We see all experiences of harassment as valid. We believe that any infringement on personal space or unwarranted comment (verbal or non-verbal) without an attempt to initiate a respectful, consensual dialogue constitutes harassment. This definition is not exclusive. Our work recognizes that harassment is experienced differently by different people, and we support the right to define harassment on one's own terms. Someone's experience of harassment and public space will be directly influenced by the identities that they carry with them into the world and the way that those identities intersect with each other. You can report harassment targeting any part of identity, including but not limited to race, religion, gender, sexuality, or disability. You can report any incident depicting bystander intervention, whether it happened to you or someone else, whether it happened recently or in the past.
Initiatives combating various forms of sexual harassment and assault have continually struggled against the perpetuation of racist stereotypes, in particular, the construction of men of color as sexual predators. This stems, in part, from the violent history of racism in the United States, wherein Black men were commonly unjustly accused of assaulting white women as an excuse for white supremacists to form lynch mobs. Because of the complexity of institutional and socially ingrained prejudices, we prioritize resisting direct as well as unconscious and unintentional reinforcement of social hierarchies. It's not wrong for survivors to speak their truths as they are, but it would be wrong for an organization like ours to circulate incident reports that may inadvertently perpetuate these stereotypes. If you feel that race is important to your story, please make sure its relevance is explained clearly and constructively in your post. We reserve the right to edit out descriptors of harassers when needed in order to avoid reinforcing these stereotypes.
Although our organization believes and supports survivors, we safeguard ourselves against legal action by stating that all stories shared through the People's Justice League Incident Reporter are alleged and not fact-checked by anyone from our organization. The majority of the stories shared on our page are done so anonymously, leaving little ability for follow up. Despite this fact, we believe you. It's not your fault. We've got your back.