Where’s the line on street harassment?

Women face street harassment all the time – even on a daily basis. So, where’s the line?

Feminist Philosophers

Soraya Chemaly argues that violence is a natural end-result of the same principles which operate in what we ordinarily refer to as street harassment:

Earlier this week a man in a car pulled up next to a 14-year old girl on a street in Florida and offered to pay her $200 to have sex with him.  [. . .] The girl said no. So what does this guy do? He reaches out, drags her, by her hair, into his car, chokes her until she blacks out, tosses her out of the car and then, not done yet, he runs her over several times.  Bystanders watched the entire episode in shock. He almost killed her, but she lived and ID’d him in a line up and he’s been arrested and charged with Attempted Murder, Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon and False Imprisonment.  What was the Deadly Weapon referred to in the…

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New HIV law in Canada: Too Strict or Too Lenient?

This article was originally published by the International Women’s Initiative Survivors’ Blog.

A court ruling in 1998 stated that it was a crime for HIV carriers in Canada to not reveal their status to a sexual partner if there was a significant risk of transmission. Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada updated this law. The Supreme Court ruled that people with low levels of HIV do not need to disclose their condition to sexual partners if they use condoms. This was decided because “the realistic possibility of transmission of HIV is negated” when the carrier has a low viral load and a condom is used. In all other situations, HIV carriers must disclose their status to their partner. HIV carriers who do not meet these conditions and do not tell their partners can be charged with aggravated and sexual assault. 

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