Laura Beth Nielsen is a professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Legal Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of "License to Harass: Law, Hierarchy and Offensive Public Speech."

The police may largely ignore harassment on the street because men often do not understand how pervasive it can be, but most importantly because there are no laws being violated in such encounters. About two thirds of women report that they hear such comments every day, but men’s estimates of the frequency of such remarks is significantly lower. All of the women I interviewed for my research reported changing their routes, behavior, transportation or dress to avoid street harassment.

A law that would prohibit street harassment would also be consistent with our First Amendment jurisprudence about other kinds of hate speech.

I'd propose a law that would prohibit street harassment and would also be consistent with our First Amendment jurisprudence about other kinds of hate speech (cross-burning in Virginia vs. Black) that intimidates, harasses and perpetuates inequality. It would allow states and cities to recognize street harassment for what it is: physical and psychological acts that intimidate, exclude, subordinate and reinforce male dominance over women.

The law would prohibit “uninvited harassing speech or actions targeted toward individuals in public spaces on the basis of sex or sexual orientation when done with the intent to intimidate.” Violation of the law could be a tort, meaning a woman could sue her harasser; an infraction, like a ticket with a fine; or even a misdemeanor. Even if rarely enforced, the symbolism of a law weighing in on the side of equality would have powerful effects.

Although not fully realized, the movement to combat domestic violence demands women’s equality (or at least freedom from assault) in our homes. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 stands for the idea that with courage, we can demand equality and freedom from sexual harassment at work. Campus advocacy groups like Know Your IX and End Rape on Campus are demanding freedom from assault and harassment in our institutions of higher learning.

If the law has an appropriate role prohibiting sexual harassment, violence and rape in our homes, workplace and universities, why not the street? Shouldn’t gender equality exist everywhere?



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