Moving vehicles and open doors aren't the only threats to the safety of cyclists. Gay men, women and transgender bikers often contend with harassment and threats of assault. Nonprofit groups in D.C. and elsewhere are working to empower them.
"For Kate, a 28-year-old cycling enthusiast, summer is always the worst," write Lauren McEwen and Michael Livingston II. "Pedestrians feel free to yell what they perceive as compliments: 'Yeah, you look good!' or 'Can I ride with you?'”
“'As a woman, I’m constantly operating with the low-level fear that any man might attack me,' said Kate, a resident of the Brookland neighborhood in Northeast Washington, who asked that her last name not be used because of safety concerns."
McEwen and Livingston look at the tools that groups such as Stop Street Harassment and the Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) are providing to targeted individuals such as Kate to help them report and respond to street harassment.
FULL STORY: How should bicyclists handle harassment? D.C. area groups teach empowerment tactics.
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A new report, the first of its kind, documents the pervasive harassment experienced by women, and many men, of all races, income levels, sexual orientations, and geographic locations. The report identifies the situation as an issue of human rights.
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