Online activism and street harassment: digital justice or shouting into the ether?

Full text

GRIFFITH JOURNAL
OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
Editor-in-Chief
Kelli Lemass
Managing Editors
Jessica Armao
Daniel Marcantelli
IT Administrator & Editor
Neerav Gorasia
SPECIAL ISSUE
Special Issue Editor
Jessica Armao
Deputy Editors
Michelle Gunawan
Felicia Lal
GENERAL ISSUE
General Issue Editor
Kelli Lemass
Deputy Editor
Danielle Warren
Editors
Shane Berkery
Georgia Danks-Brown
Tasnova Chowdhury
Mignote Hannaford
Beau Hanson
Eleesa Panton
Lana Ristic
Michelle St. Ange
Josephine Vernon
Consulting & Executive Editor
Dr Allan Ardill
Volume 2(1) 2014
Published in May 2014, Gold Coast, Australia by the Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity
ISSN: 2203-3114

CONTENTS
SPECIAL ISSUE
JESSICA ARMAO
E
DITORIAL
1
DR ADRIAN HOWE
F
ATAL
L
OVE
4
ANONYMOUS
D
OMESTIC
V
IOLENCE
:
T
ODAY
I
S
PEAK
O
UT
25
DR BIANCA FILEBORN
O
NLINE
A
CTIVISM AND
S
TREET
H
ARASSMENT
:
D
IGITAL
JUSTICE OR SHOUTING INTO THE ETHER?
32
JANE CULLEN
WA’S
‘O
NE
P
UNCH
’
L
AW
:
S
OLUTION TO A
C
OMPLEX
S
OCIAL
PROBLEM OR EASY WAY OUT FOR PERPETRATORS OF
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
52
FELICITY GERRY QC
L
ET
’
S
T
ALK
A
BOUT
V
AGINAS
…
F
EMALE
G
ENITAL
MUTILATION: THE FAILURE OF INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS
AND HOW TO END AN ABUSIVE CULTURAL TRADITION
78
GENERAL ISSUE
ANNA CAPPELLANO
Q
UEENSLAND
’
S
N
EW
L
EGAL
R
EALITY
:
F
OUR
W
AYS IN
W
HICH
WE ARE NO LONGER EQUAL UNDER THE LAW
109
WILLIAM ISDALE & DR GRAEME
ORR
P
ATHOLOGIES IN
Q
UEENSLAND
L
AW
-M
AKING
:
R
EPAIRING
POLITICAL CONSTITUTIONALISM
126
FIONA MCLEOD SC
H
UMAN
T
RAFFICKING AND
M
ODERN
D
AY
S
LAVERY
–
A
N
AFFRONT TO HUMAN DIGNITY
144
DR TERRY GOLDSWORTHY &
MATTHEW RAJ
S
TOPPING THE
S
TALKER
:
V
ICTIM
R
ESPONSES TO
S
TALKING
174
SUSAN ARBON & ZACH DUNCALFE
F
OOD
,
A
NIMALS
,
AND THE
L
AW
:
D
O
W
E
H
AVE A
M
ORAL
OBLIGATION TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE SUFFERING THAT
THE LAW DOES NOT?
199
ADELE DE MESNARD
E
NVIRONMENTAL
M
IGRATIONS
:
R
ETHINKING THE
N
EED TO
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT LOCAL CONTEXTS IN LEGAL AND POLICY
RESPONSES
221

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT: DIGITAL JUSTICE OR
SHOUTING INTO THE ETHER?
DR BIANCA FILEBORN∗
Street harassment is a common, pervasive experience in the lives of many
women. Despite both anecdotal and research evidence confirming its
prevalence, and the harm caused by street harassment, it is rarely
responded to by the criminal justice system — particularly in its more
“minor” incarnations. Online activist sites such as Hollaback have
emerged in recent years in response to this legal silence regarding street
harassment. While the aim of these sites is to draw attention to women’s
experiences and work towards achieving legal responses to street
harassment, this article considers the extent to which online activist sites
could function as an informal justice mechanism for victims of street
harassment. Drawing on the literature on sexual assault victim/survivors’
justice needs, this article firstly approximates what street harassment
victims’ justice needs may be. It then moves on to consider the ways in
which the online activist site Hollaback Melbourne may function as an
avenue for street harassment victims’ needs to be met. Ultimately, while it
is clear there is much potential for online activist sites to act as an
informal justice mechanism, further work is required to identify street
harassment victims’ actual justice needs.
∗ Dr Bianca Fileborn is currently a Research Officer at the Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health, and
Society at La Trobe University. Her research is concerned with the intersections between space, culture,
identity, and violence. She would like to express her thanks to Dr Haley Clark, Dr Natalia Hanley, Rachel
Loney-Howes, and the two anonymous referees for their helpful and insightful feedback on earlier
versions of this work.Society at La Trobe University. Her research is concerned with the intersections
between space, culture, identity, and violence. She would like to express her thanks to Dr Haley Clark, Dr
Natalia Hanley, Rachel Loney-Howes, and the two anonymous referees for their helpful and insightful
feedback on earlier versions of this work.
32

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
CONTENTS
I
II
III
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................
T
HE
S
TREETS ARE A
B
ATTLEGROUND
:
C
ONCEPTUALISING
W
OMEN
’
S
E
XPERIENCES OF
STREET HARASSMENT..................................................................................................................
APPROXIMATING VICTIMS’ JUSTICE NEEDS...............................................................................
33
35
39
A Information...................................................................................................
B
Validation
.......................................................................................................
C Voice..................................................................................................................
D
Control
.............................................................................................................
42
43
44
46
IV
V
JUSTICE FOR WHOM? CONSIDERING THE BOUNDARIES OF ONLINE JUSTICE......................
CONCLUDING REMARKS................................................................................................................
47
48
I INTRODUCTION
Street harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of sexualised violence experienced
by the majority of, if not all, women.1 Yet, street harassment remains relatively under-
examined, and is often excluded from official justice responses to sexual violence against
women. There is little, if any, recourse for women who have experienced street
harassment. A range of feminist activist websites and blogs have emerged in response to
this lack of focus on street harassment by official justice actors and institutions, most
notably the international Hollaback sites.2 Such sites, by opening up an online space for
women to share their experiences,3 provide a counter-narrative to the mainstream
silencing and exclusion of women’s experiences of street harassment.4 In doing so,
women are able to challenge dominant understandings and tolerance of street
harassment. Importantly in the context of street harassment and other forms of sexual
1 It is acknowledged that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender/sexual, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ), same-
sex attracted, and gender-diverse individuals also face considerable levels of heterosexist harassment,
abuse, and violence on the streets. However, the focus of this article is on street harassment as a form of
gender-based violence and abuse.
2 See Hollaback <http://www.ihollaback.org/>.
3 See, eg, Julia Schuster, ‘Invisible feminists? Social media and young women’s political participation’
(2013) 65(1) Political Science 18.
4 Frances Shaw, ‘The politics of blogs: theories of discursive activism online’ [2012] 142 Media
International Australia 41.
33

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
violence, women can experience the Internet as ‘a “safe space” for resisting the gender
oppression that they encounter in their day-to-day lives offline’.5
While it is clear that anti-street harassment websites can function as a space of
resistance and consciousness-raising, the extent online activist sites could function as an
alternative justice mechanism for women who have experienced street harassment is
yet to be considered. There is currently scant research addressing the potential of the
online world to provide alternative justice mechanisms. Salter’s recent work is a notable
exception to this silence.6 Salter explored the use of online activism by sexual assault
victim/survivors as a means of achieving justice, and challenging official institutional
responses to sexual violence. The Internet, Salter posits, provides sexual assault
victim/survivors with access to ‘counter-publics in which allegations of sexual violence
are being received, discussed and acted upon in ways contrary to established social and
legal norms’,7 although there are of course limitations to this which are raised later.
Drawing on a range of case studies, he demonstrates the ways in which victim/survivors
are able to utilise social media and other Internet forums to publicly expose and punish
their perpetrators, voice their experiences, and challenge the official legal narrative of
sexual violence, albeit with varying levels of success. Salter’s work demonstrates the
potential of online activism to provide a form of justice to victim/survivors of sexual
assault, suggesting that such forums may also serve as an informal justice mechanism to
the victims of street harassment.
This article will consider the potential of online activism as an alternative justice
mechanism for victims of street harassment. In doing so, I will firstly establish the
nature, prevalence, and harms of street harassment in order to demonstrate that street
harassment necessitates a justice response. However, little is currently known about
street harassment victims’ justice needs. Drawing on the literature on sexual assault
victim/survivors’ justice needs, I will approximate what street harassment victims’
needs might be, with a specific focus on procedural justice needs. Procedural justice
needs have been focused on for the purposes of this discussion, as they relate to the
processes that need to take place in order for victims’ outcome-orientated and broader
5 Jessie Daniels, ‘Rethinking cyberfeminism(s): race, gender, and embodiment’ (2009) 37(1–2) Women’s
Studies Quarterly 101, 108.
6 Michael Salter, ‘Justice and revenge in online counter-publics: emerging responses to sexual violence in
the age of social media’ (2013) 9(3) Crime, Media, Culture 1.
7 Ibid 2.
34

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
justice needs to be actualised, such as safety, retribution, and vindication, amongst many
others.8 The remainder of this article considers the potentials and limitations of online
activism as an avenue for meeting street harassment victims’ procedural justice needs,
drawing on the case study of the Hollaback Melbourne website.9 I argue that, while there
are some clear limitations associated with online activist sites as an informal justice
mechanism, these sites also present much potential as a vehicle for meeting street
harassment victims’ justice needs.
II THE STREETS ARE A BATTLEGROUND: CONCEPTUALISING WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES OF STREET
HARASSMENT
Street harassment encompasses a broad range of abusive, harassing, and violent
behaviours. While street harassment can also occur in other contexts, such as
homophobic abuse, the focus of this article is on women’s experiences of sexualised
street harassment. Behavioural definitions of street harassment are somewhat variable
within the literature,10 however street harassment most typically involves actions such
as ‘catcalls, whistles, and sexual gestures and comments’ that take place in public
spaces,11 including streets, public transport, and the semi-public terrain of commercial
consumer spaces such as shopping centres and bars.12 A considerably broader typology
8 Haley Clark, ‘“What is the justice system willing to offer?” Understanding sexual assault victim/survivors’
criminal justice needs’ [2010] (85) Family Matters 28; Haley Clark, ‘Unearthed concepts of justice for
women who have experienced sexual violence: possibilities for healing and enhancing criminal justice’
[2013] (4) The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 28; Judith Herman, ‘Justice
from the victim’s perspective’ (2005) 11(5) Violence Against Women 571.
9 See Hollaback Melbourne <http://melbourne.ihollaback.org/>. Hollaback is an online activist website
and social movement that is ‘dedicated to ending street harassment’ (About Us [2014] Hollaback
Melbourne <http://melbourne.ihollaback.org/about-us/>). The movement originated in New York in
2005, and now has websites based in many major Western cities. The Hollaback Melbourne website
collates user submissions sharing experiences of street harassment that have occurred in Melbourne,
Australia, and allows other site users to comment in response to stories that have been shared. Submitters
also have the option of uploading photos of their harassers. This particular activist website was selected
on the basis of both its prominence as an activist site on an international scale, but also as a result of the
author’s familiarity with the Melbourne chapter, which is her hometown.
10 See Elizabeth Kissling, ‘Street harassment: the language of sexual terrorism’ (1991) 2(4) Discourse and
Society 451, 456; Rhonda Lenton et al, ‘Sexual harassment in public places: experiences of Canadian
women’ (1999) 36(4) Canadian Journal of Anthropology 517, 521; Ross Macmillan, Annette Nierobisz and
Sandy Welsh, ‘Experiencing the streets: harassment and perceptions of safety among women’ (2000)
37(3) Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 306, 307.
11 Doyanne Darnell and Sarah Cook, ‘Investigating the utility of the film War Zone in the prevention of
street harassment’ (2009) 33(3) Psychology of Women Quarterly 266.
12 Kimberly Fairchild and Laurie Rudman, ‘Everyday stranger harassment and women’s objectification’
(2008) 21(3) Social Justice Research 338, 339; see also, for a discussion of unwanted sexual attention in
licensed venues, Bianca Fileborn, ‘Sex and the city: exploring young women’s perceptions and experiences
of unwanted sexual attention in licensed venues’ (2012) 24(2) Current Issues in Criminal Justice 241;
35

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
is provided by Gardner, who lists ‘pinching, slapping, hitting, shouted remarks, vulgarity,
insults, sly innuendo, ogling, and stalking’ through to assault and rape as constituting
what she terms public harassment.13
Purely behavioural definitions of street harassment disconnect such actions from their
gendered reality, and obscure the role of the perpetrator in actively engaging in these
behaviours. Perhaps a more apt definition is that provided by Laniya, who encapsulates
street harassment as ‘the unsolicited verbal and/or nonverbal act of a male stranger
towards a female, solely on the basis of her sex, in a public space’.14 However, gender-
based definitions of street harassment are in themselves problematic, as they obfuscate
the experiences of heterosexist street harassment, suggesting a need to work towards
developing more inclusive definitions of street harassment. Nevertheless, for the
purposes of this article, a gender-based definition is adequate. As Darnell and Cook
argue, such experiences share much in common with sexual assault, in that the ‘targets
are most often women, initiators are most often men, and targets are forced to endure
the often degrading, objectifying, and threatening behaviour’.15 Clearly, some of the
behaviours included within definitions of street harassment are likely to meet current
legal definitions of sexual assault, indecent assault, and rape. Many of the behaviours
residing in the “lower” end of the street harassment continuum do not clearly fall within
the current remit of law, and it is these experiences that are of particular concern here.
Howsoever street harassment is defined, it is clear that experiences of street harassment
amongst women in Western countries are extremely common. Lenton and colleagues’
survey of Canadian women’s experiences of street harassment found that approximately
81 per cent of their 1990 participants had experienced street harassment in the form of
staring, while 66.1 per cent had encountered verbal forms of harassment.16 Similarly, 85
per cent of the 12 300 women in Macmillan and colleagues’ Canadian-based study
Phillip Kavanaugh, ‘The continuum of sexual violence: women’s accounts of victimization in urban
nightlife’ (2013) 8(1) Feminist Criminology 20.
13 Carol Gardner, Passing by: gender and public harassment (University of California Press, 1995) 4; see
also Cynthia Bowman, ‘Street harassment and the informal ghettoization of women’ (1993) 106(3)
Harvard Law Review 517, 523-4.
14 Olatokunbo Olukemi Laniya, ‘Street smut: gender, media, and the legal power dynamics of street
harassment, or “hey sexy” and other verbal ejaculations’ (2005) 14(1) Columbia Journal of Gender and Law
91, 100.
15 Darnell and Cook, above n 11, 266.
16 Lenton et al, above n 10, 525.
36

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
reported having experienced some type of stranger harassment in their lives.17 Of the 228
participants in Fairchild and Rudman’s examination of stranger harassment, ‘catcalls,
whistles, or stares’ were experienced by 32 per cent of participants once a month, and by
31 per cent of participants every few days or more.18 A further 40 per cent of participants
experienced ‘unwanted sexual attention’ on a monthly basis.19 What might be considered
more “severe” forms of stranger harassment, such as ‘direct pressure to cooperate
sexually’ and ‘forceful fondling or grabbing’, were experienced once a month by over a
quarter of Fairchild and Rudman’s respondents.20 Although there is variability in the
prevalence rates of street harassment across studies, perhaps due to varying definitions,
existing data nonetheless confirms the commonality of such experiences.
While it is clear that street harassment is an experience shared by the vast majority of
women, the impact of street harassment is considerably more variable. Certainly, street
harassment has the capacity to cause significant harm to victim/survivors. Street
harassment contributes towards women’s fear in public spaces, and functions to limit
women’s use of, and access to, public space,21 not least of all through its reminder to
women of their vulnerability to sexual and physical violence.22 Indeed, the impact of
street harassment can be so profound that Macmillan and colleagues concluded it ‘is a
key determinant of perceptions of safety among women’.23 It is within this context of
fear, Kissling asserts, that street harassment ‘produce[s] an environment of sexual
terrorism’ through which men ‘control and dominate’ women,24 and reduce women to
sexual objects.25 Participants in Lenton and colleagues’ study reported feeling fear,
anger, violation, repulsion, and shock in response to experiencing street harassment.26
Significantly, approximately one fifth of their participants reported they still
17 Macmillan, Nierobisz and Welsh, above n 10, 311.
18 Fairchild and Rudman, above n 12, 348.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid 346.
21 Bowman, above n 13, 520; Anne Esacove, ‘A diminishing of the self: women’s experiences of unwanted
sexual attention’ (1998) 19(3) Health Care for Women International 181, 185-6; Lenton et al, above n 10,
536.
22 Bowman, above n 13, 535; Fairchild and Rudman, above n 12, 348; Kissling, above n 10, 454; Laniya,
above n 14, 103-4.
23 Macmillan, Nierobisz and Welsh, above n 10, 319.
24 Kissling, above n 10, 456; see also Esacove, above n 21, 185.
25 Bowman, above n 13, 540; Esacove, above n 21, 188; Fairchild and Rudman, above n 12, 342; Laniya,
above n 14.
26 Lenton et al, above n 10, 531.
37

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
experienced negative emotional impact from street harassment, with some participants
experiencing emotional distress years after their experience occurred.
However, not all women experience all forms of street harassment as harmful, and
women may interpret similar types of street harassment in diverse ways.27 Indeed,
some women purportedly encounter street harassment as a “positive” experience. As
Lenton et al note, both men and women position street harassment ‘as trivial or even
construe it as flattery’.28 Of course, such accounts of street harassment should not be
viewed uncritically. This minimisation of street harassment may variably function as a
coping mechanism for women,29 and as a means of normalising and downplaying the
otherwise harmful behaviours of men.30 It also reflects the entrenched, “everyday”
nature of street harassment for many women. The context of street harassment has been
shown to play a central role in mediating its perceived harmfulness. As Fairchild notes,
‘harassment is in the eye of the beholder’.31 That is, there is a degree of subjectivity in
terms of whether a behaviour is experienced as harassment or not, with the context the
behaviour occurs in playing a strong mediating role. Contextual factors such as the
attractiveness and age of the harasser, being alone, location, and the time of day the
harassment occurs, all influence the perceived seriousness of street harassment.32 The
form street harassment takes can also influence perceived severity. Lenton et al found
that behaviours that ‘imply a greater risk of assault’, such as following and touching,
were encountered by their participants as more severe.33
Despite this variability in the harm caused by street harassment, overall the current
body of research on street harassment depicts this phenomenon as a pervasive, often
harmful experience, that is encountered frequently by women. Yet, there is minimal
scope for redress through legal avenues, with most forms of street harassment not
clearly addressed within current legislation. In her seminal work on street harassment,
Bowman argues that this legal silence around street harassment is unsurprising when
27 See, eg, Kimberly Fairchild, ‘Context effects on women’s perceptions of stranger harassment’ (2010)
14(3) Sexuality and Culture 191, 192; Kissling, above n 10, 453.
28 Lenton et al, above n 10, 518; see also Esacove, above n 21, 182; Kissling, above n 10, 452.
29 See, eg, Fairchild and Rudman, above n 12, 353.
30 See also Laniya, above n 14, for a detailed discussion of the process of recognising and labeling harm as
such.
31 Fairchild, above n 27, 193.
32 Esacove, above n 21, 186; Fairchild, above n 27, 200-1.
33 Lenton et al, above n 10, 527.
38

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
viewed through a feminist lens.34 Considerable legal gains have been made since the
publication of Bowman’s work, particularly in regards to sexual harassment within the
workplace — a comparable form of harassment in a number of respects, for example in
the scope of the behaviours they entail, and their tendency to be dismissed as “minor”
forms of sexualised harm.35 There is no apparent reason for street harassment not to be
responded to within a legal context, and the failure of the liberal law to respond
indicates the continued dismissal of the sexual harms experienced by women.36 The
similarities between street harassment and both sexual harassment and sexual assault
suggest that victims of street harassment are also likely to desire some form of justice
response in relation to their experience, although this article is specifically concerned
with forms of street harassment that currently fall outside of legal definitions of sexual
violence. To what extent might existing informal mechanisms provide an avenue for
addressing street harassment victims’ justice needs?
III APPROXIMATING VICTIMS’ JUSTICE NEEDS
Street harassment is, as the previous discussion established, capable of causing much
harm to women. While women’s experiences of street harassment are diverse, and not
all women are significantly impacted by all experiences of street harassment, it is
nonetheless clear that this form of abuse can result in significant harm to its victims, as
well as contributing towards the maintenance of broader gender inequalities. This
suggests that street harassment is worthy of a justice response, whether formal or
informal. What is less clear is what street harassment victims’ justice needs may be. That
is, how do victims of street harassment understand justice, and what needs to occur for
them to feel as though “justice” has been achieved? 37
To date, there is no identified research examining what street harassment victims’ justice
needs are, although a smaller body of work has considered street harassment victims’
attitudes towards, and desire for, formal justice responses. Research conducted by Nielsen
34 Bowman, above n 13.
35 See, eg, Fairchild, above n 27; Bianca Fileborn, ‘Conceptual understandings and prevalence of sexual
harassment and street harassment’ (2013) ACSSA Resource Sheet (Australian Institute of Family Studies);
Laniya, above n 14; Eric Wesselmann and Janice Kelly, ‘Cat-calls and culpability: investigating the
frequency and functions of stranger harassment’ (2010) 63(7–8) Sex Roles 451.
36 It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss precisely what these official justice responses to street
harassment should be. Bowman, above n 13, can be referred to for a discussion of potential legal
responses, albeit within an American legal context.
37 And, indeed, how do street harassment victims define and conceptualise “justice” itself.
39

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
in the United States found that victims of street harassment were highly resistant to the
legal regulation of this behaviour, despite also acknowledging the social harm caused by
street harassment.38 Notably, women interviewed by Nielsen identified street harassment
as significantly harmful, yet ‘as “equal” members of society, they do not have and do not
want legal recourse for this harm’.39 These women framed street harassment as a
“private” matter that they should be able to respond to on an individual level. Such
responses suggest that informal justice mechanisms may be desirable for street
harassment, although Nielsen asserts that there is still a role for formal legal regulation of
street harassment. It is not clear from this work what the specific justice needs of street
harassment victims are, or what must take place for their needs to be met.
The research on sexual assault victim/survivors’ justice needs will be drawn on here to
approximate what street harassment victims’ needs may be. This is not to suggest that
the experiences and needs of sexual assault and street harassment victims are the same,
or that these categories of sexualised violence are equivalent in form and harm.
However, street harassment and sexualised violence can be viewed as interrelated, and
as being situated along the continuum of sexual violence.40 Given this, it is not
unreasonable to assume that victims of street harassment and sexual assault may share
some common justice needs, although further research is clearly required to establish
what street harassment victims’ needs (and what is required to meet them) actually
are.41 Where these needs are the same, it is not necessarily the case that victims of
sexual harassment would require the same type or extent of justice response as sexual
assault victim/survivors in order to feel that their needs have been met.42 Nonetheless,
at the current point in time this research stands as the closest reference point for
identifying street harassment victims’ likely justice needs.
38 Laura Nielsen, ‘Situating legal consciousness: experiences and attitudes of ordinary citizens about law
and street harassment’ (2000) 34(4) Law and Society Review 1055, 1070.
39 Ibid 1080.
40 See, eg, Liz Kelly, Surviving sexual violence (Polity Press, 1988) in relation to the continuum of sexual
violence; Bowman, above n 13, 536; Darnell and Cook, above n 11, 266; Fileborn, above n 35; Kissling,
above n 10, 456; Laniya, above n 14, 119, in relation to the intersections between sexual assault and street
harassment.
41 See also Clare McGlynn, ‘Feminism, rape and the search for justice’ (2011) 31(4) Oxford Journal of Legal
Studies 825, 833, which advocates for the need to approach different ‘categories’ of violence against
women ‘with some degree of separation’ when considering justice needs.
42 See Nielsen, above n 38. The resistance of Nielsen’s participants to formal justice responses to street
harassment would tend to support this.
40

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
Research on victim/survivors’ justice needs is also relatively sparse. A nascent body of
literature has emerged in recent years that has begun to establish what these needs are.
Clark identifies four key procedural justice needs based upon interviews with sexual
assault victim/survivors: ‘information, validation, voice and control’.43 There is, of
course, much variation in both the individual needs of victims, and their understandings
of what it means to achieve a sense of justice.44 Not all of these needs will be relevant for
all victims at all times. Nonetheless, together they represent the more commonly
experienced procedural needs of victim/survivors. These needs are all of potential
relevance in relation to street harassment victims and online activism. While they are
discussed in the literature primarily in relation to procedural justice within the formal
justice system, they can be extrapolated to apply to online justice mechanisms, as the
ensuing discussion will demonstrate.
A distinction also needs to be made here between victims’ procedural justice needs and
their understandings of broader, outcome-orientated justice needs. Procedural justice
needs can be understood as the processes that must take place alongside victims’ higher-
level, outcome-oriented justice needs, such as retribution, safety, or for victim/survivors
to feel as though a sense of justice has been achieved. Procedural justice needs may need
to be met in order for victim/survivors’ outcome-orientated justice needs to be fulfilled.
In this way, anti-street harassment sites are viewed for the purposes of this article as a
process through which victims may work towards achieving outcome-orientated justice.
Procedural justice needs are focused on here in order to necessarily limit the scope of
this discussion. Victim/survivors may seek justice at both an individual and a social
level.45 Social justice is used here to refer to victim/survivors’ justice goals that extend
beyond their own immediate needs, such as the desire to protect others in the
community or to contribute towards the elimination of sexual violence. Individual
justice refers to victim/survivors’ needs that pertain only to their personal experience,
for example to obtain retribution against their perpetrator or to gain recognition of their
own suffering and harm.
Before continuing, it is worth making a brief caveat in regards to the use of informal
justice mechanisms for street harassment. There is considerable debate regarding the
43 Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8, 29.
44 See, eg, Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8, 30; McGlynn, above n 41.
45 See Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8, 30.
41

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
appropriateness of informal justice mechanisms for sexual violence.46 In particular,
critics of their use suggest that they reaffirm sexual violence as “trivial” and contribute
towards the historical dismissal of sexual violence by the justice system.47 Yet, the
formal justice system acts as a site of re-victimisation for many victim/survivors, and its
arguably limited concept of justice often falls short of meeting victim/survivors’ diverse
needs.48 A detailed discussion of this debate is well beyond the scope of this paper.
However, in discussing the merits of an informal justice mechanism for victims of street
harassment it is not my intention to suggest that this is the only justice mechanism that
should be made available. There is arguably a clear role for the formal justice system to
play in responding to street harassment in conjunction with informal mechanisms.49
Street harassment is not, however, at the current point in time responded to by the
formal justice system — either because such behaviour is not legislated against, or,
where it does fall within the remit of the justice system it is rarely reported or
progressed through the system.50 Informal justice mechanisms, therefore, represent the
primary justice avenue available to victims of street harassment, and subsequently form
the focus of my analysis.
A Information
The need for “information” broadly refers to victims requiring communication from
criminal justice personnel regarding the status and progress of their case. Given that
street harassment is generally not reported to the police, or progressed through the
justice system where it is reported, the need for “information” in the sense it is used
here is not directly relevant for victims of street harassment. However, street
46 See, eg, Clark, ‘Unearthed concepts of justice’, above n 8; Herman, above n 8; Mary Koss, ‘Restoring rape
survivors: justice advocacy’ (2006) 1087(1) Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 206; McGlynn,
above n 41; Gitana Proietti-Scifoni and Kathleen Daly, ‘Gendered violence and restorative justice: the
views of New Zealand opinion leaders (2011) 14(3) Contemporary Justice Review 269; Katherine Van
Wormer, ‘Restorative justice as social justice for victims of gendered violence: a standpoint feminist
perspective’ (2009) 54(2) Social Work 107.
47 See Koss, above n 42, 224, for an overview of some of these critiques.
48 Clark, ‘Unearthed concepts of justice’, above n 8; Herman, above n 8; Barbara Hudson, ‘Restorative
justice the challenge of sexual and racial violence’ (1998) 25(2) Journal of Law and Society 237; McGlynn,
above n 41; Clare McGlynn, Nicole Westmarland and Nikki Godden, ‘“I just wanted him to hear me”: sexual
violence and the possibilities of restorative justice’ (2012) 39(2) Journal of Law and Society 213; Van
Wormer, above n 42.
49 See, eg, Bowman, above n 13; Laniya, above n 14; Macmillan, Nierobisz and Welsh above n 10, 320;
McGlynn, Westmarland and Godden, above n 48, 214; Nielsen, above n 38, 1082.
50 Bowman, above n 13; Fairchild and Rudman, above n 12, 339; Laniya, above n 14, 92; Lenton et al,
above n 10, 523.
42

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
harassment victims may well value other forms of information in relation to their
experience that online activist sites can provide. Through the collective disclosure of
experiences of street harassment, activist sites such as Hollaback provide a source of
information communicating to women that they are not alone in their experiences, and
function as a means of evidence-gathering that documents the commonality of these
experiences, as well as the geographical location in which they occur.
B Validation
Validation refers broadly to the victim/survivors’ need to feel supported and believed.51
For Clark’s participants, this ‘was demonstrated by supportive, respectful interactions
with officials, as well as mechanisms that held the perpetrator accountable’.52 Being
believed was an important component of validation for many of Clark’s participants and
functioned as a “first step” to having other needs met. Validation could also be
demonstrated through the actions taken by justice personnel, such as ‘police charge,
conviction, and the offender being publicly denounced and sentenced’.53 In this last
respect, Hollaback is arguably limited as a justice mechanism in that offenders are
generally not identified individually and publicly shamed (assuming that the offender is
able to be identified in the first place, which is often unlikely to be the case in the fleeting
interactions that often typify street harassment). Resultantly, there is no direct
denunciation of individual offender behaviour, nor is any punishment meted out.54
The need for validation may be met in other respects. Readers can express their support for
an individual’s story through the use of the “got your back” button provided on the site;
although whether this action is experienced as meaningful support or rather constitutes a
form of “slactivism” is of question here.55 Support and belief can be communicated more
substantially through the ability to comment on a shared experience. Commenter ‘Giovvie’
51 Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8, 33; see also Herman, above n 8, 574.
52 Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8, 33.
53 Ibid.
54 However, neither is the punishment of individual perpetrators the express purpose of Hollaback. Other
forms of online activism do have the potential to achieve these aims. See, eg, Salter, above n 6; City of
Brotherly Love <http://www.hannahcprice.com/cityofbrotherlylove.html> which is a photography project
for examples of the more direct identification and shaming of perpetrators.
55 Ryan Budish, ‘Click to change: optimism despite online activism’s unmet expectations’ (2012) 26(2)
Emory International Law Review 745, 750. ‘Slactivism’, according to Ryan Budish, involves supporters of a
cause taking easy, simplistic actions, such as clicking the “like” button on Facebook, at the expense of
‘personal sacrifice and result-oriented activism’. There are clear parallels here with the “got your back”
button feature of Hollaback.
43

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
for example, expresses in response to a submission that ‘I feel your pain’, and ‘I’m sorry you
had to go through with that’ in response to a post.56 Such comments communicate clear
belief of the anonymous women’s experiences, express a sense of empathy, and reaffirm the
offensive and harmful nature of street harassment.
Validation may also be achieved through anti-street harassment sites via their contribution
to the labeling and recognition of street harassment as a form of sexualised harm. Laniya
suggests that the media serves as a useful ‘platform to enlighten and educate the public
about this type of sexual harassment’ and can play a pivotal role in instigating formal
legislative reform and social recognition of harm.57 While Laniya makes this point in
relation to traditional media formats, such as news and print media, social media is playing
an increasingly prevalent and influential role, and thus has the potential to function as an
educational platform in the way envisaged by Laniya. By providing a forum for women to
collectively recount and share their experiences of street harassment, sites such as
Hollaback facilitate the process of naming street harassment as a gendered harm. Laniya
views this as the fundamental first step towards obtaining recognition and reparation for
harm. Naming, according to Laniya, involves ‘an articulation and a sharing of experiences …
and a contextuali[s]ation of the occurrence within the larger social and political arenas’.58 It
transforms an individual harm to a collective one, and provides the impetus for further
political action. In creating a space for the collective naming of street harassment as harm,
online activism contributes towards an important first step in achieving social and legal
recognition of this issue.
C Voice
Having a “voice” has also been identified as a key justice need for victim/survivors. That
is, many victims require the opportunity to “voice” or share their experience in a
meaningful way: in their own words, and in a forum where what they say is heard.59 For
Clark’s participants, this often meant having their “day in court”, although her
participants were also often disappointed with the marginalised role and lack of voice
they ultimately experienced in the justice system. Herman highlights victim/survivors’
56 Both posts made on November 4, 2013.
57 Laniya, above n 14, 94.
58 Ibid 99.
59 Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8; Herman, above n 8, 574.
44

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
need to share ‘their stories in their own way, in a setting of their choice’.60 Vitally,
victim/survivors need ‘to tell their story in a safe forum’.61 As noted at the outset of this
article, online activist sites have been positioned as a “safe space” for women. However,
whether this matches the experiences of women engaging with these spaces is less clear.
The notion that the Internet provides a safe space for women to share their experiences
of street harassment is complicated by the fact that online spaces can also function as a
site of harm to women, for example through their use in facilitating sexual violence,62
and other forms of online harassment.63
Certainly, the potential to provide women with the opportunity to “voice” their experience
of street harassment in their own words is a particularly promising aspect of Hollaback.
Online activist sites allow women to disclose their experience in their own words, without
the restrictions on narrative form associated with the traditional justice system. Indeed,
while the justice system often seeks to restrict or mold the experience of victim/survivors to
fit the system’s requirements, Hollaback encourages women to recount their experience in
as much detail as possible. This allows women to share the aspects of their experience that
they deem relevant, and to discuss it in a way that is meaningful to them. Narratives of
street harassment can be inclusive of the emotional and affective impact experienced by the
recipient, and an assertion of the oppressive nature of the harassment. For example, one
anonymous poster asserts that harassing behaviour ‘royally shits me because it’s subtle,
insidious and can be overlooked and passed off as someone trying to be friendly’.64 It seems
unlikely that this expression of the harms of street harassment would be permitted within
the strictures of legal narrative.
What is less clear is whether online activist sites provide a forum for women in which
their voices are heard in what they consider a meaningful way. That is, does the
recounting of an experience of street harassment online have the impact or effect that
the woman hoped it would? How could this impact or effect be measured? For instance,
60 Herman, above n 8, 574 (emphasis added).
61 Shirley Julich, ‘Views of justice among survivors of historical child sexual abuse: implications for
restorative justice in New Zealand’ (2006) 10(1) Theoretical Criminology 125, 129.
62 Nicole Bluett-Boyd et al, ‘The role of emerging communication technologies in experiences of sexual
violence: a new legal frontier?’ (Research Paper No 13, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2013).
63 Jessica Brophy, ‘Developing a corporeal cyberfeminism: beyond cyberutopia (2010) 12(6) New Media &
Society 929, 932.
64 Submission made by anonymous user (31 August 2013) Hollaback Melbourne
<http://melbourne.ihollaback.org/2013/08/31/he-talked-over-me-and-then-told-me-i-was-being-
ridiculous/>.
45

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
would the number of “got your back” button hits, or comments made by other site users
serve as a measure of impact? Conversely, are site users impacted on negatively if their
posts fail to receive such attention from fellow site users? This assumes, however, that
the pursuit of justice is an individualistic one. Given that victim/survivors often cite the
protection of others and the prevention of future offending as a motivating factor for
engaging in the formal justice system,65 it may well be that contributing to a collective
justice effort aimed at the longer term goal of stopping street harassment brings
sufficient fulfilment beyond individual recognition.
D Control
Having control, or at least involvement, over key points of decision-making — and,
indeed, over their own lives more generally — is a need expressed by many
victim/survivors.66 Their positioning as complainants within the formal justice system
often denies victim/survivors this need. Victim/survivors are afforded minimal control
over their case within the justice system, beyond their initial decision to disclose, and
frequently are not consulted on key decisions.67 Online activist sites have the potential
to afford street harassment victims considerably more control over their experience. At
the most basic level, street harassment victims are able to exercise control over whether
or not they disclose their experience online; although this is not dissimilar to the level of
control afforded to victim/survivors engaging with the formal system. More
fundamentally, victims who engage with Hollaback have complete control over the
content of their narrative and the level of detail they choose to provide. Free from the
strictures of the justice system, they have considerably more choice in the form and
structure their narrative takes. That said, they are still limited to the expression of their
experience in written form, and this may exclude some victims on the basis of literacy
skills, or simply not fit with the desired format in which the victim would prefer to share
their experience.
Of issue here is that the Internet is a virtual space that can signify a complete lack of
control. That is, once a user has submitted their story and it is posted on the site, there is
65 See Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8; Shirley Hung and David Denborough,
‘Unearthing new concepts of justice: women sexual violence survivors seeking healing and justice’ [2013]
3 The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 18.
66 Clark, ‘What is the justice system willing to offer?’, above n 8, 34; Herman, above n 8, 574.
67 Ibid.
46

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
no control over who is able to access and read their submission — although this is
counteracted to an extent by the anonymous nature of the submissions. Women posting
on sites such as Hollaback have minimal control over the ways in which their experience
may be utilised by others on the Internet, or reinterpreted for alternative purposes. For
example, submissions can be copied by others and posted to other sites, and Internet
content can be picked up on by users and go “viral”. While the author is not aware of any
instances where this has occurred with submissions to anti-street harassment sites, this
nonetheless remains a potential, if unlikely, risk that could negate the sense of control
women have over how their story is shared and heard by others.
IV JUSTICE FOR WHOM? CONSIDERING THE BOUNDARIES OF ONLINE JUSTICE
There are a number of limitations associated with the use of online activist sites as an
informal justice mechanism that warrant consideration, if only briefly, here. These
limitations form the boundaries for whom justice can be achieved, and for which particular
justice needs can be met. Victims’ justice needs are diverse, and it is unlikely that online
activism is able to meet the varying needs of all street harassment victims. For example,
online activism is unable to provide formal punishment of offenders, which is desired by at
least some victims. Indeed, if some form of punishment were to occur as a result of
disclosures made on online activist sites, which has, indeed happened in relation to sexual
assault and online activism,68 significant questions would arise relating to due process and
the rights of the accused.69 As the goal of movements such as Hollaback is to achieve a form
of broader social justice, the ability of these sites as a space to meet individual justice needs
is, perhaps necessarily, limited. Additionally, activist sites lack the symbolic power of the
State in labeling behaviour as wrong and harmful, and thus may lack the authority to meet
some victims’ needs. Further, the Internet is not a neutral space in terms of who may access
it, and who may appropriate it successfully in order to have their needs met. As Salter
highlights, ‘some voices are privileged over others in online counter-publics’,70 with
younger and affluent women in particular more able to successfully utilise online spaces.71
68 See, eg, Salter, above n 6.
69 Ibid 5, 7.
70 Ibid 5.
71 Ibid 11; Schuster, above n 4, 20.
47

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
There are, of course, limitations associated with virtually all justice mechanisms, whether
formal or informal. That there are limitations associated with the use of online activist sites
does not suggest that we should abandon their use or discount them as a potential
mechanism for achieving justice. Instead, this speaks to the need for ensuring that a range of
justice mechanisms are made available to victims of street harassment in order to
maximise the likelihood that individual justice needs may be met.
V CONCLUDING REMARKS
This article has considered the potential for online activist sites to function as an informal
justice mechanism for victims of street harassment. Drawing on the literature on sexual
assault victim/survivors’ justice needs, I have attempted to approximate what street
harassment victims’ procedural justice needs may be. Utilising the street harassment
activist site Hollaback, I have argued that online activist sites are certainly capable of
meeting some of the core procedural justice needs expressed by victims. Although there are
also some notable limitations associated with this avenue of justice, this should not discount
its use as a potential justice mechanism, particularly given the current lack of justice options
currently available to victims of street harassment.
Significantly, there is an absence of current research on street harassment victims’ justice
needs, and more generally a dearth of information relating to the prevalence and impact of
street harassment within an Australian context. The emergence of online activist sites such
as Hollaback Melbourne indicates that, anecdotally, street harassment is a significant form of
sexualised violence encountered by Australian women. While this article has initiated a
nascent discussion that approximates street harassment victims’ needs, there is clear scope
for further research that: documents Australian women’s experiences of street harassment;
investigates what justice needs arise from their experience(s), and; considers in what ways
these needs can be met, whether through formal or informal means. Justice responses to
street harassment should be informed by the voices and experiences of victims, allowing for
this harm to begin to be addressed, and for women’s justice needs to be actualised rather
than approximated.
48

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
REFERENCE LIST
A Articles/Books/Reports
Bluett-Boyd, Nicole, Bianca Fileborn, Antonia Quadara and Sharnee Moore, ‘The role of
emerging communication technologies in experiences of sexual violence: a new legal
frontier?’ (Research Paper No 13, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2013)
Bowman, Cynthia, ‘Street harassment and the informal ghettoization of women’ (1993)
106(3) Harvard Law Review 517
Brophy, Jessica, ‘Developing a corporeal cyberfeminism: beyond cyberutopia’ (2010)
12(6) New Media and Society 929
Budish, Ryan, ‘Click to change: optimism despite online activism’s unmet expectations’
(2012) 26 Emory International Law Review 745
Clark, Haley, ‘“What is the justice system willing to offer?” Understanding sexual assault
victim/survivors’ criminal justice needs’ [2010] (85) Family Matters 28
Clark, Haley, ‘Unearthed concepts of justice for women who have experienced sexual
violence: possibilities for healing and enhancing criminal justice’ [2013] (4) The
International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 28
Daniels, Jessie, ‘Rethinking cyberfeminism(s): race, gender, and embodiment’ (2009)
37(1–2) Women’s Studies Quarterly 101
Darnell, Doyanne and Sarah Cook, ‘Investigating the utility of the film War Zone in the
prevention of street harassment’ (2009) 33(3) Psychology of Women Quarterly 266
Esacove, Anne, ‘A diminishing of the self: women’s experiences of unwanted sexual
attention’ (1998) 19(3) Health Care for Women International 181
Fairchild, Kimberly, ‘Context effects on women’s perceptions of stranger harassment’
(2010) 14(3) Sexuality and Culture 191
Fairchild, Kimberly and Laurie Rudman, ‘Everyday stranger harassment and women’s
objectification’ (2008) 21(3) Social Justice Research 338
49

VOL 2(1) 2014 GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY
Fileborn, Bianca, ‘Sex and the city: exploring young women’s perceptions and
experiences of unwanted sexual attention in licensed venues’ (2012) 24(2) Current
Issues in Criminal Justice 241
Fileborn, Bianca, ‘Conceptual understandings and prevalence of sexual harassment and
street harassment’ (2013) ACSSA Resource Sheet (Australian Institute of Family Studies)
Gardner, Carol, Passing by: gender and public harassment (University of California Press,
1995) 4
Herman, Judith, ‘Justice from the victim’s perspective’ (2005) 11(5) Violence Against
Women 571
Hudson, Barbara, ‘Restorative justice the challenge of sexual and racial violence’ (1998)
25(2) Journal of Law and Society 237
Hung, Shirley and David Denborough, ‘Unearthing new concepts of justice: women
sexual violence survivors seeking healing and justice’ [2013] 3 The International Journal
of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 18
Julich, Shirley, ‘Views of justice among survivors of historical child sexual abuse:
implications for restorative justice in New Zealand’ (2006) 10(1) Theoretical
Criminology 125
Kavanaugh, Phillip, ‘The continuum of sexual violence: women’s accounts of
victimization in urban nightlife’ (2013) 8(1) Feminist Criminology 20
Kelly, Liz, Surviving sexual violence (Polity Press, 1988)
Kissling, Elizabeth, ‘Street harassment: the language of sexual terrorism’ (1991) 2(4)
Discourse and Society 451
Laniya, Olatokunbo Olukemi, ‘Street smut: gender, media, and the legal power dynamics
of street harassment, or “hey sexy” and other verbal ejaculations’ (2005) 14(1) Columbia
Journal of Gender and Law 91
Lenton, Rhonda, Michael Smith, John Fox and Norman Morra, ‘Sexual harassment in
public places: experiences of Canadian women’ (1999) 36(4) Canadian Journal of
Anthropology 517
50

ONLINE ACTIVISM AND STREET HARASSMENT VOL 2(1) 2014
Macmillan, Ross, Annette Nierobisz and Sandy Welsh, ‘Experiencing the streets:
harassment and perceptions of safety among women’ (2000) 37(3) Journal of Research
in Crime and Delinquency 306
McGlynn, Clare, ‘Feminism, rape and the search for justice’ (2011) 31(4) Oxford Journal
of Legal Studies 825
McGlynn, Clare, Nicole Westmarland and Nikki Godden, ‘“I just wanted him to hear me”:
sexual violence and the possibilities of restorative justice’ (2012) 39(2) Journal of Law
and Society 213
Nielsen, Laura, ‘Situating legal consciousness: experiences and attitudes of ordinary
citizens about law and street harassment’ (2000) 34(4) Law and Society Review 1055
Proietti-Scifoni, Gitana and Kathleen Daly, ‘Gendered violence and restorative justice:
the views of New Zealand opinion leaders’ (2011) 14(3) Contemporary Justice Review
269
Salter, Michael, ‘Justice and revenge in online counter-publics: emerging responses to
sexual violence in the age of social media’ (2013) 9(3) Crime, Media, Culture 1
Schuster, Julia, ‘Invisible feminists? Social media and young women’s political
participation’ (2013) 65(1) Political Science 18
Shaw, Frances, ‘The politics of blogs: theories of discursive activism online’ [2012] 142
Media International Australia 41
Van Wormer, Katherine, ‘Restorative justice as social justice for victims of gendered
violence: a standpoint feminist perspective’ (2009) 54(2) Social Work 107
Wesselmann, Eric and Janice Kelly, ‘Cat-calls and culpability: investigating the frequency
and functions of stranger harassment’ (2010) 63(7–8) Sex Roles 451
51