreds of testimonies like these monthly.
Staring often goes hand in hand with other forms of sexual harassment and it is impossible to separate it. As a woman, you know when someone is innocently staring into space and when they are fixated on your boobs and being intimidating.
The TfL campaign is a step in the right direction – but so much more needs to be done.
We are campaigning for an overall legal framework around public sexual harassment so it is clear what is, and what isn’t, acceptable in our society. We have laws against dropping cigarette ends on the ground but none against this type of harassment of schoolgirls.
As well as education in schools, we are calling for better lighting on public transport, easier access to phone charging ports and free wifi on trains, as well as compulsory staff training on how to deal with public sexual harassment. We must make these spaces safer for everyone."
No, says Lois McLatchie
Lois is writer for a legal advocacy organisation
"HAVE a pair of eyes ever made you feel uncomfortable on the Tube? For me, a woman who frequently uses public transport, they most certainly have.
But there’s another pair of eyes recently that have been making me feel even more uneasy. They belong to the poster from the British Transport Police.
The text underneath this reads: “Intrusive staring of a sexual nature is sexual harassment and is not tolerated.”
A ban on “upskirting”, I can absolutely support. A ban on inappropriate touching on a train? Sign me up. But criminalising staring? Come on.
Certainly, a stare can feel uncomfortable. But what really makes this no-contact, silent act sexual harassment? It could be possible that even I have innocently looked a little too long at a stranger across from me on the Bakerloo Line, as I zone out to a podcast.
As a young female, I’d more than likely be able to explain myself away.
An older man, particularly if they are unkempt or “neurodiverse” might not be so readily excused.
The problem with criminalising what we interpret as “bad staring” is that we leave it to police officers to decipher who is staring “innocently” and who is staring “intrusively”.
Innocence is in the eye of the beholder as it is not really about the stare but how it is perceived, as there may have been no ill-intent. To make a judgment, police officers would literally have to achieve the impossible – to read the thoughts of the passenger behind the gaze.
And even if the internal monologue was inappropriate for polite company, we are no longer policing actions, but thoughts.
To do this would be creating “thought crimes” and impossible to implement. It isn’t going to help end real sexual harassment.
It isn’t going to help end real sexual harassment. Ending the mistreatment and objectification of women surely starts with better educational policies, or tackling growing porn addictions in society.
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With a bit of imagination we can do far better. But if you are on the train, make sure you imagine with your eyes shut.
Big Brother is watching.