I am 30 years old now, married and have a small baby. When I was 19 or so, I went to Walmart one evening (not late). In the parking lot a car drove past me and I could feel eyes/heard a comment but ignored it and walked into the store. Unbelievably, not 5 minutes later a man (from the car) walked up to me in one of the front aisles of the store. He walked straight up to me and told me I looked like a slut and that my sister was a whore and sucked dick. (???).
So I got REAL loud with him, as we were near the entrance and there was enough people around. I said, “What the f*** did you just say to me?” as loudly as I could to draw attention, and he walked away. I even yelled at him as he walked off. I found a store manager and asked that they remove the man from the store. I was too young to know that I should have dialed 911. Always dial 911 if you feel threatened. The manager said okay, and 15 minutes later the same man was 10 feet away from me in another aisle. I was stunned, and immediately went to check out. I made several calls to Walmart after that but they obviously didn’t care. I am glad I no longer live in that city. I have countless examples of harassment from my time there.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
Billboards, tv/radio/paper ad telling me it is not ok to harass women. State the legal consequences for harassment.
– Laura Q
Location: San Antonio, TX
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea
