Seminar for a Safer CTA

By Ali Trachta in Miscellaneous on May 22, 2008 3:30PM

The Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team formed five years ago when a handful of teenage girls decided to rally against the unsolicited cat calls and sexual harassment they felt forced to endure on the streets. Now, they’re kneeing the CTA in the balls.

The group is holding a seminar tonight at Loyola University titled SpeakOUT, in which people are encouraged to come forward with their stories of sexual assault and harassment on buses and trains in Chicago. If you’ve ever been followed, felt up, hounded, “bad touched,” or actually attacked while on public transportation, or if you just live in constant fear that you will be, this is the place for you to vent. These young women hope that solutions to this problem will be uncovered by bringing these stories to light.

As they did with the issue of street harassment, they’re currently researching safety on the CTA. You can help by taking their survey.

SpeakOUT is at Kasbeer Hall, 25 E. Pearson, May 22, 5 -7 p.m.

Photo by Katherine of Chicago.