One time I went for a run and half way through it, a man on a bike decided to follow me. He slowed up behind and me and whistled and sped up to be beside me. He was telling me horrid things that I didn’t even try to remember. I told him to leave me alone and he wouldn’t.
He followed me for a whole city block. I took a sharp turn and crossed the street. I went up to two gardener workers and asked if they could call the police. The man was still following me. He was trying to cross the road, but it he had to go over a traffic island. He almost made it over, but he saw that I was pointing at him and trying to call the police. He darted away on his bike. I walked home.
He was making comments about my body and I was just trying to run and be fit…which is one of my favorite things to do. I stopped running outdoors. I stopped running because I don’t ever want to experience that again.
Another time I was on the bus. I was speaking on the phone as quietly as I could to my little sister because I wanted to be a respectful passenger. I don’t see her often and I was catching up with her. A man comes on the bus and sits in front of me. While he was taking his seat, he turned his head back to smile at me. I felt like this was not going to go well. He whipped his head back every now and then to smile at me, making me uncomfortable more and more. I asked my sister to check the bus times for me online, because I planned on transferring to another bus and she was telling me the times. The guy in front of me turns his head back and he is about to tell me something. I was annoyed at this point and angrily asked, “Can I help you?” He said he was going to tell me the bus times. I told him that he was making me uncomfortable every time he looked back to smile. He said he only did it once (not true). I told him it was creepy and he stood up so quickly and so close to me. I thought he was going to hurt me, but he shouted that I wasn’t attractive and went to the back of the bus. I didn’t take the bus again at all that week.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
Public ads that tell people not to street harass.
– L.L.C.
Location: Cicero and Forest Park, Chicago
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.
