Every time I walked past a construction site near my house, one of the workers would whistle or yell something out at me. One of them got pissed off when I ignored him. I ended up having to walk the long way around to avoid having to go past the site.

– Anonymous

Location: Corner of Brunswick Road and Lygon Street, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia

Share your street harassment story for the blog.

I live in Barbados and traveled through the Caribbean with a friend. Everywhere we went, catcalls, whistling, and lewd comments followed us. We tried not to let it bother us but after two weeks of this, I’d had enough.

Upon returning to Barbados, when we were on our way to a bar, a group of men stood near a corner. One of them leered “hey babes, which one of you is the nice one?”. We ignored him. On our way back, two hours later, the same man once again said “so which one of you is the nice one?”.

I don’t know what part made me angriest. That he assumed that my friend and I were either desperate or skanky enough to be picked up off the street. That he didn’t even bother using a new degenerate comment. That he had the audacity to think we would be anything but disgusted.

At that moment I did something that I had never, ever done before. I screamed, “PISS OFF!” at him. His response was to be outraged at my reaction and calling me a “bitch”.

I am a calm person who doesn’t seek open confrontation. That someone as lecherous and unworthy as this man could make me act so out of my character makes me sad.

Something like this happens daily in Barbados (and in the Caribbean in general).

– Anonymous

Location: Barbados

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I have been living in Brussels for over five years. I initially moved there because the university I attended was situated there. After I got my degree, I decided to stay because it was close to work and I liked the atmosphere. I have always loved Brussels but this started to change around two years ago.

Brussels is dealing with a lot of immigrants from North-Africa that are unemployed and spend their days outside on the street or in tearooms. My story has nothing to do with racism, but rather with a misogynistic mentality and a country in crisis that doesn’t want to deal with it’s problems. For a lot of women like myself, it’s almost impossible to walk the streets alone, unless she enjoys men following her in little groups, whispering degrading things in her ear, being spit on when she talks back, or how about the casual push on the tram or subway and last but not least being called a slut or a whore on a daily basis.

This no joke. It has come to a point where I’m afraid to walk around by myself, I don’t even want to do my grocery shopping alone, I feel trapped in my own apartment because from the moment you open that front door the name calling begins.

I catch myself spending a lot of time deciding what to wear the next day so they wouldn’t notice me. Not only is it sad that I have to adjust my outfit because they can’t handle the view of a female body but a lot of the time It doesn’t even matter!!! You can wear a potato bag and still get comments. It’s an awful feeling that you can’t wear what you want because you’re afraid you might be harassed. I always wear long, wide coats so they can hardly tell how my figure looks like, even in summer I’m afraid to wear a t-shirt that isn’t long enough to cover my bottom. Since I have long hair, I try to put my hair up so I don’t draw to much attention. You’re probably thinking that I think of myself as the most attractive girl that walks the streets of Brussels and that I have to cover up in order to protect myself. I’m afraid to tell you that for a lot of women here this is daily reality.

Last week I was obligated to take the bus home. I was waiting at the bus stop when three guys in car suddenly stopped beside me. One of the guys started yelling obscenities at me like, “Why don’t you get in the car and I’ll show you a good time at my place.”

I eventually ignored it, but soon the insults started to be thrown around. When I told him to go **** himself, he yelled at me for being a filthy whore, that he was gonna beat the hell out of me the next time he crosses me. At that point, the bus arrived and I quickly got on.

Situations like this happens on a weekly basis. Being called a whore or a slut, is already part of my daily walk to work. What bothers me is that no one ever helps or stands up for you. No woman deserves to be treated this way.

I don’t know what to do and I’m counting the days until I can move away from this sick and offensive place.

Thank you for reading,

– Anonymous

Location: Brussels, Belgium

I’m a 14 year old female. Summer is around the corner and the weather is perfect, I’m already out and about riding my bike, taking my dog for walk’s and hanging out with friends outdoors. But this is the first time ever in my life where I’ve felt fear and intimidation at the thought of going outside. You see, for the past month I have been a victim of street harassment.

One day I was walking to a local restaurant to meet up with some friends. I wore jean shorts and a muscle tank because it was scorching hot outside. On my way there, younger and middle aged men passed me in their vehicles about 7 of them whistled at me and made me feel uncomfortable by saying disrespectful comments such as “Hey hottie” or “What a babe!” or “Damn look at that a**!” In case you are not aware, these words can make someone feel very intimidated, frustrated, fearful, uncomfortable, worthless and small.

When they said these things I felt a bolt of helplessness run through me. I felt targeted and like I had no voice. Street harassment is wrong. No one should have to experience such disrespect regardless of how they look or what they wear. Street harassment can happen to anyone and be done by anyone. In result of my experience that has happened repeatedly in the past month I’ve grown an insecurity of walking or biking alone. I’ve grown a fear of being intimidated by others in public. I got scared of being a victim. I stopped going outside. My parents were concerned why I had stopped going out as much as I used to.

How did I regain my confidence and deal with the situation? First off, I decided I wouldn’t let some fear take over my life. I had to face my fears. I started walking and biking outside again, I held my head high and I ignored the bullies that tried to sexually harass me.

I paid no attention to them and I did not respond, they were not worth my attention or time. I didn’t let their words get to me. Pretty soon, I had all my confidence back and I was my old self again. It’s only if you focus on something that it becomes more and more apparent in your life. If you need to address the situation verbally then do it, you need to make a clear message that you will not tolerate being victim of street harassment.

Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?

Don’t stand for sexual harassment. Take control of the situation and keep moving forward. You deserve respect and you deserve to be treated fairly. You are not an OBJECT to be glorified, you are not EYE CANDY for pleasure, you are not a PIECE OF MEAT to be used. You are a human being who should not be publicly shamed based on gender. Most of important of all, never let someone blame you for their repulsive actions ex. “It’s not my fault I whistled and called her that, she was wearing that slutty skirt!”

That is the equivalent of saying, “It’s not my fault I raped her, she was asking for it by wearing that tight dress!”

– Anonymous

Location: Camrose, Alberta