Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“Hey, lady, why don’t you smile?”

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I’m walking home from work. There’s a lot on my mind: my job, midterms, term papers. I just want to get home.

“Hey, lady!”

I barely even notice it at first. I’m in the middle of a college campus at night; you hear jeers like that so much it becomes normal. I wonder whether I have anything left at home to make for dinner.

“Hey, lady, why don’t you smile?”

This time I glance around. The voice is from a tall guy sitting on the student union steps, surrounded by his buddies. Of course to me almost all guys are tall: I’m barely over five feet.

“You, yeah, lady in the blue! Smile!”

My lips twitch, but nervously. I’m wearing blue. I avoid eye contact and walk faster.

“LA-DY. Walking in front of the LSU Student Union! Come on, can’t you smile?”

By then they’re already behind me, so they couldn’t see even if I did smile. My eyes are locked to the ground in front of me, my heart racing. Between here and my apartment there are two badly-lit stretches and one parking lot that’s always empty. What if these guys decide to follow me?

“Fine, I bet you just want to be sad!”

The voice keeps shouting at me until I reach the street. For all I know he’s still going on and I just can’t hear it. Or maybe they decided to get up and follow. I can’t bring myself to look back. If I look back they’ll know they got my attention. That’s the last thing I want.

The empty stretches back to my apartment seem twice as long as usual. Even after I check to make sure there’s no one following me, it feels like I’m being watched. It takes all the control I have not to slam the apartment door behind me and wake up my roommates.

Yeah, I really feel like smiling. Asshole.

– Anonymous

Location: LSU, Baton Rouge, LA

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“3 men approached me trying to touch my face and kept asking me to come with them”

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I’m a 16 year old girl, living in Brussels (parents moved from US to work here). I’ve recently stopped hanging out with my friends at the mall or the city shopping street, because of the looks, catcalling and remarks my friends and I get. My friends and I do not dress provocatively, but we do wear sun-dresses and shorts in summer, which we should be able to do, without being shouted at.

I really hate this behavior. A few weeks ago I was waiting for my friends outside a cinema (It hadn’t opened yet, I was 10 minutes early), It was 2 P.M, and around me were couples, groups of friends, families etc. Yet, 3 men still approached me trying to touch my face and kept asking me to come with them, and tried to pressure me into going into their car with them. I got so scared, I ran away and called my parents to pick me up.

Since that experience I don’t go anywhere without my mom or dad. This has really had a bad affect on me, I wish the sexual street harassment would stop. What is disgusting is when they do it to underage girls as well. I know 13 year old girls who are touched by strangers. It makes me sick.

Some people say it is flattering that men find them “hot”, but it makes me feel even more worthless and empty, as if the only reason I exist is to be looked at for being female.

– A.R.

Location: Brussels, Belgium

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“This shouldn’t happen to anyone”

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I was walking home from the library and an SUV full of guys followed me and howled at me.

I get mistaken for a woman all the time. This shouldn’t happen to anyone.

– EQ Guy

Location: One block from home

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Street harassers crush her dreams of loving to live in the city

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I was at a stop waiting for public transportation to go home. I was new to the city, so walking alone wasn’t a big deal yet. As I was walking towards the platform from the mall, a few 40 year old or so men were standing in the corner, waiting for the same light rail. One of them shouted saying, “You know you’re hot. You know you are. I’d like to take you home and tear you up,” and the others laughed.

I did nothing but ignore, and feel my eyes start to swell. It just so happens that on my way home on the same evening, just ten minutes after that incident, I caught an even older man staring at me. I tried to ignore it, but when his stop came he looked at me and stated so everyone could hear, “You’re so beautiful you look like a model.”

I am from a small town, and could feel comfortable going to the mall in the evening. I am only 19 and I moved away from the city because of how frequent I would be bothered walking in the street. My dream since I was a little girl was to love living in the city.

– E

Location: Lloyd Center Mall Portland, Oregon

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“I want to throw that bitch on the ground right here and fuck her up”

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Trigger Warning!

I was riding the Red Line in Chicago when two drunk men got on. You could tell they were both drunk and high. One had an alcoholic drink in his hand, and they both had joints behind an ear.

They started swearing and talking about the woman on the train. The said some really vulgar things. They pointed to me and talked said, “I want to throw that bitch on the ground right here and fuck her up. Teach her her place. I’ll nail her right here. Look at her sitting there like she is better than us. I’ll fuck her up.”

They said the things along the same line about several females on the train. Several times when females would exit the train (the men where standing by the doors) they would grab they woman’s but or breasts. I did notice they were armed. It really shook me up.

– Anonymous

Location: Chicago, IL. CTA Red Line

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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