I am 17 years old, and while I do not believe that what the victim was wearing matters, for the sake of information, I was wearing a black sundress with a white sweater. This morning, while walking to my law internship at my local courthouse, a man in a vehicle stopped at a red light on the street. He whistled sharply at me and waved his hand. This type of thing has happened more than once, and as a victim of physical sexual harassment in the past, things like this scare me beyond belief.
Out of shock that this type of thing would happen at 8 in the morning, I turned around (much to my mistake) to get a better look at the culprit. I couldn’t make him out, but I saw his waving hand gesture, and that was enough. I yelled obscenities, out of fear, and realized a pedestrian/man who was walking the OTHER way behind me began to turn around and walk towards me. I did not realize this as a threat initially, and since I was in public I just kept on walking towards work vigorously. The man behind me smiled at me creepily and entered work with me. I do not know what his intention was, but it creeps me out and scares me that catcalling enables other men to look at me as a sexual object.
Catcalling/ street harassment triggers other abusers to do the same. It’s repulsive and vile, and I am lucky that the situation did not escalate.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
Making the public aware about the dangers of street harassment, so that it is treated as a serious form of harassment. In many cases, street harassment is the first step in many serious issues, such as kidnapping and rape.
– MM
Location: Salem, OR
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea
