Introduction
Over the recent past, scholars have raised questions concerning street harassment. The issue of street harassment has become one of the social issues that need urgent attention. Minority groups, women, and people, who have different sexual orientations, have often become victims of the illegal act. Whistling, catcalling, manhandling are acts associated with street harassment. Due to the rise in the cases of harassment, several individuals have changed their ways of living and adopted new lifestyles in an attempt to minimize the challenges of harassment.
The changes adopted by individuals are not in line with the freedom accorded to each individual by the state, but due to the fear of being a victim of harassment. It is fundamental for governments to develop institutions that address the issue of harassment. By developing well-designed institutions that curb street harassment, governments play a very important role in ensuring that citizens get the right and freedom to exercise their values and orientations. It is within this context that this paper discusses the effects of street harassment and possible ways of management.
Effects of Street Harassment
Anger and Hatred
When people become subjects of street harassment, they develop feelings of anger and hatred towards the perpetrators. The feelings emanating from the act of harassment that lowers their dignity and self-worth. These feelings affect the life of the individuals, who can later commit illegal acts in the quest to retaliate. In various parts of the world, victims of street harassment isolate themselves, look angry, and reserved.
The behavior, which is evident from the victims, is a consequence of street harassment. It is important to explain that the acts not only infringe on individual rights but also violate their overall freedom. Moreover, the act limits the scope of activities that individuals would undertake. Therefore, street harassment is one of the acts that need time management.
In actual sense, street harassment comprises activities that demean individuals and lower their self-worth. While some subjects of harassment remain calm and walk away from the scene, they, in turn, develop feelings of anger and hatred towards individuals from a particular race.
According to research conducted by Houle et al., several women developed negative attitudes towards men after experiencing street harassment (93). The feelings of hatred and anger developed because, on several occasions, the perpetrators of the illegal acts were men. It is fundamental to explain that some cases of violence and cold blood murders have transpired because of long-term feelings that emanated from the illegal issue of harassment.
Without a proper and effective mechanism that addresses the heinous act, the feelings of harassed individuals eventually lead to severe consequences. When individuals become subjects of harassment, some develop a thick skin and become defensive to any member deemed to be from the team that perpetrated the act.
Since the majority of the victims do not get enough time to look at the perpetrators or even know them at a personalized level, the issue leads to a general perception (Fileborn 48). The general perception results in feelings of bitterness and resentment, which victims direct towards people from particular sex, race, sexual inclination, or religion.
Low Self-Esteem, Reduced Self-Confidence, and Depression
When a person becomes a subject of street harassment, feelings of low self-esteem develop. Reduced self-confidence and worth implies that the individuals look at themselves as less valuable concerning others, who are from a different race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Moreover, reduced self-esteem and confidence lead to depression. In the words of Fairchild and Rudman, depression is one of the challenges that several people experience when others harass them in a demeaning manner (343).
The explanation substantiates the essence of developing institutions that address the issue of street harassment. Remarkably, depression is one of the major effects that the victims of harassment experienced in the aftermath of the act. Reluctance and reserved nature of several individuals, who have become victims of harassment is a result of depression that takes effect after the act. These individuals isolate themselves from others and stay away from certain areas, which include public places.
Fundamentally, feelings of depression take place after harassment because the individuals look at themselves as less valued by society. These feelings then compel individuals to develop low self-esteem and eventually isolate themselves from others.
Principally, depression is a feeling that is serious and has dire repercussions if the system of redress does not reach the victims on time (Kearl 42). Suicide, murder, and overall harm of oneself and others are acts that have a close relationship with feelings of depression especially if they involve the victims of street harassment. Besides, the feelings may drive victims to a defensive state, where they become aggressive and fail to comply with state regulations.
Self-Blame and Affected Lifestyles
In several cases, victims of street harassment blame themselves for dressing in certain ways, behaving in a particular manner, or using certain routes. These feelings of blame are effects that transpire in the aftermath of harassment. The victims blame themselves and ask questions relating to the reasons that led to them engaging in activities that initiated the act.
To coin the negative effect of self-blame that affect victims of street harassment, Cigrovski conducted a study and found out that several gay individuals blamed themselves after harassment (5). The study compounds the negative effect that street harassment has on individuals, who are then compelled to live in constant fear and self-pity.
Another effect, which makes street harassment an issue of concern, is the change that it initiates in the lives of individuals. Davidson et al. explain that in modern societies characterized by busy schedules, some individuals have changed their lifestyles to minimize instances of harassment (23). In essence, changes in individual lifestyles should be within their own will and freedom and not through fear instilled by perpetrators of street harassment.
Some women have to change their mode of dressing, whereas gay individuals have to walk without holding hands and demonstrating affection towards each other. Consequently, people of color, who comprise some percentage of the minorities, have to minimize their participation because of the fear of harassment. Change in dressing code, reduced demonstration of affection, and minimized participation are key components that dictate human lives, and thus, by interfering with them, street harassment becomes a social issue that needs time management.
Low Productivity and Performance
Low Productivity and Performance is one of the negative effects associated with street harassment. When people experience harassment of any kind, their productivity in workplaces reduces. Reduced performance in learning institutions and workplaces emanates from the low self-esteem developed when others demean individuals because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. Women, people of the dissimilar race from the hosts, and those, who have different sexual orientations are some of the victims, who experience higher rates of harassment as opposed to others in the society.
When individuals whistle, catcall, or handle another person in an abusive or demeaning manner, the victim develops a feeling of inferiority, and as such, becomes less confident. According to Kearl, individuals who have become subjects of street harassment are reluctant and reserved an aspect that affects their overall performance (20). The fact that street harassment involves intimidating behaviors directed towards particular people due to their gender, sexual orientation, or race implies that the victims become shy and isolate themselves in an attempt to minimize repeat instances of harassment.
Street harassment has a close relationship with low productivity in workplaces. Individuals, who become subject to street harassment, often fail to deliver up to the required standards. Failure to deliver to the requisite standards transpires because of the feelings of low self-worth or resentment, which affect employees after harassment. Lowered productivity can also take place because of changes in lifestyles that occasion after harassment (Cigrovski 7). At times people change routes in an attempt to reduce the instances of harassment. Some of the routes taken after the changes may affect the schedule of the individuals, and in turn, lower the scale of production.
In learning institutions, street harassment affects the performance of students and teachers. The effects of harassment are usually evident among students and teachers from minority groups. Smith, Van, and Huppuch assert that at times street harassment takes place when the students or teachers are coming to school or returning home (12).
When perpetrators catcall the students or teachers and refer to them using vulgar or demeaning words, they develop fear and self-pity. The feelings take a toll on the lives of students or teachers and eventually affect their performance. Affected performance occurs because the harassed students or teachers may think that others around them are superior and that they can deliver better. It is practical to explain that some words used by perpetrators during the moment of harassment are demeaning and instill feelings of inferiority on the students.
Perpetrator Oblivion, Management, and Organizational Logic
While street harassment is fast becoming a social crisis, it is surprising that some men, who engage in the act, are unaware that the act is illegal. Some men think that it is for them to undertake the act, and as such, undertake it with lots of confidence. The oblivion, which is evident in some individuals, who actualize the act, calls for urgent awareness creation as one of the measures needed to curb the social issue.
Presently, organizations such as Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) have institutions that champion the imprisonment of individuals, who harass others based on race, gender, or sexual inclinations (Soraya 3). In effect, severe punishment and imprisonment are some of the strategies that societies can employ to manage the challenge.
Conclusion
Street harassment is a heinous act that demeans individuals. People from minority groups, women, and individuals, who have different sexual orientations, have often become victims of street harassment. It is paramount to state that when people become victims of street harassment, their self-esteem diminishes. Without proper institutions that curb the problem, street harassment can reach levels that initiate various unwarranted acts such as cold blood murder.
Fileborn highlights that unwarranted acts take place especially from victims of street harassment, who in the aftermath of harassment, decide to revenge (35). These individuals can decide to kill or harm the perpetrators, and in turn, commit illegal acts that can later result in jail terms or loss of lives. Fundamentally, the effects associated with the heinous act of harassment are very practical in addressing the questions regarding the seriousness of street harassment.
Works Cited
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