Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

I got 200

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Walking to my job one day I noticed a man masturbating to me walking down the street — he was in the passenger seat of a white van.

Coming home from a club late at night (into early morning) I was on the train heading home and a man sat next to me — too close — and eventually whispered into my ear, “I got 200.” I didn’t know what he was talking about at first, then it dawned on me that he was soliciting me. I felt weird but still the train had other people on it so I just said, loud enough for others to hear, “I’m not a prostitute, dude,” and the guy slinked off.

Those are two of the worst times.

– anonymous

Location: Chicago, IL

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Freaked Out by an Elderly Woman

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I’m not sure if my story is particularly relevant, but I think it’s an example of how pervasive fear is in our lives.

I live in a European capital city where I almost never experience harassment. (Not speaking the native language also probably helps though, since I’d never know if I was being yelled at or not.)

I was getting on a public bus last week, trying to fight the crowd, when I felt someone put BOTH hands around my waist! Because I used to experience so much public harassment in the United States, I was incredibly freaked out and spun around scowling, ready to fight back against whatever strange man was touching me. Imagine my surprise when I turned to see an elderly woman smiling back at me a bit apologetically, struggling to keep her balance as the bus lurched forward. I could hardly be angry, but she’d absolutely terrified me! She didn’t seem to have any awareness about how her actions had affected me, and since I didn’t want to try speaking through our language barrier, I just sort of stared at her. She got off the bus one stop later. It was the only time a person has purposefully touched me in public in the year I’ve lived here. What a bizarre coincidence.

– anonymous

Location: European Capital City

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Morning Vulgarity

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I get sexually harassed on a daily basis in DC, so for me to post here regularly would get laborious. But I recently had one of the worst episodes so far, and I thought it was worth sharing:

It was about 10 am, and I went to my porch to wait for the plumber. I was standing in my doorway in casual board shorts and a generic tank top, hair back. Basically my grubby pajamas.

There was a lot of traffic on my street (P & 10th NW), so cars were haulted. I noticed a man in a van was trying to get my attention by motionining with his hand that I should come toward him. With the other hand, however, he was making a “V” with his fingers, and very specifically using his tongue to graphically immitate vaginal oral sex. I was in such shock and so horrified that all I could do was stare in disgust rather than simply walking away like I usually do. Moments later, he changed the “V” hand to a fist, and started bobbing his head up and down over it, imitating a blow job, all the while using the other hand to motion me over toward him.

Because I had just filed a police report the night before about someone that sent me a text message of their erection, I was feeling particularly vulnerable and intolerant, so I screamed “Do you want me to call the cops, @sshole?”

–To which he laughed and screamed back, “No, I want your p*ssy!” before driving off.

I know people say we should just let these experiences roll off our backs, but when they happen day in and day out, and you are a female alone in the city when they happen, it really wears on you. I was so disgusted, and felt so violated that I simply broke down crying in frustration.

It is truly exhausting how often I experience this type of thing.

– anonymous

Location: Washington, DC

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Creepy Driver

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I was walking from my house to the Potomac Avenue Metro station in DC on a hot Saturday afternoon, unusually dressed up (for me) in shorts and a cute tank top to meet up with friends at a small party. A guy driving a silver SUV said something to me along the lines of “hey, you’re looking fine.” Inappropriate compliment by total stranger, bleh. But then, he kept driving extremely slowly and kept talking to me. At first, I think I just glanced at him and kept walking, I didn’t say anything.

When he kept creeping along beside me, I started to get nervous. I was near my trusted corner dry cleaners, and abruptly turned and went inside the cleaners. I told the lady there what was going on, and just chatted for a few minutes. I waited until I saw the creepy guy in the silver SUV finally drive away before going back out to the sidewalk. I shouldn’t have to duck inside off the sidewalk or feel afraid to get a little dressed up because of creepy guys harassing me, but this episode reminded me why I don’t even try to look cute more often. And it’s always worse in the summer when wearing a skirt or shorts or (gasp!) exposing arms or shoulders.

-anonymous

Location: Washington, DC

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Street Harassment in Portland, Oregon

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I am 17 and live in Portland, Oregon, a supposedly liberal city, but the street harrassment is constant. On a weekly basis I deal with the prolonged, creepy stares of men who are obviously twice my age. This isn’t a 5 second look over, this is a fifteen minute intense, no blinking, staring right at my chest for a 15 minute bus ride kind of staring. Every couple of weeks a man will do something suggestive along with the creepy stare. They act surprised when I don’t like it! The city train is also a terrible place to be. At one point a group of four teenage boys had an animated discussion about my breasts while standing about two feet away from me. I asked them to stop and they laughed and continued.

This sort of attention really bothers me, but it’s not the worst thing. Last summer I had just gotten my driver license. I was at a local city library, somewhere I had always felt quite safe. I checked out my books, walked through the parking lot, got in my car, locked the door and was just about to leave when this stranger walked up to my car and knocked on my window. So I roll down my window a couple of centimeters so I could hear what he was trying to say. He told me he had seen me in the library and wanted to go out. Again, he was probably twice my age. I was obviously much younger. I said no, rolled up my window, and drove away very shaken.

Street harassment is always annoying and frequently scary. I try not to let it limit where I go and what I do but it does. There are certain places I will not walk alone, I always sit as close to the bus driver as I can, and I avoid trains completely. I don’t think the clothes one wears matter much, but I avoid wearing tight shirts or tank tops if I’m going somewhere alone because I feel more visible and vulnerable. I wear shoes I know I can run in. I see guys on the street and think about where I can go if the comments get unbearable. It’s exhausting to be anywhere in public long because I have to be hyper-aware to avoid what potentially dangerous situations.

– I.

Location: Portland, Oregon

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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