Examining the immediate and enduring psychological impact of street harassment on women’s mental health
| Date | 15 August 2023 |
| Pages | 734-744 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-07-2023-0080 |
| Published date | 15 August 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
| Author | Georgina Thornton,Dominic Willmott,Emma Richardson,Lara Hudspith |
Examining the immediate and
enduring psychological impact of street
harassment on women’s mental health
Georgina Thornton, Dominic Willmott, Emma Richardson and Lara Hudspith
Abstract
Purpose –Many women report experiences of street harassment during their lifetime. Previous
quantitative surveyresearch has shown the variety of ways in which this type of harassmentcan impact
upon a victim’s life, includingrestricting their freedom of movement and fear of further victimisation. The
purpose of this study is understand the immediate and enduring psychological impact of street
harassmenton female victim-survivors.
Design/methodology/approach –The present study aims to explore, qualitatively, women’s experiences
of street harassment through thematic analysis of on 35 online blog posts. Data were collected from the
‘‘Stop Street Harassment’’ website, where women are invited to share their experiences anonymously.
Findings –Three main themes were generated from the data. First was the age at which women began to
experience street harassment, with recurring early incidents during formative childhood years. Second was
the impact that experiences had on their mental health and psychological well-being with feelingsof shame,
fear, self-loathing, as well as decreased self-esteem and confidence experienced in the immediate
aftermath –though the longer-term negative emotions reported were enduring feelings of anger alongside a
constant state of anxiety from feelings of vulnerability to further victimisation. The final theme was the
modification of behaviour after experiencing street harassment where women choose to avoid walking alone
on the streets or consciously changed their clothing choices, to avoid being harassed.
Originality/value –This study offers a further qualitative insight into the real-life experience and
psychologicalconsequences of streetharassment upon survivors’ mentalhealth.
Keywords Street harassment, Sexualisation, Psychological harm, Anxiety, Self-esteem, Anger,
Vulnerability, Behavioural modification, Online blogs
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Street harassment, sometimestermed gender-based public harassment, can be defined as
the experience of receiving verbal and/or non-verbal harassment across a range of public
or semi-public locations (Lord, 2009). According to the nonprofit organisation Stop Street
Harassment, a website dedicated to ending street harassment worldwide, common
behaviours include whistling, sexist slurs,following, groping and sexual assault (Stop Street
Harassment, 2020). While some commentsaimed at women may be seen as commonplace
and innocent compliments lacking intent (Kissling, 1991), the repeated experience of the
behaviours above from the same or different individuals can be enduring and feel
overwhelming for many women. Despite this, street harassment is arguably difficult to
measure due, in part, to the absence of an agreed-upon definition of the term (Vera-Gray,
2016). Similar to coercive and controlling behaviours exercised by abusive individuals
against their intimate partners (Conroy et al.,2023), in isolation some behaviours may not
appear to be harassment (e.g. sexualised compliments, comments on appearanceor attire,
Georgina Thornton is based
at the Department of
Psychology, Manchester
Metropolitan University,
Manchester, UK.
Dominic Willmott is based at
the Division of Criminology,
Sociology and Social Policy,
Faculty of Social Sciences
and Humanities,
Loughborough University,
Loughborough, UK.
Emma Richardson is based
at the Division of
Communication and Media
Faculty of Social Sciences
and Humanities,
Loughborough University,
Loughborough, UK.
Lara Hudspith is based at the
Department of Nursing, The
University of British
Columbia, Vancouver,
Canada.
The authors thank the women
who blogged about their
experiences of street
harassment, which made the
current study possible, and to the
“Stop Street Harassment”
website, for creating a platform
by which these experiences
could be anonymously shared.
The authors also thank Ruby-
Faith Oak for her research
assistance in reading,
downloading and screening blog
posts in the first instance.
Funding details: No funding
received to carry out this
research.
Disclosure statement: The authors
report there are no competing
interests to declare.
PAGE 734 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jVOL. 28 NO. 5 2024, pp. 734-744, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-07-2023-0080
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