Archives for February 2012

Driving instructor harasser

February 5, 2012 By Contributor

I was taking driving lessons and the instructor used to ask me to take the car towards outskirts of the city, which was quite secluded and didn’t have many people.

Once on that way, he remarked I was a quick learner and that I drove well. The next thing I knew, he put his arm around my neck and tried to touch my boobs. When I pushed myself away, he took my face in his hands and kissed me on my cheek. I froze. I didn’t know how to react and I wanted to punch him, but I couldn’t as I didn’t know how to tackle the situation after that or how to go back home. I was scared that he might rape me, there was no one around. After he kissed me, he kept asking me not to tell anyone. I just kept my mouth shut. I got back safely and got out of the car and shut it as hard as possible.

That bastard called me back the next day, but i told him I was done with the classes and I wasn’t going to attend them. He never called me back after that…I felt yucky that day. I went back home and washed my left cheek hundred times… I can still feel that facial hair all over my face.. yuck… I felt so violated…

– Anonymous

Location: Gurgaon, India

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

Why leering guys can be scary

February 4, 2012 By Contributor

Pretty weird:

I was sitting in the tram and that guy stared and smiled at me. The whole time he was looking at me. I was pissed (because one day another guy stared at me in the tram and followed me through the city and I had to trick him like an agent or something to get him off). I left the tram and he was still behind me. OMG!

Then I had to walk a little while between 2 houses, dark with no people around and he was still behind me. Then I reached some kind of market place with a lot of people and dived into the crowed. He gave up and turned around.

A couple of days later I was reading the news online and there was a picture of him. Taken from the video camera in a tram in the night. Because he stared at a women, followed her, attacked her and tried to rape her. She could escape.

I didn’t go to the police. What should I tell? He stared at me?

– NN

Location: Germany

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

DC: Testify about harassment on public transportation!

February 2, 2012 By HKearl

This is cross-posted from Collective Action for Safe Spaces blog…I serve on their board and I’m excited to be working on this initiative!

Sexual comments, leering, groping and public masturbation: sexual harassment happens a lot on public transportation in Washington, DC. Collective Action for Safe Spaces/Holla Back DC! has been tracking and speaking out on this issue for three years. Now we’re doing something more – testifying. And we need your help.

We need people to testify with us about the issue of sexual harassment on public transportation during the late afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 22, for a public performance oversight hearing of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) held by the Council of the District of Columbia.

We are looking for people:

1) Willing to share a story or stories about sexual harassment on metro trains and buses,
2) Who can talk about sexual harassment they’ve witnessed,
3) Who can be part of the audience to help fill the room.

Testimonies are only 3 minutes long (about a page and a half). If you want to learn more about writing and presenting compelling testimony or want feedback on a draft, we will hold an optional training on Saturday, Feb. 18, 1-3 p.m. at the Southeast Library (across the from Eastern Market metro station). Susie Cambria will lead the training.

If you’re interested in providing testimony or helping to fill the room, please contact info@collectiveactiondc.org by February 17.

If we have enough people testifying, possible outcomes could be:

*Council Member Muriel Bowser (who is overseeing the hearing and is from Ward 4) will be aware of the issue and could even propose legislation to help prevent sexual harassment on Metro.

* Council Member Bowser could question the Director of Metro to find out why our concerns have not been addressed.

* The Director of Metro could be more likely to address our concerns and take actions we recommend such as providing training for employees.

Poem: Midnight in London

February 2, 2012 By Contributor

Man in the shadows at the end of the street, I see you.
I saw you cross the road, I see you stop.

It is midnight in suburban London.
You have no reason to stop there.
When there is a lone woman walking behind you.

I stop before my path crosses yours,
Run through my garden gate and into my house,
Only realising as my key turns in the lock,
That now you know where I live.

– Cat

Location: Streatham Hill, London, UK

Bystander to harassment on the bus in Wales

February 1, 2012 By Contributor

I was a bystander to an incident of harassment yesterday.

I had popped to my local town to do a spot of shopping. When I was on the bus going home, some girls and boys got on the bus. The girls sat at the back and the boys sat in the front. The girls were no older than 13 and the boys were a year or two older.

So everything was normal until about halfway through my journey. After most passengers had got off, the boys decided to sit in front of the girls and start chatting them up. Ok fair enough right? Wrong. It wouldn’t have been such a problem if the conversation hadn’t turned into a sexual one. The boys were asking the girls personal questions and it was clear the girls were uncomfortable. The boys kept on firing questions at them and were being really pushy. “Come on, don’t be shy” the boys kept saying. Then one boy said to the girls, “You must be lesbians.”

Another boy boosted that he had slept with 15 girls. Whilst this was going on, I said nothing but couldn’t help giving them a few looks. It was impossible to ignore it because they were so loud and I was only sitting two seats in front of them. I was tempted to say something (I know how it feels to be harassed) but I was nervous.

One of the girls said something about giving oral (I’m guessing to shut the boys up) and suddenly the conversation took a turn. One of the boys sat in between two of the girls and swayed side to side. He then started lecturing them about how disgusting they were to be doing stuff at their age and called them sluts.

At this point, I started to feel angry. How dare they speak to those girls that way?! I gave them a filthy look and the boy looked at me and said, “Sorry about this but don’t you think they are disgusting?” I replied that I don’t think they had a right to judge those girls. I went on to tell them that they shouldn’t call girls “sluts.”

“Ok I won’t call them sluts,” he answered. Then he turned to the girls and yelled, “SLAGS.” I was now ready to get off so I couldn’t say much more.

As I got up, a boy asked if I had any children. Another piped up saying, “Does she look like she’s had children?” I told the bus driver as I was getting off. He got out of his seat to have a word with them. I don’t know what was said.

This incident left me feeling very upset and helpless. I felt sorry for those girls because they were young and didn’t know how to handle the situation. I wish I could have done more 🙁

– Clarice

Location: no 63 bus, Bridgend, Wales

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

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