"I felt strong - like I could take care of myself"

When I was a college freshman, I lived in a communal dorm. An obnoxious group of guys would always hang out in the lobby and call out sexual slurs at me as I came and left my room. It was humiliating. I found myself trying to run past them before they noticed me, and even covering up my body so as not to draw too much attention to myself.

One day, I just couldn’t take it anymore. They whistled and said ʺdamn!ʺ really loudly. So I turned around, marched right up to them (at least eight of them) and shouted, ʺWhat do you expect to happen from this? Do you really think a girl will turn around and say ‘Oh wow that’s such a compliment, being told my ass is fine by these complete strangers. Do you want to hook up?’ Has it worked for you yet?ʺ By the look on their stunned faces, I answered for them, ʺNo, I didn’t think so. Get a life!ʺ and stormed off. The rush I felt was incomparable to anything else. I felt strong – like I could take care of myself. And while they did continue to harass other girls, they kept their eyes off of me!

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

The obvious one is more police/security presence. People are always on their best behavior in front of uniforms. I think even training jobs like train station attendants or cashiers, public type positions, how to put a stop to harassment that they witness would do wonders. People are typically too embarrassed to get involved. What they don’t seem to realize is that by witnessing street harassment, they are involved already – by not saying anything, they are actually saying it’s okay.

Bryanna

Location: Clarksville, TN

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea