Out Here Worldwide (OHWW) is a youth-led organisation creating digital, culture-shifting campaigns that tackle public sexual harassment and help women feel safer in public spaces. Karabo Moshodi, 26, is a Soweto- born activist who is the founder and leader of the OHWW campaign. Karabo believes that while there is no quick fix approach to solving gender inequalities and systemic change, OHWW has implemented what they call the Three Pillars, which will be crucial in the transformation of festering cultural norms that promote and enable public sexual harassment.
Before we take a look at this three pronged approach, let’s take a moment to have a look at how OHWW defines public sexual harassment.
Public sexual (street) harassment is unwanted comments, gestures, and actions forced on a stranger in a public place without their consent. It includes unwanted whistling, leering, sexist, homophobic or transphobic slurs, persistent requests for someone’s name, number or destination after they’ve said no, sexual names, comments and demands, following, flashing, public masturbation, groping, sexual assault, and rape.
Women and girls, people with disabilities, as well as the LGBTQI+ community are uniquely vulnerable in public spaces, with crime and fear inhibiting their mobility. At its core, sexual harassment is about power and control which is rooted in the unequally powered dynamics between men and women. These inequalities set the stage for rape culture where men feel entitled to a women’s body.
Access to safe, affordable and reliable mobility is a right, and is echoed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11, which highlights the need to “make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. Until we get this right, millions of women will continue to bear the brunt of spatial inequality, especially in disadvantaged areas like townships and informal settlements.
Public sexual harassment (PSH) affects women’s daily routines. Women and girls go as far as changing their clothing, taking different routes home, decide not to go for a run outdoors, or avoid socialising at night entirely. PSH can evoke feelings of fear, anger and anxiety in the victim. In the longer term, it can lead to anxiety and depression.
Because of this fear, they are forced to spend money on private transportation, such as ride apps, when they would otherwise take public transportation or walk. For those who cannot afford these options, this fear can severely limit their mobility, which also limits access to employment and education.
With this context in place, let’s take a look at OHWW’s Three Pillars and how they seek to bring about tangible social transformation through their courageous initiatives.
The First Pillar:
The #PepperSprayCampaign is a series of pop-ups in and around Johannesburg with the purpose of educating and empowering women with resources for self-protection. During the activations, women receive free self-defense training and pepper sprays.
The Second Pillar:
- OHWW designs, executes, monitors and tracks collaborative campaigns for public and private organisations looking to create projects or programs that have a meaningful and sustainable impact in making public spaces safer for women and girls.
The Third Pillar:
- The #1000MenCampaign was created in response to the need for engaging men in gender equality programs. The purpose of the workshops is to challenge and transform the current narratives around masculinity, and demonstrate how men can be allies in achieving a safer South Africa.
There are three main avenues through which you can get involved and contribute to OHWW.
- Volunteer your time to assist in one of the many campaigns.
- Volunteer your network to help build nationwide campaigns to grow the organisation.
- Volunteer your funds to help cover the costs involved in the work done by OHWW.
To date OHWW has donated 1000 pepper sprays, trained 850 women in self-defense, assisted 400 university students, gained 25 young female volunteers, donated 115 self-care packages to survivors, set up four women’s shelters and grown an online community of 275 members.
Thanks to Karabo and the incredible work done by OHWW there are many women in South Africa who feel just a little safer than before, but this is only the beginning of an arduous battle for equality that will need more support and compassion nationwide. The responsibility falls on us all – how will you take action?
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Picture: @naledi.d / Instagram
