Our Research

For three weeks from late July to mid-August 2003, eight of us interviewed and surveyed girls in Rogers Park about the problem of street harassment in our community. We wanted to hear about other girls’ experiences.

We started with the following research question: “Do other girls in Rogers Park feel that street harassment is a serious problem?”

We also wanted to know: “How much street harassment actually happens in Rogers Park.”

To answer our first question, we had focus groups of girls from five community organizations (Centro Romero, Metropolitan Asian Family Services, Rogers Park Youth Net, Howard Area Community Center, and Family Matters).

We talked to a total of 34 girls.  They ranged in age from 10 to 18   years old.  35 % were African American; 47 % were Latina; 6 % were Asian; 12 % identified as “other.”

To answer our second question, we went out into the street with a survey that we asked other girls in the community to fill out for us.

We collected over 160 surveys from young women ages 11 to 19.

The reports based on our focus groups and our surveys are available in the resources section.

Below is a handout that we developed as part of our research.  It illustrates the escalation of street harassment, the causes of harassment as we see them, and finally the impact that it has on its victims.  The handout can be found in the resources section.

Ladder of Street Harassment - Created by YWAT (2003)