In her article published in Antipode 30 (4), 305-332 '"Sticks and stones
may break my bones": a personal geography of harassment', Gill Valentine
discusses her experience of an appalling campaign of harassment against
her. In the immediate aftermath of the publication of her article messages,
not surprisingly, focused on her particular case. I understand that Gill
continues to be subjected to the most horrible and abusive anonymous
letters.
As a network of people we have not been able to do anything to stop this
campaign. But maybe we could usefully attend to some broader issues. I
am wondering whether we can do anything to develop and strengthen our
collective responses. Maybe this is an appropriate moment at which to
share information about mechanisms in place within our workplaces and
professional organisations for dealing with harassment. What exists? How
are such mechanisms working in practice? How can we respond collectively
to harassment as both a personal and a political issue? Are there tensions
between the use penal or disciplinary mechanisms against those who
perpetrate harassment and our critiques of those mechanisms? Are there
tensions between individual and cultural/political dimensions of the
problem of harassment?
I look forward to hearing from others interested in such questions.
Liz Bondi
**********************
Liz Bondi
Department of Geography
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh EH8 9XP
Scotland
UK
tel. 0131-650-2529
fax 0131-650-2524
email [log in to unmask]
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