the feminist librarian reads

There are lots of different ways to cope with both online and real-world harassment. For some women, taking a break from the internet is a helpful way to preserve their head space, but for others, fighting back gives them a sense of strength and control (whether retweeting their trolls, Mary Beard-style, or bombarding them with pictures of cute kittens like Stella Creasy). The nonprofit organisation Stop Street Harassment has a host of suggestions for responding to street harassers, including the recommendation to name the behaviour and describe the harasser (“Man in the yellow shirt, stop touching me”), which places the usual shame and embarrassment felt by the victim on the perpetrator instead and gives bystanders an open opportunity to step in. For those who don’t feel safe responding in the moment, reporting the incident afterwards is another option, whether to the police or the perpetrator’s employer. Many women who have shared their stories with the Everyday Sexism Project have reported positive responses from companies who have taken complaints of street harassment seriously and acted to resolve the problem. Other women find their own creative ways of dealing with harassers (“Managed to stop white van full of men mid-catcall by shoving a big powdery donut into my mouth then smiling with mouth full”). But it’s not always possible or even safe to react; fear and shock can make victims feel frozen, and the point is they shouldn’t have to deal with the situation in the first place.