Via CBS:. Her plight has drawn new attention to the simmering issue of religious coercion in Israel, and the increasing brazenness of extremists in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The girls school that Naama attends in the city of Beit Shemesh, to the west of Jerusalem, is on the border between an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood and a community of modern Orthodox Jewish residents, many of them American immigrants.
The ultra-Orthodox consider the school, which moved to its present site at the beginning of the school year, an encroachment on their territory. Dozens of black-hatted men jeer and physically accost the girls almost daily, claiming their very presence is a provocation. Someone should be allowed to walk around in sleeveless shirts and pants and not be harassed. I applaud Naama and her mother for speaking out against the harassers and against street harassment in general. They are bullies.
I also applaud the police for taking action :. Yohanan Danino ordered his commanders and officers to enforce a zero-tolerance policy toward discrimination against women. According to guidelines sent by Danino to police commanders, any form of this discrimination must be treated as a criminal offense or a public disorder incident.
This story illustrates how street harassment can intersect with other forms of discrimination or conflict, such as religion.
Thanks to the large number of harassers worldwide, public places are less safe and less welcoming for girls and women everywhere, including for 8-year-old girls. That is not okay. Is street harassment starting before puberty really the future we want for the next generation of girls?
