Since 2013, the feminist movement "#everydaysexism" has inspired woman all over the country to stand against woman injustices. One woman in Brazil has decided to take an even bigger approach by creating a street harassment map in hopes to keep the streets of Brazil safe for woman. Brazilian Juliana de Faria, a former victim of street harassment told herself that enough is enough and that her creation will hopefully end "this mindless sport that men play in their head for their own entertainment."
De Faria told the Telegraph journalist Nisha Lilia Diu that she was taught at a very early age to accept sexual harassment and that it was just a common instance. Right after De Faria's experience of sexual harassment at the age of 11, a woman who noticed De Faria confused and distressed told her, "You should feel good about it. It's a compliment." So instead of reaching out to authorities, De Faria kept quiet. De Faria shares the same reaction with many other Brazilian woman who have been sexually harassed and didn't have the courage to speak up about it. This is the reason why she set out to create the map.
Chega de Fiu Fiu (Enough With The Catcalls) is a map that can pinpoint where a woman has been harassed, along with the description on the occurrence. Besides the "EverydaySexism" movement, a woman's public cry of frustration on Facebook was inspiration for De Faria's innovative creation.
De Faria's response to a friend's rant on Facebook (via Telegraph):
“I was blown away," she says. "It was the first time in my life that I'd seen someone speaking about this kind of thing publicly. And after five minutes, she had more than 100 comments from other women sharing similar stories.”
If it wasn't for movements like EverydaySexism and street harassment awareness movement "Hollaback", De Faria believes she would have not had the inspiration to make this map. These movements have given woman all around the world strength to speak up about issues regarding sexism and gender inequality.
De Faria isn't done with just the map. She has teamed up with the Public Attorney's Office of São Paulo to write a guide on street harassment. Her project has been featured in multiple media outlets, for good and bad reasons. Some media outlets praise and commend her for her work in the movement, while others bash her for allegedly over exaggerating about the sexual harassment issue. "Even renowned journalists trashed the campaign. They said street harassment was just a compliment and nothing to complain about.” It's hard to believe these thoughts when there are so many other women in Brazil and around the world who share similar stories to De Faria. She doesn't let the critics alter her progress. She understands that everyone's mindset will not change overnight. But she knows that her map, along with the other woman empowerment organizations are making people aware on what is happening, and that's a start that she is very much appreciative for.