UPDATED: Here’s an article inspired by her story, “Five Reasons Why Street Harassment is Serious”
After weeks of trying various tactics for dealing with street harassers along her route to work (this included men purposely blocking her path), Poppy Smart took the matter to the police (see below). Now lots of people are saying she should get a thicker skin, change her route to work, and stop wasting police time. I shouldn’t be surprised by that reaction, but I am. She has the right to go to work without being intimidated by a GROUP of men (so brave of them, a whole lot of them against one of her) and if going to the police helps her feel safer, then why shouldn’t she?
If only the people who are complaining about her would actually talk to young men/men about this issue and speak out against the harassers instead of the victims, then maybe this wouldn’t happen in the first place.
Here’s what Poppy said happened (via BBC):
“Every day I’d walk past and they’d wolf whistle. They’d even come out of the building site to wolf whistle as I’d continue down the road.
“They blocked the pavement and I had to walk around them.”
Poppy told Newsbeat she tried to block out the cat calls.
“I started wearing sunglasses so I didn’t have to look at them. I started putting headphones on so I didn’t have to hear them.”
“Eventually it got to the day where I had enough.”
Poppy called the police and reported it.
“It made me feel really uncomfortable and the fact it went on for so long was the main reason I reported it.
“If it had just been an isolated incident – one, two, three, four times – maybe I could probably brush it off because these things happen and you have to kind of accept these people’s ignorance.”
Poppy says she spoke to the owner of the building site. “He just sort of apologised. He obviously can’t control all of his staff all of the time and I appreciated that.
“I just wanted them to realise it is offensive and I wanted it to stop.”
Good for her. Stop Street Harassment supports her in her quest to get to work safely, without facing harassment!
