COMMUNITY SAFETY & DIRECT ACTION PROGRAMS
The Center for Anti-Violence Education
"CAE works as a catalyst for change in the lives of women, transgender people, teen women, children, and other communities especially affected by violence. CAE’s programs are designed to develop participants’ skills, knowledge, and awareness to enable them to heal from, prevent, and counter violence."
The Street Harassment Coalition
"A NYC based activist organization committed to fighting the sexual harassment of women (and perceived women) by men in public spaces."
Holla Back NYC
"Empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers by asking people to send in photos of the men who harass them to their blog."
IF YOU HAVE BEEN ASSAULTED
If you do not have visible physical injuries from the assault,
friends and family may think you are okay. Many people do not understand the
extent of trauma endured by rape and sexual assault victims. There may also be
physical injuries that you can’t see.
Learn more about how to get the practical and emotional support you need or visit these groups below for more information about how they can help you.
NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault
“The mission of the New York City Alliance Against
Sexual Assault is to develop and advance strategies, policies and responses that
prevent sexual violence and limit its destabilizing effects on victims, families
and communities.”
Safe Horizon
“Safe Horizon’s mission is to provide support,
prevent violence, and promote justice for victims of crime and abuse, their families
and communities.”
To find a local rape crisis center click here - listed below are two very good programs.
St. Vincent's Rape Crisis Program
"24-hour 7 day a week rape crisis counselors in the Emergency Department
of St. Vincent's Hospital and NYU Downtown Hospital. They also provide free
and confidential short term individual counseling, advocacy, support and referral
service to past and present survivors of rape, sexual assault and incest as
well as to their family and friends. Additionally, they offer a group
for survivors of rape."
SAVI
"Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program at Mount Sinai (SAVI) provides free and confidential counseling, advocacy, support and referral services to past and present survivors of rape, sexual assault, incest, and domestic violence, and to their families and friends. SAVI staff and volunteers generate a dynamic force to overcome sexual and domestic violence and cultural practices and values that sustain them—breaking down institutional systems and individual attitudes that isolate and blame victims. We offer hope, inspiration, and guidance to people and organizations working toward healing."
Brooklyn Rape and Survivor Resources
Manhattan Rape and Survivor Resources
Queens Rape and Survivor Resources
Bronx Rape and Survivor Resources
Staten Island Rape and Survivor Resources
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
War
Zone
"A powerful documentary film about
sex, power and what happens when men threaten a woman's right to
walk undisturbed on the streets of America."
NO!
“Through testimonies from Black women
survivors, commentaries from acclaimed African-American women scholars
and community leaders, NO! unveils
the reality of rape, other forms of sexual violence, and healing in African-American
communities.”
A Call to Men
"A Call to Men challenges men to reconsider
their long held beliefs about women, in an effort to create a more
just society. We achieve this by encouraging change in the behaviors
of men through a re-education and training process that challenges
sexism."
Men
Can Stop Rape
"Empowers male youth and the institutions
that serve them to work as allies with women in preventing rape
and other forms of men's violence. Through awareness-to-action education
and community organizing, we promote gender equity and build men's
capacity to be strong without being violent."
V-Day
"V-Day is a global movement to stop violence
against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female
genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery."
Sylvia Rivera Law
Project
"The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP)
works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their
gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and
without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence."
Audre
Lorde Project
"The Audre Lorde Project is a Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit and Transgender People of Color center
for community organizing, focusing on the New York City area. Through
mobilization, education and capacity-building, we work for community
wellness and progressive social and economic justice. Committed
to struggling across differences, we seek to responsibly reflect,
represent and serve our various communities."
The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition
The
Gender Public Advocacy Coalition works to ensure
that classrooms, communities, and workplaces are safe for everyone
to learn, grow, and succeed - whether or not they meet expectations
for masculinity and femininity. As a human rights organization, GenderPAC
also promotes an understanding of the connection between discrimination
based on gender stereotypes and sex, sexual orientation, age, race,
and class.
Have a link to share?
ORAIA REID SPEAKS OUT AT SAYSO!
Please join us in support of Oraia Reid, co-founder
and Executive Director of RightRides for Women's Safety, who along
with dozens of survivors, will be speaking at SAYSO! on Friday, April
20th. Oraia is scheduled to speak around 12:30 -1 PM.
ABOUT:
The New
York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault and the Sexual
Assault Awareness Month Planning Committee are calling out to New
Yorkers to tell their stories as survivors, activists, allies,
or rape crisis advocates.
SAYSO! stands for Sexual Assault Yearly
Speak Out and will be held at Union Square from 10 AM - 10 PM on
Friday, April 20th.
Oraia will be sharing how she found empowerment
as a survivor of sexual assault through co-founding RightRides for
Women's Safety. Please join us in support of ending the silence surrounding
sexual assault! There
will also be music, poetry, information and resources.
For further information about this event, please visit
SAYSO!
here.

RightRides for Women's Safety and The
Street Harassment Coalition co-host a workshop at the Street
Harassment Summit
WHEN
May 5, 2020
1pm – 5pm
WHERE
Grand Street Settlement Beacon Center
at Marta Valle Secondary School
145 Stanton
Street, New York, NY
ORGANIZED BY
Sisters in Strength Strikes Back: Our Struggle with Street Harassment
Organized by Girls for Gender Equity
ABOUT THE SUMMIT
The Street Harassment Summit is a free public event for education,
community interaction, and the sharing of personal stories.
War
Zone (directed by Maggie Hadleigh West) and a short film created
by the Sisters in Strength interns will be screened and workshops
will be offered on different issues – such as strategies
for ending street harassment, how women can respond to street
harassment safely, how street harassment effects the GLBTQ population,
and how men can be allies to victims of harassment.
Women, men,
girls and boys of all ages are welcome to attend and learn about
this overlooked issue.
SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT:
March 27, 2021
We received a forwarded email from a concerned
community member about an attempted assault in a Fort Greene subway
station. Below is what we recently received:
"This afternoon at about 12:30, I encountered a young woman
in the Clinton Ave. entrance of the Clinton-Washington station for
the G train who had just been attacked. The man got her just as she
was about to swipe her card. He beat her and she screamed and fought
back and he finally ran off. She told me that he tried to rape her.
I don't think he even tried to take her bag. She was basically alright
- bloody lip and swollen eye and terrified, but fortunately nothing
worse.
I left after the police and ambulance got there so I have no idea
whether they caught the guy, though it seems unlikely. Obviously
we should all be careful and try to look out for each other, but
I think one larger issue here is how awful that subway station is
- it runs from Clinton to Washington and the token booth is in the
middle, so both ends are completely isolated."
Please be safe at this and ALL stations that
are poorly lit, poorly designed and desolate at times.
TAKE ACTION
RightRides for Women's Safety is calling on the community to demand
the MTA and the NYPD to increase women's safety in the subway by
increasing patrol coverage in stations like this one, where there
are isolated entrances making it easy for predatory assaults to occur.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1) Contact the MTA
From their website, "To
report all other security or serious safety concerns on MTA property,
call the MTA Police."
888-682-9117
or email
them
or stop in the MTA office and speak with
a representative directly.
Their address is:
MTA New York City Transit
Customer Assistance
370 Jay Street, Room 875
Brooklyn, NY 11201
2) Contact the 88 Precinct
Call their
Crime Prevention
officers at (718) 636-6566 or
Community Policing officers
at (718) 636-6553 or
stop in the station and speak
with an officer directly.
Their address is:
298 Classon Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
3) Write a letter to the above and, to:
Chief of Transit, NYPD Transit Bureau
NYPD Transit Bureau Headquarters
370 Jay Street, 2nd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Sample letter (Feel free to personalize):
I am very concerned about attacks on women in the subway stations,
including the recent attempted rape in the Clinton-Washington station
on the G Line.
This station is poorly designed with safety in mind, as it spans
the length of Clinton to Washington with the token booth in the
middle, and both exits are completely isolated. This station
is a high-risk station for predatory assaults as it can be desolate
during off-peak hours.
I implore you to increase security presence at this station immediately.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
SHARE INFORMATION
If you have information to share about
an assault or attempted assault on the subway, please
let us know.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON STAYING SAFE
From the MTA's website:
As a general precaution, whether
you're in the subway, the bus, or even in the street, appear confident.
Always look as if you know where you're going, and you're better
off not displaying money in public.
Officers in 12 Transportation
Bureau Police districts are responsible for keeping subway stations
safe. On the streets, a special police unit responds to bus crimes
throughout New York City. Undercover officers travel on bus routes
to stop problems as they occur. And, if you're alert and aware,
you can make your subway and bus trips even more secure.
Off-Hours
Waiting Areas
Avoid standing at the end of subway platforms or on
an empty platform. Instead, wait in the Off-Hours Waiting Area, particularly
at night. Most stations have one, generally located on the mezzanine
level, near a station booth.
Speak to the station agent or other
NYC Transit employees (who wear bright orange vests) if you have
a problem. Use a talk-back box (mounted on a platform column)
to get help in a station where you're not visible to the station
agent. When you speak into the box, the agent can speak with
you. You can also use a public phone on the mezzanine or platform
to dial 911 (the police) if you need help. This call is free.
Each station booth posts the district and phone number of the
NYPD unit that patrols the station.
Electronic signs in many
Off-Hours Waiting Areas indicate when a train is approaching
the station. If you wait near the sign, you will have enough
time to walk to the platform as the train arrives.
BE PREPARED
Take a self-defense course! We recommend our community partner,
the The Center
for Anti-Violence Education (CAE).

RightRides for Women's Safety (RRWS) and
the Manhattan Borough
President's Office are
working to make NYC subways
safer!
RRWS
helped craft a survey (the results are
being released 7/26/07 and will be posted here soon) and
we hope that the results will shed light on how unsafe the
subway can be, all times of the day. Please help support this
effort to change policy and how security funds
are spent,
in order to increase subway safety in NYC.
Below is a letter from Manhattan
Borough President Scott Stringer about this
initiative:
Dear Friend:
My office is launching a new research initiative addressing sexual
harassment and assault in the New York City subway system. The
project is designed to explore the threat of sexual harassment
and assault in our subway network, and to propose best practices
for related prevention and response.
To this end, I am conducting a city-wide online survey of everyday
subway riders to better understand their perceptions and experiences
of sexual harassment and assault. The survey results will
inform my policy recommendations directed to various state and
local government agencies and will also shape the development of
community outreach programs for sexual harassment and assault survivors.
Please join me in this initiative by taking a few
minutes to complete the survey at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Hiqvhms_2fx42ybEdDau8Jxg_3d_3d.
Your
answers are completely anonymous. Your input will help
to create a foundation for a safer subway system for all New Yorkers. I
look forward to working with you on this important issue.
Very truly yours,
Scott Stringer
RightRides at the
2nd Annual New York City Gender Equality Festival
Girls for Gender Equity is organizing the
Second Annual New York City Gender Equality Festival - a FREE public event for
education, networking, resource sharing, community interaction, arts, and recreation.
July 28, 2020
11am – 6pm
Von King Park Cultural
Center
corner of Tompkins Ave. and Lafayette St.
Brooklyn, NY
FREE!
The Festival will feature arts organizations, service groups,
youth organizations, educators, grassroots organizers, and nonprofits
from every corner of NYC that have come together to provide workshops
and fun activities for youth and adults as well as:
*Food and Refreshments!
*Guest Speakers!
*Live Performances!
*Giveaways of wonderful prizes!
For a map, click here
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