Rosamund Urwin writes for the London Evening Standard about her street harassment stories
“The road I live off — Acre Lane in Brixton — seems to host regular auditions for the Bad Boyfriend Club. Most days, a couple of men stand near the McDonald’s uttering “Hey, sexy” and other Oscar Wilde-worthy witticisms at passing women. I’m pretty sure that the success rate of this strategy is lower than Lottery jackpot odds (ie, zero), that no woman has ever ripped off her knickers in response. Yet still they persist, day after day….
Almost every woman I know has similar — or worse — stories. They’ve been sworn at. Hollered at. Leered at. Groped. These incidents occur on the street, in buses, trains, clubs and bars — regular reminders that, as a woman, public spaces never quite belong to you…Let’s reclaim the streets from London’s leches.”
If you live in London and want to help reclaim the streets, you can join Rape Crisis South London for their “London Landmarks Against Street Harassment Event” from 30 March to 5 April for International Anti-Street Harassment Week!
