"The Woman in the Street:" Reclaiming the Public Space from Sexual Harassment

Thumbnail
Name:
13_6YaleJL_Feminism313_1994_.pdf
Size:
2.212Mb
Format:
PDF
Download
Author
Thompson, Deborah

Metadata
Show full item record
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13051/7188
Abstract
In recent years, feminist legal scholars have focused increasing attention on the problem of "street harassment" as a pervasive harm that, although ignored by the law, has profound impacts on women's consciousness, physical well-being, liberty, and fundamental rights. The purpose of this Article is to expand the current social understanding of street harassment and contribute to the conversation about potential legal remedies for the problem. Part I begins by bringing together a variety of legal and nonlegal sources to define street harassment, demonstrate its cumulative ramifications for women, and explore its causes. Part II reviews and critiques existing proposals to make street harassment a criminal misdemeanor and offers a series of more narrowly tailored alternative legal remedies through which women may reclaim the public spaces most commonly plagued by sexual harassment. Although any legal solution to street harassment may prove administratively cumbersome, a targeted approach may provide a practical and symbolic way to raise public consciousness about a harm to women that is far too often trivialized or ignored.
Collections