I was looking at a house as part of my job. As I walked out of the house a man from the neighborhood stopped to talk to me. I was polite but made it clear I had work to do. After a few minutes he left. I walked around the outside of the building to take some pictures and when I got back to the front he was walking past again. He said it was nice talking and then says, “You’re so sexy.”

I ignored him and took a few more photos. I looked back before going back to lock the house and when I did he was staring me down! I was supposed to wait for my boss to show up but I left thinking I was better safe than sorry. I explained to my boss that I had encountered the strange man, but I think he was still disappointed that I had left before he got there. The rest of the afternoon I felt nauseous and it was hard to concentrate on my work.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

We need to educate young men to be respectful to women. Women also need to share the effects of these encounters. Saying it happened isn’t enough. Explaining the physical, mental, and emotional side effects makes it more real.

– Anonymous

Location: La Crosse, WI

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

It was a summer evening in Elmont, New York. It was about 7:30 p.m. and I had gone down the block from my house to grab a few snacks. I was wearing black sneakers, grey leggings and a white t-shirt. After shopping at my local Rite Aid, I was walking home through the parking lot. An older man who was walking near me stopped and began leering at me and saying, “Ohhh, look at all that sweetness.”

I turned around to look at him and I shook my head indicating that it was not appropriate for him to be leering at me. I began walking off. Next thing I know, a car pulls up alongside me, the man was now in the driver’s seat with another man in the passenger seat. He rolls down the window and says…

“Hey don’t be like that, I was complimenting you – I was telling you how sweet all of you is.”

I usually will walk away from this, but today I had had enough. I stopped and said, “Excuse me?”

He then began to repeat himself before I jumped in and begin telling him how inappropriate his words were. I told him that no matter what he said it is not okay for him to make a woman in the street feel incredibly uncomfortable. I told him how disrespected I felt and that he has no right to leer at me in that manner.

“Look at what you’re wearing,” he said. “I can say whatever I want because you’re dressed like that.”

I became furious! I was speechless. I wish I had been able to film what he had said in that moment. I continued ranting about how disgraceful that was until I found myself walking away in a fury. Then another car nearby slowed down and two men shouted, “Baby, what is wrong? Is he trying to get your number?” as they laughed and jeered.

I felt so completely miserable. I was nothing but a source of entertainment, a sexualized object with no value, no voice. It astonishes me that I cannot walk to my local store without being harassed like that.

I experience daily catcalling and harassment, but it has come to a point where this is becoming a real problem and is affecting my anxiety. I cannot continue to feel unsafe in public places.

– KA

Location: Elmont, New York

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

I was walking down the street with my little sister and mother in front of me and a group of teenage boys passed next to me walking in the opposite direction. They were making noises to attract my attention but I looked down and actually, I didn’t even noticed their presence until one of the boys almost rubbed himself against me when passing and stroked my cheek. I was shocked and angry. I didn’t even know how to react.

That wasn’t my first time experiencing street harassment. I am quite used of it. I’ve already been stalked, followed, called names, but that was the first time someone had actually touched me without my consent. Normally I don’t pay attention to those behaviors but this time it was different. I realized that this wasn’t normal. Like my body isn’t a public area and these kinds of thing shouldn’t happen. I shouldn’t go out and worry about street harassment. Because street harassment isn’t normal and shouldn’t happen!!

I was really shocked and angry as I said, but this made me realize that people shouldn’t be afraid to talk about things like street harassment or whatever makes them uncomfortable!! That we should also stand for our rights and help create a world where we could walk wherever we want without suffering from street harassment!

So in the end I’m glad I’ve realized all this and I hope this story will help others to express themselves.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

I think we should continue to raise awareness and encourage women and men to speak their mind.

– Khooshalee

Location: Port-Louis/Port-Louis/Mauritius

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

I was walking through an unfamiliar, mildly questionable neighborhood. A man on a bicycle with sunglasses said hello to me. I replied by saying good morning politely, and continued walking. Several blocks later, I looked backward and saw the same man pedaling leisurely beside me. We were the only people on the street, and I was becoming rapidly very uncomfortable.

Knowing that I was only a few blocks from a well-peopled place market, I started speed-walking. He mockingly asked why I was running and where I was rushing to. To which I replied curtly, “The farmer’s market.” He inquired as to whether that was really where I had been going, then asked what I was going for. After I answered that I was going to buy fruits and vegetables, he emphasized that I must be going to buy “exotic” produce and that I looked like a “nice girl” (I am Asian American).

At this point I had reached the farmer’s market and began looking at plums and mangoes pointedly, trying not to look up in case he was still following me. I walked a block farther, checking to make sure he hadn’t tailed me. Thankfully, he hadn’t. I had left that morning to go grocery shopping, so I did that, but I took a circuitous route there to make sure he wasn’t waiting for me somewhere. Even after I got home, I felt rattled.

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

I’d love to say that women being harassed should either take the high ground and explain why street harassment is hurtful and violent, but I know that confronting harassers can be terrifying. Ignoring comments, trying to end conversations politely, and entering highly public places seem to be the best strategies I have found.

– JC

Location: Gillespie District, Sarasota, FL

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.