Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Street harassment reports

As an outcome of the previous discussion on women's safety, I have set up this post as a place to report any incidents you experience; this means that we will have a concrete record of where incidents occur, who it is and what kinds of harassment are happening.

Please use this thread only for posting reports so that we have a manageable record that can be presented to the local police, which many of us agreed would be helpful (for them and for us).

Also, if you can remember any recent incidents that you think are relevant, please post these too, even though they have already occurred.

When posting, it will be useful to record, where possible:
  • Where the incident occurred (which street, outside a particular shop or bar?)
  • What the culprit looked like (age, race, clothes, accent, distinguishing features? Were they alone or was it a group?)
  • What exactly they did or said (words used etc.)
I hope this thread goes some way to feeling that we are taking the first steps towards making our experiences more widely known; if the police can see exactly what is happening, they can begin to look at this problem more closely. As someone pointed out in the women's safety post, there is also no reason to hesitate in reporting an unpleasant experience to the SNT or your local PCSO, who will also make a record of your complaint.

Tags for Forum Posts: personal safety, sexual harassment, women

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kit on February 26, 2010 at 21:30
Attempted street robbery/assault, young woman, Umfreville Road. Friday 26 February at 2035 hrs. Man in grey hoodie attacked a young woman walking home from work who'd stopped off to buy stuff from the Turkish Food Centre. The man followed her up the street and attacked her just below the canal, tried to grab her handbag and slapped and bit her when she refused to hand it over. She screamed, attracting attention and the man ran away empty handed in the direction of Green Lanes.

The police, brilliantly, responded within 30 minutes of being called and drove her round to try - unsuccessfully - to spot her attacker. Even more brilliantly, several male neighbours rushed out to try to help on hearing her screams.
Permalink Reply by matt on February 27, 2010 at 14:46
The police, brilliantly, responded within 30 minutes of being called

They must have been busy at the time. I've seen them respond within 5-10mins which needs to happen where possible, otherwise the culprit has time to melt into the background. There is a robbery unit on constant patrol (unmarked car) ready to respond to street attacks (robbery/muggings).
Permalink Reply by Kit on February 27, 2010 at 16:07
Sorry - that was a typo. The patrol car pulled up about ten minutes after being called/within 30 minutes of the incident. They were on it. Seriously.
Permalink Reply by Hugh on February 27, 2010 at 11:20
Liz and I got in to conversation with Nora Mulready about this issue the other day and it seems that she is as exercised about it as many around here. I've asked her if she'd be interested in using the influence of David Lammy's office to lead a charge on finding a better response to this issue. More specifically, Liz has asked if she can work with Harringay Online to help to set up a meeting between the police, council and residents to improve information flow. Nora has told me that she should have some news on Monday.

I'll be bringing this post to the attention of Karen Alexander, Nilgun Canver and David Schmitz also as I know they'll want to help.
Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on February 27, 2010 at 13:23
This is a brilliant thread Hugh - thanks for setting it up. It goes without saying that I want to be involved as possible in this.
Permalink Reply by Hugh on February 27, 2010 at 14:02
That's great Karen. Though all credit is due to Jen for setting up this thread.
Permalink Reply by David Schmitz on February 27, 2010 at 16:15
I too support this entirely and agree that it should not be party political. Fortunately, there is good precedent for this in that last week we all got together to discuss how to make the best case for Haringey's schools in the forthcoming consultation on funding.

I am making some enquiries about a possible venue.
Permalink Reply by matt on February 27, 2010 at 14:55
Venue suggestion: St John The Baptist Greek Orthodox Church hall. Cnr Wightman and Frobisher Rds.

Question (1): Is the Robbery Unit patrol car 24hrs and is there one or more of these patrols at any one time?
Question (2): Are undercover resources actually being deployed in Harringay at the moment? I was told this was to happen. Obviously not looking for specifics, just a 'yes' or 'no' answer.
Question (3): Are the CCTV cameras along Green Lanes operated 24hrs by the control room and is the technology up to date?
Permalink Reply by Kit on February 27, 2010 at 16:16
Questions:

-- how many women have been attacked since the first case was reported in November?
-- how many robberies have there been, and how many sexual assaults?
-- why can't police confirm whether or not the sexual attacks are linked?
Permalink Reply by ElleCarumba on February 28, 2010 at 22:12
Questions:
Under what legislation, if any, can the police pursue the men who act inappropriately towards women on Green Lanes? How many investigations or arrests have the police in Haringey made for this offence in the last year? (if it is an offence at all)
Apart from the legal route, have the police got any plans for how they could engage with the men on Green Lanes and make it clear how that such behaviour is not acceptable?
Permalink Reply by John D on March 1, 2010 at 8:42
Isn't there an offence called " insulting behaviour " ?

Section 5 Public Order Act 1986

" 5 Harassment, alarm or distress

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—

(a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or

(b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting,

within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.
Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 1, 2010 at 12:21
I'm just reading a book about pre WWI Britain and the boys in there find it perfectly acceptable to "harass" the young ladies of the town. Of course they start off polite and say something nasty only if they get told to bugger off.

I saw a young lady at the 41 bus stop on Turnpike Lane on Friday night at the end of what was obviously a proposition by a rather greasy and hairy looking fellow. She looked a little worried but he did scuttle away.

A barman when I was a working in NZ used to get away with saying the most obscene things to young ladies right in front of me at the bar and they seemed to love it. I presumed that this was because he was a muscle bound good looking barman from Norway. Certainly if I'd said them the best I could have hoped for would have been a slap.

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