Abstract:
Feminists and anti-violence activists are increasingly concerned about street
harassment. Several scholars, journalists and activists have documented street harassment
during the last two centuries, and the recent development of organizations such as
Hollaback! and Stop Street Harassment, as well the increased attention from mainstream
and feminist press, suggest street harassment is a serious social problem worthy of
empirical investigation.
In this thesis, the researcher focused on the experiences of street harassment of
female students of UP Manila, the changes that occurred after the experiences, and the
meanings that these students attach to these experiences. The researcher used
exploratory research design with a phenomenological approach to inquiry. Drawing
semi-structured interviews of 15 UP Manila students aged 18-–21 years old,
The study explores street harassment experiences, their understanding of
street harassment, meanings attached the resulting changes and meanings attached.
Results from 15 female college student participants indicated that women
experience high levels of street harassment, ranging from minor, seemingly
complimentary comments to severe and frightening threats. The participants most
commonly felt Negative feelings such as takot, kaba, inis, hiya, and galit
during and after their experiences. Furthermore, it was
also found that women who experienced street harassment for the first time reacted
more negatively than those who experience it on. Meanwhile, those
who experienced harassment on a regular basis have learned to ignore it.
Lastly, the participants were also noted to have adopted behavioral
changes such as constantly assessing the environment and the people in an area,
changing their behavior in public to avoid
unwanted male attention, wearing more conservative styles of clothing,
switching modes of transportation, and learning to travel in
groups.
