“Sold out!” Women's practices of resistance against prostitution related sexual harassment

Abstract

Synopsis Sexual harassment on the street is a form of ‘non-criminal street violence’ that has a remarkable impact on women's access to urban space. In red-light districts harassment is often aggravated but, nevertheless, research on these areas has rarely focused specifically on it. This article is based on a survey conducted in a red-light district in Helsinki, Finland. The survey was undertaken in the form of a postal questionnaire to women in two areas: the studied area where prostitution occurred and control area which consisted of the rest of inner Helsinki. The aim was to discuss how harassment is experienced and how women respond to the offences they face. Women work as active agents in public and have various practices of resistance . The article discusses the non-verbal, gestured and verbal strategies of resistance–from civic activism to evasive and operative individual strategies–that show how women reclaim space . While sexual harassment contributes to the ‘gendering’ of urban space, so do the practices of resistance.