The first incident that truly left me shaken and uncomfortable happened when I was walking down a path in the middle of the day. A man significantly older than me stopped his bike and said, “Excuse me.”
I took the time out of my day to say hello because I assumed he wanted to ask for directions but he proceeded to ask me to come closer because he wanted to “chat” to me and “talk” to me. Immediately I said no and walked away whilst looking over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being followed by him or worse.
To some ignorant people this may seem to be an overreaction to someone asking for a chat but he did not want an innocent conversation and the fact that this man believed he had the right to ask a young girl to do something I was uncomfortable with is inappropriate and wrong.
– Anonymous
Location: UK
Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910
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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.
