Male Domination and Women’s Street Harassments

Street harassment is increasing according to official statistics. Review of headlines in 160 pages of  ”Iran“, ”Etemaad“ and ”Jaame jam“ newspapers in two years of 1395/2016 and 1396/2017 shows that street harassment has approximately risen 12 percent. Male hegemony is the main cause of street harassment in urban spaces, which affects  women’s quality of life, the most important of which is feeling insecure. The purpose of present article is to explain causes and consequences  of street harassments within an analytical and  descriptive approach. Documents are reviewed  and data collected through interviews with 15 women aged 22 to 50 years  Studies report that childhood education, reference groups' activities, abusers’ socialization and  family are effective in nurturing this behavior.  From Feminism point of view, women in patriarchal systems are considered ”others“ and this attitude can charge street harassments against  females. Abuses are rooted in public culture and male dominated societies, while in mega  cities due to the multiplicity of subcultures and  concealment of the abusers’ identity, more harassments are observed. In addition, structure  of cities such as Tehran has escalated male domination and deterioration of women’s security.  In summary street harassment, not only lead to women’s fear and pessimism, but also can be a factor in reduction of their social participation  and destruction of gender identity. It seems sexual harassment in public space is a function of  male domination in private sphere.