Some Feedback on this Initiative

 This ESVN campaign has received some helpful and positive feedback from the general public, who have responded with questions which show clear understanding of the reality of the challenges experienced by victims:

‘For a person who has experienced sexual harassment it's tough enough for them to even tell a close friend, let alone share it with a stranger no?’

and

‘What is expected from this initiative? For certain stories shared, it might become clear where it was perpetrated, and the survivor will need to be careful of a backlash.’

This is why the stories are anonymous and are being edited to remove all personal identifying details of both victim and perpetrator. This is not a vindictive campaign designed to punish perpetrators. We hope to create a space for the incidents and the experiences they detail to become common knowledge. 

Some responders were concerned that the campaign would polarize the community:

‘It could be a men's issue too! Half joking! Men and women are both human beings, so perfection in any sphere is a mission impossible’.

and

‘...there's always that grey area as to who did what and is therefore to blame except in extreme or obvious cases - and the interpretation of harassment, which means different things to different people.’

 

Some were concerned that false accusations might be made:

‘It is a fact that while some cases are true, there are others made up by crackpots - men and women.’

 

But our commitment for the protection and security of those reporting has been recognized:

‘This is an excellent cathartic process for the victim. Should you also specify that the abuser (if known) is only identified by initials too? I am just uneasy that this would lead to a vigilante exercise naming/shaming/blaming endorsing a retributive vs restorative justice. Since this is a public domain what are the filters to protect everyone?’

And the deep-seated causes of the normalization of disrespect and the long-term effort needed to remedy it is something many people are aware of. There is no quick fix for this:

‘Saying Stop! does not end the problem. One has to understand the underlying causes and address them by communicating with the perpetrators, victims and other stakeholders.’

Any clarification needed on individual posts (eg regarding factual details of how the incident was reported/handled) will be privately requested by the editors. And all personal identifying details which could threaten the privacy and safety of the victim will be removed prior to the incident being posted on the blog.

Artwork credits