One day I sat down on the metro bus near a man and a few of his friends, it was one of the last places left to sit. As I sat down he asks me, “hey pretty baby, how are you doing?” I was 15 at the time and did not know how to confidently respond, so that he would leave me alone. I mumbled something about being fine, but not being a “pretty baby.”
Rather than taking my insecure clue, and leaving me alone, he proceeded to question me. Baby why aren’t you smiling? Where do you go to school? How old are you? I responded to this question of age, hoping that if he heard how young I was he would understand that he should leave me alone. This was not the outcome. Instead he responded with something along the lines of, “Damn, baby, you aren’t even legal! (Referring to the idea that you cannot legally consent to sex with someone over the age of eighteen until you are sixteen).”
I was appalled, and intimidated by this man, and the fact that his friends only encouraged him with their “Damns!” and “Oohs!” and laughs did not help the situation. I left the bus that day feeling violated, not because this man harmed me physically, but because his words undermined my personal confidence, as well as taking away a place I had always felt safe.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
By teaching bystander intervention, as well as showing community members the direct consequences that street harassment has.
– Ellie M
Location: The Metro Bus
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.
