Archives for July 2016

I am a 51 year old woman and last week a young (I’d say early twenties) man started talking to me at a crowded transit stop in broad daylight during the afternoon rush hour. I am actually getting used to the invisibility of middle-aged womanhood so I was surprised that this happened to me – it has been a while. He had been talking to some other women when I walked up but the women were speaking Spanish so I suspect that they did not reply to him.

After engaging in an innocuous conversation about when the next bus was expected and the weather (it was very hot) he asked me if hot humid weather makes me horny and shared that it made him horny all day. I didn’t have a clue how to respond but wanted to end any conversation and looked in the opposite direction, but he kept talking (to the back of my head) about sweaty sex. Ugh.

Optional: Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general

I think men need to know that women find it aggressive and threatening and not at all complimentary or attractive. My husband would never do something like this, so he assumes that most other men don’t/won’t. I have also made sure that my teenage son understands a woman’s perspective on this – I wish more wives/girlfriends/mothers would share their thoughts with the men they live with.

– CD

Location: Downtown Toronto (Chinatown)

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

It was midday of a summer day. I was standing with tens of other university students. We were all crowding around the board which held our final exam results. It was supposed to be a happy day for me, I got straight A’s and topped my class. Instead someone groped me seconds after I saw my results.

Happiness was replaced with confusion then fear, shame and guilt. I just pushed my way out of the crowd. I didn’t scream or even look back to see the guy’s face. I remember he laughed when I pushed him away and I am sure he went on to grope other girls in the same crowd.

Optional: Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general

Raise awareness. Make more people understand that harassment is not a compliment, how scary it can feel and that they should stop blaming the victims or saying things like, “She shouldn’t dress like that” , “She shouldn’t go there alone”.. etc. Because even if harassers don’t stop, at least the victims would not be too afraid to speak up and get support, specially young teenage victims.

– Anonymous

Location: University of Khartoum central campus, Khartoum, Sudan

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

This has happened twice this week. Mere yards from my home, while I was walking down the sidewalk, people in their cars (all of them men) have wolf-whistled or catcalled at me, yelling rude things. In some cases, I wasn’t even 50 feet from the edge of my property. I feel unsafe in my own neighborhood every time it happens; like I can’t leave my apartment to go walk to the store without being bothered. It’s violating, it’s rude, and it leaves me angry and on the verge of tears. I deserve far more respect than this.

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

I’m not sure at this point, other than finding a way to make these scumbags picture that their mother/father/priest/etc. is there watching them do it.

–  SS

Location: Westminster, CO, USA

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas.