Fear, Harassment and Running

There's a certain vulnerability I feel when I go running alone outside. Tucked away in the back of my mind is the catalog of assaults on female runners over the years, as well as my own experiences facing harassment on the street. It happens at least once a month; I'll run the few blocks from my apartment to the park and on the way, a man will hurl some crude comment at me. Most days I just shake it off, but occasionally I encounter someone so aggressive and so relentless that I feel that I've actually escaped something when nothing happens to me.

I have changed my running route, my running clothes and even the times I run all in attempt to avoid harassment. Many women can relate. A recent survey of 811 women found that a quarter of them regularly or always exercise at a gym instead of outdoors because of fear of harassment and assault. Forty-six percent of the women surveyed said they had exercised indoors at least once for this reason.

The study paints a grim picture of women who constantly worry for their safety and tailor their workouts -- and their lives -- around fear. The research was led by Holly Kearl and is part of her forthcoming book, "Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women." Kearl, a four-time marathoner, has faced all kinds of harassment and was even chased twice while out running. That's Fit spoke with Kearl about her own experiences with harassment and what she hopes comes out of her research.

That's Fit: How did your experiences with harassment influence your research?

Holly Kearl: During college, I would run off campus and I'd be harassed on the streets, sometimes 10 times in one hour. I started taking the bus 45 minutes to a park to avoid harassment on the street. I changed my class schedule so I could run earlier because there were fewer harassers out then. I even borrowed friends' cars so I could drive to the park and avoid running on the street. When my boyfriend and I moved, we actually thought about whether it was an area where I could run without being harassed. It's so frustrating because these aren't things that men runners have to think about.

When I needed an idea for my master's thesis [in Women's Studies], the Hollaback [an anti-street harassment initiative] Web site had just launched, and it wasn't until then that I realized that this [harassing] behavior was wrong and I shouldn't have to put up with it. For so long I was told, it's a compliment or it's just part of being a woman, but finally I understood that harassment is on the spectrum of violence against women. There wasn't much out there about the subject, so I decided to make it the focus of my thesis. Then reporters started contacting me -- it's not often that CNN calls a student about their master's thesis -- so my parents really encouraged me to turn my work into a book.

TF: Were you surprised to find that so many women exercised indoors out of fear?

HK: I wasn't surprised at all. I don't like running on the treadmill but sometimes I felt I had to for safety and when I did, I always saw a lot of other women at the gym. When I would run outside, I noticed there weren't as many women running and the women I did see were in groups. I expect the real numbers [of women exercising indoors out of fear] are probably much higher because not all of the women I surveyed were regular exercisers.

TF: A friend told me she doesn't think harassment while running is different from harassment you face just being out in public, but I know I feel especially vulnerable when it happens while I'm running. Do you relate to that?

HK: Yes, definitely. One of the things they say to do when you're harassed is to take a picture of the harasser or write down the license plate. But I'm running; I don't have a camera or a pen and paper. I don't even have my cell phone. I have fewer resources to address a threatening situation. It's frustrating and scary.

TF: In your research have you found any ways that are especially helpful in addressing harassers?

HK: There's really no right way to handle harassment; it all depends on how safe you feel. But if you have time (sometimes they're in a car, yelling something out the window as they whip by) and you feel safe, it can be empowering to say something back because they're not expecting to be challenged. It can be something as simple as "Leave me alone;" or "Don't harass women;" or "Is this how you want your mother or daughter to be treated?"

But it can be really scary for women who are socialized to be polite and nice to say something, so when it happens to me, I tell myself I'm saying something so he won't do this to someone else.

It's something I'm continuing to think a lot about ... I just got a funny mental image of women runners charging right at the men who harass them and making men have to jump out of the way in surprise. It'd also be awesome to have stickers that say "I'm a street harasser, stay away from me" that we could slap on a harasser as we pass by. That might give them a moment's pause, but who knows if they'd then start chasing you or throwing things ... That's the worst part, right? There are lots of things we could do, but will they put us in more danger? That's why we've really got to talk to men and get them to stop harassing women.

TF: What do you hope comes out of your research and your book?

HK: I want people to understand the impact that harassment has on women. I want women to understand that this isn't their fault. And I want men to be educated about the issue and to become involved as allies to educate other men and I want us to come up with a definition of what harassment is, because we can't address it if we don't even agree on what's harassment and what isn't.

Hollaback! is launching an iPhone app that will report and track street harassment. Find out how you can help support this initiative.

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