"Take A Stand: The Rogers Park Young Women's Action Team"

Diamond Sharp

"Hey cutie, can I get your digits" is more than an annoying catcall; the founders of the Rogers Park Young Women's Action Team (YWAT) made it the title of their campaign against street harassment.

In July 2003, 12 young women from the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago decided that enough was enough. They set out to document the extent of street harassment on the far north side in order to raise awareness and create change.

Over the summer, YWAT surveyed 168 local girls ages 10 to 19. An overwhelming 86 percent of respondents said they had been sexually harassed on the street. To supplement their findings, YWAT took photographs of the gangways, alleys, and businesses that respondents identified as the worst danger zones.

Eventually they compiled their report, "Hey Cutie, Can I Get Your Digits?" and presented it to the police, local city council representatives, and county and state officials.

Since then YWAT has grown and encompasses many programs for young women and their male allies.

The Rogers Park Young Women's Action Team is a youth-led, adult-supported social change project that empowers young women of color under 21 years of age to take action on issues of violence against girls and young women. YWAT believes that girls and young women should be free from violence.

Since June 2003, the girls have met once a week to organize around harassment near Rogers Park in Chicago, Illinois. The action team began when Friends of Battered Women and their Children administered a teen forum, providing space for girls to discuss how they fell threatened when walking around their neighborhood. They experienced verbal and physical abuse; men grabbed their hair and clothing. Both older men and boys their own age who loitered outside of stores or on corners followed them home from school.

YWAT gained media attention with their 2003 R.E.S.P.E.C.T campaign, during which more than 125 businesses in the neighborhood displayed posters with images of young women and the words "respect my mind, respect my body, respect me."

Not only did police enhance their presence near Roger Park schools, but the city installed better lighting on streets commonly known for street harassment. The Chicago Sun-Times and local television stations even featured the campaign. The response from youth, parents, police, city officials and elected representatives was tremendous.

Next, the YWAT girls turned their focus on teen dating violence. A compilation of YWAT conducted surveys resulted in "The Real Deal: Teen Dating Violence." YWAT launched Teen Dating Violence Awareness Week that ran from October 17-23rd, 2005. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley officially recognized YWAT's efforts by formally designating a week in October as teen dating awareness week citywide.

The group invited youth to submit poems about teen dating abuse to be read aloud at its Real Deal poetry slam. YWAT asked women and girls who attended to contribute to a postcard campaign by writing endings to the sentence, "When violence against women and girls ends, I will..." Responses ranged from "I will tear up my restraining order" to "I will do, say and dress how I want" to "rejoice."

Through their reports, presentations, community events, and media coverage, YWAT has calculated the total number of people exposed to the group's anti-violence work to be more than one million.

Last year, YWAT began their male ally program. The young men, in conjunction with Beyond Media, produced the film "Real Talk: Engaging Young Men as Allies to End Violence against Women and Girls." The film debuted at DePaul University in October of 2006; subsequently six hundred people viewed the film at local screenings. Following the documentary, YWAT surveyed young men on the subject of violence against women. You can read the results at www.surveymonkey.com/Report.asp?U=373216085847.

YWAT also co-sponsored the screening of the documentary "Beyond Beats & Rhymes" by Byron Hurt. The film explores homophobia, manhood and misogyny in hip hop. YWAT screened the film during the "Loving Hip Hop with Our Eyes Wide Open" event. The team also facilitated the 2007 "Love is NOT Blind: Taking Action against Teen Dating Violence" conference, which was headed by two male allies.

If you are interested in joining the program, Girl Leader University is in session every Saturday morning at YWAT headquarters. The Girl Leadership U program teaches young women between the ages of 14 and 19 how to make change in their community. The participants are required to apply and acceptance into the program is extremely competitive.

To learn more about the Young Women's Action Team visit www.youngwomensactionteam.org