I have been barked at while walking down the street with my husband, yelled at from cars “Nice labia!”, laughed at by teens who claimed I was a man (they were seated at the table next to me in a fast food restaurant). I have had people direct gender-speculative comments at me on the street, in a restaurant while I was out with my family for Mother’s day, in front of my apartment building, in the hallway of my apartment building, at bars…bars are the worst. I have had my path blocked by a man in a van who propositioned me for sex and have been told to smile by complete strangers.
Optional: Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?
I always chose to ignore street harassment. Except for the harassers in the restaurant on Mother’s Day. Those men were sitting at a long table with several women and the owner of the restaurant, whom I knew from years back while working for the company. I didn’t have the nerve to confront them at the time, but instead wrote an anonymous letter to the restaurant owner detailing the harassment and how I had decided to share the burden of their unkind behavior. In the future I will meet it head on because harassers get pleasure out of soliciting discomfort and silence. In fact I now see silence as involuntary agreement that deeply affects your emotional well-being.
– Anonymous
Location: Where hasn’t it happened?
