Apps To Document Street Harassment Give Global Women A Way To Speak Out : Goats and Soda : NPR
Noora Finkleman
In Egypt  there's HarassMap. Co-founder Noora Finkleman and other activists initially developed the platform in order to soften the taboo of discussing sexual harassment.
"Back when we first launched in 2010  in our culture it was just normal to ignore harassment or deny that it was happening "  Finkleman  says. At the time  Egypt's first lady Suzanne Mubarak even alleged that the problem of harassment had been blown out of proportion by Islamic extremists looking to push their own agenda.
"So we said  why not have an online technology that allows women to anonymously report their experiences "  Finkleman  says  "so we can start documenting that this is actually happening  that this is a widespread problem."
That first year  nearly 200 women sent in reports to HarassMap. The next year  the number doubled. Each report was vetted by volunteers "to make sure it isn't obviously fake  " Finkleman  says. Since this data is collected anonymously  there's no way to fully verify it   she  adds. "But what motivation would someone have to make a fake report anyway?"  she  says.
By contrast  based on  her  experiences working with victims   Finkleman  says  she  believes that policymakers and law enforcement officers have largely discounted and discredited women's harassment experiences
"In fact  the number of reports that we received is probably nowhere close to what was actually happening "  Finkleman  says. "Not everyone had access to get online and report  and despite our outreach efforts a lot of people didn't know there even was such a tool. But at the very least  HarassMap served as a tool to help break the silence around this issue."
In the seven years since HarassMap launched   Finkleman  says  Egyptians have begun to discuss the issue more openly and publicly. "These days  more and more people are feeling free to talk about sexual harassment on their own personal profiles on Facebook " she says.
In Egypt  there's HarassMap. Co-founder [TGT] and other activists initially developed the platform in order to soften the taboo of discussing sexual harassment.
"Back when we first launched in 2010  in our culture it was just normal to ignore harassment or deny that it was happening "  Finkleman  says. At the time  Egypt's first lady Suzanne Mubarak even alleged that the problem of harassment had been blown out of proportion by Islamic extremists looking to push their own agenda.
"So we said  why not have an online technology that allows women to anonymously report their experiences "  Finkleman  says  "so we can start documenting that this is actually happening  that this is a widespread problem."
That first year  nearly 200 women sent in reports to HarassMap. The next year  the number doubled. Each report was vetted by volunteers "to make sure it isn't obviously fake  " Finkleman  says. Since this data is collected anonymously  there's no way to fully verify it   she  adds. "But what motivation would someone have to make a fake report anyway?"  she  says.
By contrast  based on  her  experiences working with victims   Finkleman  says  she  believes that policymakers and law enforcement officers have largely discounted and discredited women's harassment experiences
"In fact  the number of reports that we received is probably nowhere close to what was actually happening "  Finkleman  says. "Not everyone had access to get online and report  and despite our outreach efforts a lot of people didn't know there even was such a tool. But at the very least  HarassMap served as a tool to help break the silence around this issue."
In the seven years since HarassMap launched   Finkleman  says  Egyptians have begun to discuss the issue more openly and publicly. "These days  more and more people are feeling free to talk about sexual harassment on their own personal profiles on Facebook " she says.