I had an experience with harassment not too long ago. I was about to get on the Metro, so I took the escalator up to the waiting area. I bought my fare-card, then walked towards the slot where I had to insert it. Ahead of me walked an extremely attractive woman who was heading in the same direction. There were not many people in the area, and I saw two of the guards looking at her too long. I knew she was going to get harassed. I could not hear what the guard said to her, but she was disconcerted. She cringed, and walked away quickly. I would have said something, but she was too far away by the time I was at the fare-card slot. Then one of the guards said to me, “Let’s see a SMILE on that pretty face.”
I made eye contact with him and told him firmly (without smiling, of course), “Mind your business.”
He giggled nervously, but did not say anything else. I walked away.
I was disgusted that he was using his time searching for opportunities to make women uncomfortable. Passengers need to be aware that public transportation employees, not just other passengers, abuse their time by making women uneasy.
Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?
– Anonymous
Location: Franconia, Springfield, VA
[Note: SSH works with the DC Transit Authority on addressing sexual harassment. Anyone who experiences or witnesses it is encouraged to complete this online form to describe what happened. It will help WMATA with their trainings of their employees and their handling of harassment on the system.]
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