Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“I’m not your babygirl!”

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It seems like the warm weather has brought these harassing-cretins out of hiding!

I was walking to pick up my lunch and I walk past this worker standing by a truck. This fool leans back on his truck and watches me walk! It was disgusting. He didn’t care that he was on the clock!

I decided to snap as many photos as possible—one of the “How’s my driving?” tracking number, one of his truck’s license plate, and another of him (and he actually posed for the photo—LOSER!).

And now that I know about the new YouTube channel, I decided to get a video of him as well.

The quality of the video’s not great and you can hear me more than you can hear him, but I pretty much tell him that what he did was tacky and that I was reporting him. He didn’t care! He said to go ahead and report him and he couldn’t stop smiling. Unbelievable. You can tell by my voice that I was incensed.

***

The second incident was after I picked up my lunch. I was heading back to work and this loser with three teeth in his mouth who was smoking a cigarette and walking his bike referred to me as “Babygirl” like it’s my damn name. When I told him “I’m not your babygirl!” he got aggressive.

“I don’t give a FUCK what your name is!” he snapped.
“And I don’t give a FUCK that you want to talk to me!” I snapped back.

I then decided to catch him on my cell phone with a video, and followed him as he continued to call me names and kept telling me to “go FUCK yourself! Fuck you, bitch!” People who watched this happening thought it was funny and laughed. Yeah, sure. It’s your entertainment but it’s my agony.

He then hops on his bike and rides off, with me yelling “Don’t worry, I got you on video!” Well, I had him on video. I pressed the “BACK” button on my phone instead of the “OK” button, which cancels the filming. So I erased that toothless harasser’s video, feeling completely stupid. The back-to-back harassment had me so riled up that I couldn’t think straight.

I’m shaking at my desk back at work as I type this, with no way to release the anger and stress I feel. (My co-workers are looking at me as if I’ve lost it. They don’t know what I constantly go through.)

I am tired of these men reducing me to an object to leer at. I’ve had it.

– Anonymous

Locations: Incident 1: Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC
Incident 2: Canal Street & Thomas Jefferson Street

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“My name is not ‘Dreads’!”

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Friday evening after work I decided to walk home. On the route home I bought a nice little cactus from a florist in Rosslyn.

On the street was a disheveled-looking guy. His hair was a mess and he had on a bright yellow shirt that looked covered in stains. He ignores everyone else but had to say “How ya doin’, baby?” to me. (Why me?) After what seemed to be a week free from any type of harassment or commentary, this annoyed me.

“I’m not your baby!” I snapped.

“Sorry, ‘Dreads’,” this loser then said, as if that were my name. I hate these men who reduce me to my hair and my body parts!

“My name is not ‘Dreads’!” I replied. “Leave women you don’t know alone! Don’t say a word to them!”

He mumbled something but I didn’t stop to find out what that was. I didn’t bother to take a photo either because I wasn’t in the mood. The nice weather somewhat kept me from losing it altogether, because if it didn’t I would’ve smashed that cactus in his ugly face!

– anonymous

Location: Wilson Blvd at N. Nash Street, Arlington, VA

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“Yet again. It never f***ing stops.”

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I was walking in the early evening in the east village of Manhattan, on an upscale, populated street. In my usual defensive street manner, I was walking quickly, I was not smiling, and I was not making eye contact with anyone on the street.

I passed a man who I didn’t look at and then heard from behind me, “Hey, you got a nice ass.” I stopped and turned around, I had  enough that day. This happens everyday, sometimes twice or three times a day. This comment was particularly rude and blatantly disrespectful, and I didn’t want to ignore it anymore.

I yelled at him and told him to shut up and that he was being disrespectful, he yelled at me and called me a bitch, saying “I got a right to like a big fat ass.”

I took the high road on the fat ass comment, and said, “Some women may have been sexually assaulted or raped, and they don’t like being talked to like that.” (I have been sexually assaulted).

He said, “All you gotta do is tell me that.”

Oh, so my preemptive opener for any man should be, “I’ve been assaulted, do not talk to me.”

Yes, I was upset and yelling at him, but I was trying to explain something too, that he could have learned something from. Clearly I had no effect on him whatsoever, since when I turned around and walked away, he said, “You still got a nice ass though.”

He had to have the last word, didn’t he. One more time to assert his power, knowing that I was visibly upset and could not turn around again.

Evey day [I am harassed]. Every single day without fail. I’m so tired of it. I don’t know what I can do. I feel totally helpless and unable to enjoy being outside. I am afraid when I see men coming toward me on the street. I am afraid they are going to touch me or speak to me. When they’re walking toward me I am saying to myself “please don’t look at me, please don’t say anything.” This is no way to live! I am worried about how this is really affecting me. Any advice on how to deal with this or what I can do would be appreciated.

– Amie B.

Location: East Village, NYC

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Penske Guy

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Image from Penske Truck Rental's website

This morning, it was beautiful outside when I went for a run: 65 degrees, 60% humidity, sunny, and there were trees blooming along the sidewalk. I was enjoying my run, deep in thought, when a guy in a Penske truck honked at me and, while driving, leaned out of the truck window, leering, and waving obnoxiously at me.

I’m not opposed to interactions with others while running. When I pass by other runners or walkers, unless I’m sprinting, I like saying hi, exchanging a “good job” or “nice day, huh?” But I don’t like being startled/distracted/disrespected by men honking and hollaring from passing vehicles. Oh and he was acting dangerously since he was distracted while driving.

– holly

Location: Reston Parkway, near Route 7, Reston, VA

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Three London Harassment Recollections

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#1: Bus stop on Tottenham Court Road near The Astoria, approx 3 a.m.: I was standing waiting for the bus with my friend when a couple of guys came over and shouted at us, “I’ve never seen a white girl before, I want you to sit on my face!” and did gross hand actions related to oral sex. So disgusting and offensive!

#2: Elephant & castle, approx 9 p.m. : I was walking from the bus stop to my house and it was dark and i had to walk through this deserted area as the only way to get home. A man followed me off the bus into this area and was harassing me for my number, which i refused to give so I kept walking. He followed me but i didn’t feel i could go home because then he would see where i lived, so i walked this really roundabout route until i eventually lost him and could run home. When i got home i kept looking out the window to see if he was there 🙁

#3: Topshop, Oxford Circus, middle of day: I was shopping on the main floor in Topshop on my own, looking at the jewelry when i felt this man sort of thrust into me from behind. Because it was so busy i thought he must just have been jostled and bumped into me by mistake, so i overlooked the fact he had also put his hands on my hips when he did it. So i walked away to another area and a few minutes later it happened again. So I decided to walk around topshop in the most erratic pattern ever to see if he was really following me and sure enough everywhere i went he was there lurking a few feet away. He must have ‘bumped’ me about 3 times at which point i just left. I didn’t feel I could even tell the security guard because i didn’t think they would believe me so i just left feeling really gross and somewhat confused. At the time i was still quite young & immature and didn’t know how to react – just sort of felt embarrassed and thought perhaps i was mistaken. If it happened now, I would turn around and start screaming in his face.

– anonymous

Location: London, UK

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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