An exploratory study about the meaning-making of female UP Manila students about their street harassment experience.

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.