I was walking home at night with my friend after seeing a movie and we passed two boys on the opposite side of the street. For reasons known only to them, they felt it was ok to scream across the street at us and make many derogatory comments regarding my appearance and body. The comments were extremely hurtful and whilst I didn’t feel like I was in danger, I was very upset afterwards and enraged.

I wanted to respond at the time that it happened, to get angry but because it was night-time I didn’t for fear that the situation would escalate. I wish the comments they made about me being ugly didn’t bother me, but they do. That’s why I’m sharing this story, because I am sick of feeling like shit because of catcalling.

– J

Location: Albury, NSW, Australia

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

One time I went for a run and half way through it, a man on a bike decided to follow me. He slowed up behind and me and whistled and sped up to be beside me. He was telling me horrid things that I didn’t even try to remember. I told him to leave me alone and he wouldn’t.

He followed me for a whole city block. I took a sharp turn and crossed the street. I went up to two gardener workers and asked if they could call the police. The man was still following me. He was trying to cross the road, but it he had to go over a traffic island. He almost made it over, but he saw that I was pointing at him and trying to call the police. He darted away on his bike. I walked home.

He was making comments about my body and I was just trying to run and be fit…which is one of my favorite things to do. I stopped running outdoors. I stopped running because I don’t ever want to experience that again.

Another time I was on the bus. I was speaking on the phone as quietly as I could to my little sister because I wanted to be a respectful passenger. I don’t see her often and I was catching up with her. A man comes on the bus and sits in front of me. While he was taking his seat, he turned his head back to smile at me. I felt like this was not going to go well. He whipped his head back every now and then to smile at me, making me uncomfortable more and more. I asked my sister to check the bus times for me online, because I planned on transferring to another bus and she was telling me the times. The guy in front of me turns his head back and he is about to tell me something. I was annoyed at this point and angrily asked, “Can I help you?” He said he was going to tell me the bus times. I told him that he was making me uncomfortable every time he looked back to smile. He said he only did it once (not true). I told him it was creepy and he stood up so quickly and so close to me. I thought he was going to hurt me, but he shouted that I wasn’t attractive and went to the back of the bus. I didn’t take the bus again at all that week.

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

Public ads that tell people not to street harass.

– L.L.C.

Location: Cicero and Forest Park, Chicago

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

I was 14 years old and I was at my local library. It was a hot day so I had a short t-shirt on and leggings, but you couldn’t see my butt or my boobs. I was just sitting there, reading a book when two teenage boys (maybe 17-18 years old) approached me and started to have a conversation with me. At first it was basic questions, if i had a boyfriend, how old I was, etc. I felt already really uncomfortable and after a time I didn’t respond them anymore and just ignored them.

They got angry then, started to yell at me that I was a bitch, that I surely had a nice pussy and that they would f*ck me on the bathroom floor. It was terrible. I couldn’t answer, I was so scared they would actually hurt me. Luckily the librarian noticed what was going on and sent them away. I don’t know what would have happened otherwise. Still, I left the library feeling dirty and scared.

– S.P.

Location: Local library

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

Once when I was going to college in the morning a group of men at a tea shop near my house started loudly commenting on my attire in an obscene way. I get catcalled very frequently on deserted roads. In the metro once I was standing near the door since the ladies’ compartment area was full. A man came near me and tried to touch my breast as I clung to the steel bars.

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

Frequent police patrolling, CCTV cameras wherever possible

– LG

Location: A tea shop near my house

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

I was waiting in the early evening for a bus into Boston to meet friends and a man sitting on the bench, smoking, asked if I wanted to sit down. I smiled and said no, thank you. He asked if I was a snob or something. I thought he was rude, but explained I have asthma and being close to smoke can trigger an attack. I then put in my headphones, to try to end the conversation.

He tried asking me which bus I was waiting for and I acted like I didn’t hear him. After a few minutes, he got up, walked over and pulled one of my earbuds out. I stepped back, but after a few minutes, answered his question. He then started asking where I was going in Boston. I lied and said my friends hadn’t decided yet. He asked me for my number and I said I couldn’t give him mine, but I would take his.

He was already aggressive and invading my space, or I wouldn’t have tried to placate him by taking his number, but he became furious when I wouldn’t call him immediately. He was shaking and red faced, spitting in my face as he yelled. Fortunately someone else came to the stop at this time and he backed away a little. He continued asking me questions, like where I lived, where I was going and called me a f*ing bitch when I wouldn’t answer.

Just then the bus pulled up and I ran to get on. He ran after me and grabbed the back of my dress and my shoulder. I almost fell, which helped me break free and I jumped on the bus, ran past the driver, while trying to open my mace. The bus driver immediately stepped between us and told him he needed to pay or get off the bus. He stood there calling me names and trying to push past the driver, who then started to radio for assistance.

When he heard the cops were coming, he got off the bus and walked away, making gestures at me and screaming. I was so incredibly grateful for that driver’s actions and  said so.

If he and the other person waiting hadn’t been there, things may have gone differently. The hardest part was I spent weeks trying to figure out what I could have done differently. What if I just ignored him from the beginning? Would that have made him escalate sooner? Should I have walked to a different stop? What if he followed? I go through incidents like this often when waiting for/on the mbta, walking home from the grocery store, etcetera, but the fact that he was physically violent in front of other people made it much worse.

– TL

Location: 556 mbta bus line, Waltham and Newton, MA to Boston, MA.

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