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  • Essay / Different Perspectives on Street Harassment and Why It Happens

    Every day as a woman, especially those walking the streets of Philadelphia, can be verbally harassed. This is a typical phenomenon that women face, whether they are walking alone or even dressing according to the weather. Any word without context can be offensive to anyone, especially women and transgender people. Most harassment comes from a man who has no connection with them, which makes women even more uncomfortable. Anyone can be guilty of any situation, but there are tons of studies that prove the majority are men who objectify women by physically touching them and/and verbally abusing them. In the article “Street Harassment in Philly: Unsafe, Uncomfortable and Untracked”, written by Anna Orso, she wrote about different important topics about the different types of harassment that happen in Philadelphia. She warns the reader that this is a typical concern they should be aware of and how they should react if they are a victim or a bystander. She also asks various women to describe their stories about the street harassment they faced. Orso may be right in her argument that women are mostly bothered every day in the city, but the argument would have been stronger and made readers think if she had also considered the different views on street harassment, including that of the suspect, the official and finally, transgender people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayObserving from the offender's point of view, the decision to harass someone is not given much thought. We can either learn from a young age to disrespect women, or we can teach them from those around us. One of the women in the article, Huxta, explained that teaching young children can possibly prevent street harassment. Most children don't always listen to their parents and that's part of raising a child. Teaching them to treat people with respect can be difficult, especially if the community is heavily involved in their lives. At some point, they start to move away from their parents because they want to be with their peers, but having good or bad ones can affect them more on their ethics. Obviously, parents with children want them to set a positive example for the community, but they really don't know what they are going through or what their next actions will be. In the article, we can read: “Beyond popular activism and the desire to better educate young people, there are few solutions to combat street harassment in a comprehensive and meaningful way. But most women agree: It can’t just be them” (Orso 14). This means that it is certainly difficult to advise young people about street harassment, as they can either take this information and keep it in their head, or it can pass over their heads. What the women meant by “it can't just be them” because they realized that the environment plays a major role in their lives. Every child is raised differently depending on the type of community they live in. There are two main communities in which most children live: suburban areas and urban areas. Living in an urban area, there are tons of outside activities happening, which can lead to more people looking for victims or potential victims, without them even recognizing what they are doing. ForTo sum up, Orso's argument should have explained the environment in which young children live, because few people know what the streets of Philadelphia are like. There are different parts of Philadelphia that are considered good or bad. It may all depend on whether the community is willing to stop bullying and create a better environment for children to learn from it. To go deeper, studies have shown that harassment occurs more often in big cities than in rural areas. zones.Stephania Zeppenfelt is one of the women in the article who explains her story and the harassment she experienced in the city. During the time she lived in town, she wore a ring that may have contributed to the harassment, even though she was not married at the time. Since moving to a better neighborhood, she realized that she no longer needed to wear the ring because there were no male figures on the streets willing to harass her. The article stated: “She says the street harassment she experienced has decreased significantly since she moved. But it got her thinking about the harassment she suffered for years and how she changed herself to avoid it” (Orso 3). This proves that where a person lives can have a significant effect on sexual harassment. There are so many people living in a city with poverty, drugs, and people with mental issues, not that the suburbs don't have problems, but the people living nearby seem to be more affected by harassment . Given the situation going on in Philadelphia, there's not really much they can do when harassment is reported due to the constitution. There are many claims that women can impose a restraining order on every man, but this happens every day and there can be different offenders as well. Studies have shown that “93% of the more than 400 people surveyed said they had been harassed in the past year” (Orso 5), and each year these numbers will increase significantly. It seems like it's up to the community if they want to help, because there's not really much the police can do other than tell the suspect to stop. Since no one can be arrested because of any verbal comment, the number of street harassments will likely increase further because they know they won't get caught or arrested for it. In the article it states: “Police work to balance reporting of offensive behavior and protect the constitutional right to free speech. If there is no violence, harassment, or repetition of harassment, it may not be actionable” (Orso 5). This means that officers cannot arrest anyone if free speech is part of the constitution. It is their right to say anything to anyone without physically harming them. Even if they have the right to say rude comments, looking from a women's point of view, do they have the right to feel unsafe when walking in a community? It's not just women who feel unsafe walking the streets, but also There are tons of transgender people who have experienced harassment as well. Since 2015, people can now legally marry the same sex, but most people are opposed to this for religious or personal reasons. Harassment can affect transgender people emotionally and can eventually turn into a violent situation. Marrison is one of the women in the article who talks about harassment and./.