Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for July 2010

“It’s horrible to feel like you’re an object to be felt up”

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I was walking my friend to the train station on a busy Friday night with lots of people on the street. A couple of guys walked past and one grabbed my arse. I turned around & saw him and his friend laughing.

I started walking towards them and shouted: “What the hell do you think you’re doing you f***ing arsehole.”

I wasn’t afraid, I was just disgusted and very, very angry. They continued laughing and walking away, they did not seem bothered at all. It’s horrible to feel like you’re an object to be felt up by any passing peasant.

– Anonymous

Location: Reading, Berkshire, UK

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.

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Taking action to stop harassers!

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I have been walking to work with a friend and she has been shouted at, verbally harassed, had drivers slow down whilst passing her and, when in my car, other drivers make rude gestures and shout at her…and I thought we were some way down the road to equality.

The worst behaviour has been from the contractors working on the roadworks outside our office. After reading some of this website last night, I went over to the workmen, whilst they were staring and letching at my friend and told them to stop as it was threatening and unwelcome. I then went back into the office, called the company involved and reported the complaint to the director and backed it up with an email. I have received an email response stating that they would investigate my complaint and proceed with disciplinary action where appropriate.

My friend was scared and didn’t feel able to say anything to the contractors; I asked her if it was OK for me to speak up for her and she said yes. We wait to see if their behaviour changes…

Thanks to this website I decided to do something and speak up, instead of just thinking about it.

– CJ

Location: Walsall, United Kingdom

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.

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N-word rant at the bus stop

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There is this white homeless guy I sometimes see at my bus stop, and while he says crazy stuff nothing compared to what he said this morning.

The homeless guy asked people for money and mostly got ignored, but when a black man passed by and ignored him, this guy went off on this lunatic diatribe.

“Bro…Bro! C’mon!” He builds up from there.

“N****rs are always looking out for one another,” he says, and goes on and on using that word. Mind you, I’m a black woman, so I was beyond offended. I turned around and gave this man the nastiest look I could muster.

Then he says this: “Ma’am, n****rs can be white people too! I call white people n****rs too! What about your boy [President] Clinton? What about your boy Clinton?”

I had to tune him out at this point. Not only was he crazy, he was racist as hell and I didn’t know what he was capable of.

As he went on his n-word rant, I loudly said “Where’s the bus?” and did anything to tune his crazy ass out. Thank god the bus came seconds later.

That was not how I wanted to start my Monday morning.

– anonymous

Location: Bus stop in front of Court House Metro, Arlington, VA

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.

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Stop Commuter Harassment

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“Imagine you are heading to work on a Monday morning. Over the next 20 minutes you use your commuting time to catch up on e-mail and mentally run through a list of meetings and deadlines. You feel confident as you prepare for your day.

Suddenly a man interrupts you mid-thought to whisper, “Smile for me,” or “Hot bod.” Or gropes you on a crowded subway or follows you in his car. Now you feel angry, offended, possibly scared.

Worse than breaking your train of thought, however, is how you will carry those feelings with you to work. They affect your performance. And if this is the 20th or 100th time a man has harassed you during your commute, you might even consider changing your route, time of commute or even your job to avoid it.”

Read the rest of my article about commuter harassment at Forbes.com, complete with ideas for what employers can do to help keep their employees safe.

Are you harassed during your commute? If so, does it impact your work performance? Have you ever considered changing jobs because of it?

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