I am originally from Goshen, NY, but my father’s family is from Bogota. Back in 1977 I lived there for 7 months. During that time, I was amazed at the brazenness of the men…as an 18 yr old NY’er I thought I had seen/heard it all, but the groping on the overcrowded bus became too much, so I took a cab or walked from then on.
Then one afternoon while walking home, a “postman” who had just delivered our mail, slapped me on the ass as I walked by!!! I flipped out, let out a stream of very NY comments, but he just laughed and walked on. I went in and quickly told my very proper Aunt and Uncle what had transpired, and they looked at each-other and replied “tranquila, está bien”. Looks like nothing has changed in these 36 years.
I danced for V-day here in my little town of Boone NC. Let’s Break the Chain!
– Maxelle Patricia Boutelle
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Share YOUR street harassment story for the blog
Plan to speak out against street harassment from April 7-13 during International Anti-Street Harassment Week.
