Street harassment has certainly not stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some stories shared online in the last day:
Via @cutecatcalls:
Last Friday as I went out to buy some groceries I was insulted by a man calling me a slut (connasse in French). A few minutes later two men cat-called me and wouldn’t stop looking at me as I was trying to go back home.
It may not seem so bad but honesty I’m so tired of being afraid every time I go out. I’m so tired of not saying anything because I don’t know how they would react.”
“Journalist Micha Frazer-Carroll, 25, based in Hackney, London, has endured this and says it’s “especially jarring” in the current climate, considering going outside can already feel intimidating.
“I spend a lot of my day alone, and when I do go outside, I’m already on red alert about the danger of germs,” she tells HuffPost UK. “Throw being heckled, catcalled or followed by men into the mix, and it makes me feel that bit more scared about going outside at all.”
On our Facebook Page, two women shared this:
Zara in London, “I’ve been out just three times in the past three weeks, all during the day just to my local supermarket and I’ve been harassed every single time.“
Erin in San Francisco, USA, “Honestly it’s been much worse than before, because of much less foot traffic I get harassed constantly on my way to the store and back home. They have been more persistent as well since there aren’t a lot of women walking out anymore.“
This is not okay! No one should ever have to deal with street harassment, but add it on top of a very stressful, scary pandemic, and it’s just TOO MUCH. Street harassment needs to end!!!
Do you have a story about street harassment during the global COVID-19 pandemic? Share it here and we’ll post it for International Anti-Street Harassment Week, April 19-25.