Women of the night

Female Occupier discusses camping out

From the Occupied Lexington Herald

OLH interviewed a female occupier who has spent the night at Occupy Lexington.

Occupied Lexington Herald: How many nights have you spent at Occupy Lexington?

Female 99er: I’ve spent two nights at Occupy Lexington and both times I was the only woman there for the whole night.

OLH: Nights at Occupy Lexington tend to be male-dominated. What has your experience been spending the night as a female?

F99: Overall, I would say my experience was positive. My only bad experience would be a mentally ill homeless man who approached me and asked for my age, whether or not I had a boyfriend, and proceeded to make some inappropriate comments. This made me uncomfortable, so I stood up [and moved] a few feet away. After that, he left. When he returned a few hours later, I was warned that he was asking where all the women were.

OLH: Several Occupied sights have experienced sexual assaults taking place at night. What concerns should women have who choose to spend the night downtown at Occupy? What has the “night crew” done to address those concerns?

F99: The “night crew” was obviously looking out for me that night [when approached by the man], as they did the other night I was there. We have suggested at General Assembly that a woman staying overnight should be with two people she trusts and some woman have left their phone numbers and offered to come by any night if needed. In Zucotti Park, there is a women-only tent. I think this would be good for Occupy Lexington to implement once our movement has grown.