A new text-based hotline in Metro Vancouver is aiming to collect data on what organizers say is one of the most difficult kinds of misconduct to track: street harassment.

Created by Good Night Out, a Vancouver-based anti-harassment group, B次元官网网址淐reep offB次元官网网址� is a data-collection project that launched this week, tracking incidents reported around Metro Vancouver until the end of August. The data will then be used in a larger report to municipalities.

B次元官网网址淭here isnB次元官网网址檛 a whole lot of data on street harassment right now because in most cases, itB次元官网网址檚 not really criminal,B次元官网网址� said Stacey Forrester, a Good Night Out regional organizer.

B次元官网网址淪o itB次元官网网址檚 one of those things that we feel we hear happens all the time, but there isnB次元官网网址檛 really a strong data set to find out just how much [that] is.B次元官网网址�

The project, which is being funded through an innovation grant from UBC, stems from a House of Commons Standing Committee report on the Status of Women released last spring that found there are no formal places for people to report harassment that isnB次元官网网址檛 criminal.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 frustrating for me as a woman to have been talking about this very issue since I was 14 years old and the realization that people donB次元官网网址檛 take things seriously until we have quantifiable numbers behind them,B次元官网网址� Forrester said.

B次元官网网址淚 am surprised that, given the social shift in recent years around street harassment, that such a tool hasnB次元官网网址檛 been created yet.B次元官网网址�

Collecting the data is simple. Whenever someone witnesses or experiences harassment, text the words B次元官网网址渃reep offB次元官网网址� to 778-800-3822 on your smartphone.

That will prompt a series of questions in return, asking where the harassment took place and what kind of harassment occurred.

Good Night Out will be watching for trends, Forrester said, but exactly how the data will be compiled is still in the works.

B次元官网网址淚f we notice really strong trends, like at music festivals or like at night, that may be another way to map it,B次元官网网址� she said, B次元官网网址渂ut weB次元官网网址檙e planning to share the data with the public for sure.B次元官网网址�

If enough people turn report harassment through the hotline, she added, the group may lobby city or provincial officials to promote such a tool and expand it.

Forrester said she doubts sheB次元官网网址檒l be surprised by the number of incidents that get reported, but anticipates it will shock some.

B次元官网网址淚t may be the kind of push we need to approach venues and festivals who maybe have been telling us for a little white that this isnB次元官网网址檛 an issue,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t will be nice to have data to back it up.B次元官网网址�

ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
Like us on and follow us on .