Last night I was walking to Hollywood and Highland mall along Hollywood’s main strip. It was getting dark, but it wasn’t pitch black. A man walking towards me started to veer in my direction and I knew he was going to try to talk to me. He kept bothering me, asking me for my name and my IG, but I refused to give him said information and kept walking. He said that he was going to keep following me and even asked me if I thought he was crazy. I just did my best to ignore him, put in my headphones, and picked up my pace.
I walked about a block and a half when I looked over my shoulder and realized he was standing at the crosswalk with me. I didn’t panic but I did tell him to stop following me. He proceeded to say,”This is Hollywood… What do you expect?”
I’ve lived in Hollywood for a year. This isn’t the first time I’ve been followed; creepy, older men hit on me almost everyday. I’ve even been proposed to. However, this is the first time I’ve felt this unsafe. I actually still catch myself looking over my shoulder. I think the hardest part is, as a minority, my negative experiences will (more likely than not) be overlooked by on-goers, activists, and police alike. Is it because they assume that I want this attention? Or does my skin colour relegate me to a lesser need for security and safety? I don’t know.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
I think loitering laws should be a lot stricter in Hollywood. Grown men shouldn’t just be allowed to laze about on street corners for the sole purposes of passing time and “hollering” at women.
– JCH
Location: Hollywood, CA
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.
