project leader
Brooke H
location
800 Woodward Ave
(Downtown and Midtown Detroit)
latest update rss
Free Stickers

the project

Hollaback! Detroit was launched as one of the newest sites of the international anti-street harassment organization by two sisters who were fed up with feeling afraid in their own city. Having been followed, whistled and barked at, called all sorts of things outside their names, and experiencing vulgarity that is unfit to print, we decided that we had had enough.

Downtown and Midtown Detroit are oftentimes used as examples of the renaissance happening in the city. Though they are becoming more and more inviting to investors, entrepreneurs, and new residents, these areas are not a safe haven for all. We believe that public spaces should be safe and accessible to all people, and a first step to accomplishing that goal is to curb the instances of street harassment that happen all too often to women and other marginalized people in the city.

We started Hollaback! Detroit with the mission to increase the awareness of and discussion around street harassment in our city, eventually using education, activism, and organizing to end street harassment in Detroit once and for all. This project will be the beginning of a long campaign and will focus on using art to lower the instances of street harassment in Downtown and Midtown Detroit.  

the steps

We will commission four different stencil and sticker designs from local artists. Once the stickers are photocopied and the stencils are made, we will gather a group of volunteers to chalk stencil and sticker areas of the city that experience a lot of street harassment at the end of August. 

why we're doing it

Street harassment is an ever-present phenomenon in our city. Many women and other marginalized people do not feel safe in public spaces, as they are subjected to catcalls, whistles, groping, and other unwanted attention. All people should have safe and equal access to all areas of their city. No one should feel unsafe walking down the street, think twice about what they are wearing, be afraid to hold their partner’s hand, or change their behaviors or destination to avoid harassment. 

budget

Disbursement Budget:



RAISED = $265.00
less ioby Platform Fee  waived
less ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) $12.62
less ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $7.72
TOTAL TO DISBURSE = $244.66

Original Budget:

·      Stencils purchased from Detroit Stencils Etsy Shop – 4 @ $20 each plus $5 shipping = $85

·      Spray chalk from TowerHobbies – 1 case of 12 @ $68

·      Removable sticker sheets from Label Outfitters – 1 pack of 100 @ $18 plus $11 shipping = $29

·      Color copies of sticker design from OfficeMax – 100 @ $0.59 plus 6% sales tax = $63

·      Total = $245

 



SUBTOTAL = $245
ioby Platform Fee  waived
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) $12
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $7
TOTAL TO RAISE = $265

 

updates

Free Stickers

Our stickers are printed and ready to go. If you live in Metro Detroit and would like to help us spread our anti-harassment message, we are offering to mail you stickers for free. Just fill out this form.

  

Photos: a few pics of our chalk stenciling thus far...

  

We did it!

Just wanted to post a quick celebratory note. We made our goal just in time to share the good news in our second Girls Rock Detroit workshop tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who donated and shared! We'll keep you all posted about our next steps and designs.

Our project featured on ioby's blog!

by ioby
August 10, 2016
 

Do you remember the worst time you were ever catcalled? Harassed? Followed in the dark? Told by a stranger that “you’re so beautiful, you should be smiling?” Told things waaaay worse than that?

You can probably still picture the street corner or sidewalk or café where it happened, right?

What if you could go back to that place, armed with thought-provoking, surprising anti-harassment stencils and stickers – ones that would really make people stop and think – and do your part to mark that place as a safe zone? Would it be healing? Would it make a difference?

READ MORE HERE

We Officially Launched This Week!

Hollaback!, an international organization dedicated to ending harassment, launches in Detroit today. According to research from Cornell University, over 85% of women in the United States experience street harassment before the age of 17. To respond to this pressing issue, Hollaback! organizes annual site leader trainings, providing a nine month intensive leadership and organizing training to local leaders who take the movement home. These community organizers are poised to end harassment locally and, with their launch in Detroit, are leading the charge. 

Local organizer and site leader Brooke Harris noticed an increase in street harassment as Detroit evolves and changes. After interviewing multiple women, she realized she was not alone: “When I was interviewing people for my master’s project, one of the common themes was that we all recognized street harassment to be a huge problem in our city, but that none of us really knew what to do about it. That’s why we started a Hollaback! site. We have to do something, and we have to do something now.” Hollaback! Detroit will lead workshops about how to respond to and end street harassment and how to be a good bystander. They also have plans for a street art campaign this August that will target the Downtown and Midtown areas and are working on establishing relationships with other organizations in the city.

“I noticed that people were paying attention to my art displayed in a local coffee shop, so I decided to make it street harassment related,” said local artist and site leader Brea Harris. “This helped others realize that we’re not alone in this. We have to stick together if we’re going to put an end to street harassment.” Hollaback! Detroit is run by a team of local community leaders who are deeply committed to working online and offline to end street harassment in their community. 

Hollaback! Detroit will run their local blog and organize their community through advocacy, community partnerships, and direct action. For their first event, Hollaback! Detroit will conduct one of five workshops for the third annual BFF (Best Fest Forever) Fest. Workshops will be held from 2:30 pm until 6:30 pm on Saturday, July 30, at El Club, located at 4114 West Vernor Highway in Detroit. Stay tuned here: detroit.ihollaback.org! 

“We only have 8 or 9 years before the babies in strollers today start experiencing street harassment too. Our children deserve better, we deserve better, and Hollaback! Detroit is going to get us there. Share your story and join the movement today,” said Hollaback! Executive Director Emily May. 

New locations include: Hollaback! Oxford, Hollaback! Riyadh, Hollaback! Jakarta, Hollaback! Oslo, ¡Hey! Costa Rica, ¡Atrévete Madrid, Hollaback! Trinidad and Tobago, and Hollaback! Lawrence. 

About Hollaback!​ Hollaback (ihollaback.org) is a movement to end street harassment powered by a network of local activists around the world. We work together to better understand street harassment, to ignite public conversations, and to develop innovative strategies to ensure equal access to public spaces. 

Girls Rock!

Today Hollaback! Detroit site leader Brooke led a workshop for the campers Girls Rock Detroit. The campers, ages 8-15, had a lot to say about harassment and came up with some amazing creative ways to end it. We may even use some of their catch phrases in ideas in our art campaign.

We also raised over 1/3 of our fundraising goal! Shout out to our donors! If you haven't already, please donate and continue to spread the word!

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Anna Isachenko (@TheForgeDetroit)
  • ABISA
  • Kelsey C.
  • Maisha D.
  • VICTOR W.
  • Tom
  • Jessica
  • Aunt Sharon
  • Rhi (Cohort 15, represent!)
  • Calvin D Harris
  • Sue Harris44