“The Launceston Pizza Pub is now a place I think of as a safe zone”

This is the story of the one and only time I have felt like I came out on top when dealing with street harassment. It was a Saturday in September and the first warm day, the one that hints at summer coming, so lots of people were out enjoying it. To get where I was going I was walking past a business that has its beer garden on the corner of an intersection, and there was a group sitting out there enjoying the day.

Unfortunately, the way they were doing this, was two men stood up against the fence shouting at women, while their group – another man and two women howled with laughter. First they shouted at a woman in her 20s who stiffened and ignored them, then they shouted at a pair of early teen girls who huddled closer together and looked anxious, and then they had a go at me. The typical rubbish – “I want to fuck you!” and “Hey, c’mere! C’mere!” and “Hot legs!” At first I thought I’d ignore them too, but when they got no reaction they doubled their efforts, since no other women seemed to be walking closer down the road, “Hey bitch, when are we getting to fuck you? You can hear us! Hey bitch!”

Luckily, thanks to the Stop Street Harassment movement, I had a breakthrough at that moment. I *don’t* have to put up with it and I *don’t* have to ignore it, and for once it’s not cowardly people yelling at me from a moving car – they were sitting ducks. So I called the friend I was on my way to see and she googled the phone number for the pub the harassers were at. I called the pub and a kind, concerned man spoke to me. I told him what I had observed and what had happened to me. I was bracing myself to be brushed off or treated like I was overreacting, and instead he said, “I have been keeping an eye on them and it has been worrying me. Thank you for calling – that’s it, I will tell them to leave. Thank you for talking to us about it.”

I was bowled over. Totally bowled over. Thank you, male ally! Thank you, ally business! The Launceston Pizza Pub is now a place I think of as a safe zone, and I have made efforts to eat there a number of times afterward, knowing I’m supporting a business that treats people with respect.

– DM

Location: The Pizza Pub, 111 Wellington Street, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250

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