NEWS

         

During the first week of April, Metropolis joined the international campaign Stop Street Harassment, which, under the hashtag #EndSH, sought to raise awareness among the public, denouncing the presence, and increase in some cities, of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces. The campaign counted on the participation of Bogotá, Caracas, Mexico City, Quito and Seoul.

The security policies present of many local urban agendas are generally treated under an androcentric focus, associated with crimes and protection of property, excluding the differentiated perception of security associated with the construction of gender. The perception of security is marked in different ways by sexual violence - from unwanted sexual comments and touching, to rape and murder - to which women and girls are subjected in every context of public space: on public transportation, at school, in water and food distribution points, etc. Consequently, women and girls see their mobility and access to essential services restricted, causing unequal access to opportunities when compared with their male peers.

Seeking to shift this situation, our metropolises shared videos with their projects for combatting sexual harassment in the public spaces of their territory:

• Bogotá and its “Safetipin/Última Milla”, a programme for mapping the unsafe places of the city
• Caracas through a message from its mayor, Mrs Helen Fernández, showed its firm commitment in the fight against domestic violence.
• Ciudad de México Shows its strong commitment to address the mobility and safety needs of women through the line of safe transport "Athena"
• Quito In the video “Bájale al acoso”, which deals with harassment on public transportation, the city shows that 68% of the women have suffered from sexual violence in public spaces.
• Seoul shared projects like “Woman safety sheriff,” “Safe Houses for Women” or the mobile phone applications “Ansimi”.

We will continue working toward the attainment of the ODS 5 and 11, visualising the priority targets of the Agenda 2030, in order to build more safe and inclusive cities for all people, through the collective creation of knowledge and synergies between our metropolises.

Campaign videos: