Tatyana Fazlalizadeh had never heard of the term `` street harassment '' until two years ago . Before then , she simply considered the hisses and catcalls from strangers in the street an `` annoying part of everyday life '' that came with being a female . Now , street harassment is the focus of an ongoing art project led by Fazlalizadeh that 's drawing global attention . This weekend , as part of International Anti-Street Harassment Week , people from the United States to Australia plastered communities with portraits from Fazlalizadeh 's `` Stop Telling Women to Smile '' series . Named for a self-portrait of Fazlalizadeh with the message `` Stop Telling Women to Smile , '' the formidable portraits include sentiments meant to deter street harassment . One piece tells viewers , `` You can keep your thoughts on my body to yourself '' ; another reads `` Women do n't owe you anything . '' Fazlalizadeh has spent the past year and a half traveling the country speaking to women and creating new posters based on their experiences of gender-based street harassment . Her initial goal was to find out how women experience street harassment differently depending on where they live . Women in car-dependent cities described getting calls from men in cars . In cities like New York , Washington and Chicago , women reported men groping or leering at them on public transportation . What seems to be universal is the impact , Fazlalizadeh said . It leaves women feeling vulnerable and unsafe in their communities , as if their sole purpose in leaving the house each day is to entertain men . It makes women think twice about what they wear , the routes they take , even their body language . `` The way that it affects women and things they go through have pretty much the same theme : Women are out for consumption and for your enjoyment , '' Fazlalizadeh told CNN . `` It creates a sexually hostile climate in our streets and communities . '' Since she started out papering the streets of Brooklyn in 2012 , Fazlalizadeh has forged partnerships with community-based nonprofits and advocacy groups to create and share her work . She works with them to arrange talks with women and get permission from property owners to post her work on walls or in public spaces . She encouraged people who participated in Friday 's global poster-pasting night to act within the bounds of the law . For Anti-Street Harassment Week , Fazlalizadeh put up posters in Atlanta with members of the community . In a talk at Georgia State University earlier in the week , she told a standing room only audience of men and women about the range of responses to the portraits . She receives mostly positive feedback from people in person ; the posters in public , however , bear the brunt of criticism . Sometimes , people scribble derogatory words and phrases on her posters . Other times , she has seen handwritten exchanges on the posters debating its message , like a real-world message board . That 's great , she says , because that 's what the project aims to do : inspire discussion and hopefully collaboration among the sexes . Occasionally , a well-meaning man asks her in person about the idea of intention : What if he does n't intend to harass or make a women feel uncomfortable ? What if he just wants to compliment a woman in the hopes of getting her attention ? Surely , that 's not harassment . Fazlalizadeh understands where he 's coming from , and she respects him for engaging her in discussion , she said . But what matters is how it makes the woman feel , she said . `` That 's where all I can say is , ' I 'm sorry , I do n't agree with you , ' '' she said , prompting laughter from the audience . `` That 's where social norms and taking cues are important , '' she said . `` But the main goal is to make us rethink what 's considered normal and acceptable treatment of women . ''
Street art campaign `` Stop Telling Women to Smile '' aims to deter street harassment . Tatyana Fazlalizadeh sketches portraits with anti-harassment messages . Comment: