Spotlight On: 0121 Street Huns

Content Warning: discussion of sexual harassment

In the past year, a series of horrifying cases of women being brutally attacked have ignited conversation about sexual harassment and personal safety. In particular, the cases of Sabrina Nessa and Sarah Everard brought a heightened sense of fear to women and sent shockwaves across Britain about the extent of this issue. Redbrick had the privilege of interviewing Tabitha and Alice, two recent University of Birmingham graduates, about student safety and their new organisation, ‘0121 Street Huns’, which is aimed at keeping women safe in Birmingham.

Hi Tabitha and Alice – to start off, tell me a bit about yourselves!

Alice: Hi, my name’s Alice. I studied human geography at UoB and just graduated; I now live in Birmingham and work for a charity here focused on music and bringing people together!

Tabitha: I’m Tabitha, I’m studying English and Philosophy, but deferred for a year because of the craziness of lockdown! I’m currently working in Birmingham and finding my feet.

What is 0121 Street Huns about?

Tabitha: We’re still in the process of getting set up; it’s logistically a little bit more challenging than we thought. We were inspired by Strut Safe in Edinburgh and one too many of our own experiences of harassment. It all led us to wanting something similar locally and taking matters into our own hands. The aim is to have volunteers who are dispatched around Birmingham who can help walk people home, call an Uber or simply stay on the phone while women walk home alone. There’s even the possibility that some of these volunteers could drive people home! We’ve had a great response, with loads of volunteers willing to help.

Alice: For it to really work now, we need to get funding and figure out the process of vetting the volunteers. Hopefully then we can get the ball rolling!

That sounds amazing; I love the idea of taking back control! Was harassment and personal safety something that you became more aware of during your time as students?

Alice: Definitely. We’ve had some survey results which show the extent of the issue in Selly Oak especially – you even experience harassment walking a minute away to a friend’s house. You grow up so much in the time that you’re a student and learn more and more what’s acceptable. Unfortunately, we had a really horrible experience with verbal assault a couple of weeks ago and it really inspired us to start this.

Tabitha: That specific incident really pushed us to start something up because of how shaken up we were by it. When we were told to report it to the police, we just didn’t see the point – we didn’t think they’d do anything. There was another incident where we witnessed some harassment and heard the security guard say that ‘she was asking for it’.

Alice: When we were students, we never felt like we had the opportunity to do anything to help – you don’t have time to come up with something like this! I think a lot of students care and want to do something to help, but it’s about what you really can do.

I’m really sorry that you’ve had these awful experiences, but it’s also amazing that you’re creating something so positive and helpful out of it! Whether you live on the Vale or Selly Oak, personal safety is a huge talking point at university; do you think that universities should be doing more to raise awareness on sexual harassment?

Tabitha: Absolutely.

Alice: Definitely. I think that there were too many instances of people going to the University about specific incidents and nothing being achieved. A lot of people don’t come forward when they’ve experienced something because they’re scared that nothing will be done about it. I think it’s an issue beyond just the University of Birmingham – just think about all the stories of harassment at the University of Warwick.

Tabitha: I know that we’re setting up an organisation centred around what women can do to stay safe, but that’s only because that’s what is within our power. Universities have the power to make it a more male-centred conversation and provide men with more education. A lot of the time all that the universities seem to do is hand out personal alarms, rather than educating men themselves. Even if they are doing that, it’s not very well publicised!

I completely agree! I love that this organisation is so focused on women taking back control, but it’s true that the responsibility lies with the men. On your Instagram you have some shocking statistics about how different groups are targeted by harassment; how do you think people of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community are specifically affected?

Alice: We were talking earlier about women like Sabrina Nessa and so many transgender women who are attacked and it never gets the same media attention. There seems to be an element of racism and transphobia in the media around cases of assault.

Tabitha: We want to do some more research into how those people of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community are targeted. Our previous survey was a lot broader, so it would be good to focus it a bit more. There have been a lot of cases in Birmingham recently like that, and we don’t want to just focus on cisgender women.

Alice: As a queer woman, I’ve had experiences at pride where I’ve been catcalled. I think we’d like to focus on what we can do in the Gay Village.

Tabitha: It’s unsettling – where can you feel safe if your safe space gets targeted?

What are your next steps; how do you plan to grow?

Alice: We’re focusing on getting funding for the volunteer vetting process.

Tabitha: We also want to liaise with local universities. A lot of people who took part in our survey said that they would like it if we were credited by the universities. Maybe once we’re set up, we could consider hosting events to educate and raise awareness.

What should people do if they’re interested in getting involved with volunteering?

Tabitha: We have a sign-up form linked in our Instagram bio. We also have an email address set up for any queries (0121streethuns@gmail.com).

Finally, do you have any top tips for how students can stay safe on a night out?

Tabitha: People always say don’t walk home on your own, but it should be extended to the people around you. Don’t let your friends walk home alone – look after each other! I think also just be aware of any resources that are available to you such as the Selly Express and personal alarms. Specifically men: speak up! If more men spoke up when they see harassment, I think these incidents would happen less.

Alice: I think everyone needs to be more active in educating themselves and be more aware of what they can do to help out on a night out.

Make sure to check out 0121 Street Huns on Instagram (@0121streethuns) for more information on how you can help and the services they aim to provide.