You don’t have to be walking on the street or use public transportation to be harassed it can also happen in the perceived safety of your car. I realized this the other day when I was waiting at an intersection that is on a service road that runs alongside the freeway. The on ramp isn’t that far from where my residential street ends and people will frequently sit there for minutes at a time trying to turn across three lanes of traffic to get to the on ramp lane at 7am in Houston. In the amount of time that they’re waiting to do this, they could have just turned right and gone through the light to the next ramp. After waiting for three minutes (because some people really are that obnoxious) I honked at the guy in front of me. He looks into his rear view mirror and immediately goes into action. (Mind you, if I had been a guy he wouldn’t have done what he did next.) He gets out of his car with an enraged expression and holds his arms out a s if to say, “What bitch?” I responded, because my windows were already down and I have no AC. “I’m in a two-ton vehicle and you look threatening. What am I going to do?”
I have another incident that really bothered me. It wasn’t necessarily on the street but it was still public harassment. I’m an introvert (read: quiet and introspective but not shy) and I can usually get away with sticking my nose in a book if I want to be left alone. I was out because I like doing karaoke, and I usually read between my songs. My usual tactic of trying to shut people out by reading wasn’t working this time because some asshat sat down next to me and eventually got to the point I knew was coming. He invited me to go home with him and I told him no numerous times. Finally, in order to escape him, I had to move a few seats down. When I was called up for my next song, he tried to grab my arm and I moved out of his reach. I found out later he had been harassing someone else too. I told the establishment about it and they kicked him out thankfully.
– Anonymous
Location: Houston, TX
Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.
