This was one of the scariest street harassment experience that I’ve ever dealt with — I was in high school at the time. I was running late for school one morning and had to walk a few blocks to school from the metro bus stop. Well as I was walking, a car slowed up beside me. There were about 5 young guys in the car. They kept yelling out trying to get my attention. I told them I had a boyfriend. They didn’t care. I tried ignoring them, hoping they would just leave. The harassment continued for about a block. I wanted to just hurry up and get inside the school.

Suddenly I heard the car stop. And the door opened. I saw one of the guys step out angrily. I started walking faster and he caught up with me and grabbed my arm really hard and forced me to turn around. I was terrified. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me. He said something like, “You ain’t going to just keep walking away like you don’t hear us.”

I told him I had to get to school and pulled away from him and ran the rest of the way to school. I never looked back. I felt so helpless. I’m a pretty vocal and tough girl, but I felt like I had no voice. Like I had to tell him what he wanted to hear as to not provoke him to hurt me. I wanted to say, “Get the hell away from me and get your filthy hands off of me!!! I don’t want to talk to you!”

But instead I had to tell them that I was someone’s girlfriend in hopes that they would at least respect him because it was obvious that they didn’t respect me.

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

I think more women should report these crimes and if possible record the harassers. The police should take it serious too. We are taught to feel that this is a normal part of being a woman. And this is not normal at all. We are victimized for going about our daily life activities.

– RJ

Location: 4TH Street, SE, Washington, DC. In front of Ballou High School

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

I commute to work, and there is not a single trip to Penn Station that I do not experience seeing harassment. Usually a man will whistle at me or another woman or stroll suggestively in her path or even say something. So many of us need to commute. I try to arrive at the station just a few minutes before the train leaves, when it is on the tracks and I can board, or I buy coffee and sit in a coffeeshop to avoid standing around waiting for the train.

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

A few times I have pointed my phone at a harasser and each time he completely changed his manner. Usually I try to look like an ordinary person, but as I get older I realize that for some men a woman is never an ordinary person. So I don’t know.

Location: Penn Station, NYC

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

I get verbal abuse from strangers on a weekly basis, not just on the street but also in the supermarket while I’m doing my weekly shopping.

Why?

Because i have pink hair! What a pathetic reason to abuse someone! There are two types of people who do this: 1. The people coming up and saying they hate my hair, or just simply laughing and pointing and 2. The men who ask me, “Does the carpet match the curtains?” or comments about how i must be kinky in bed.

I’ve also had people come up and touch my hair without warning. I’m not going to change my hair colour because i like it and also the advantage is that with people behaving like this, i can weed out the people i don’t want to associate with very easily! They make it easier for me to identify who is an ******* without me even having to spend any time on them 🙂

– Anonymous

Location: Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham, Coventry, UK. On the street, in shops/supermarkets

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

Lately the weather in California has been very hot so of course I wouldn’t go out of the house in a wool sweater. Instead I went out in a tank top. As soon as school was over, I immediately walked home so I could quickly get back to my cool home. I was a block away from my home where I see two young teens. They were already looking at me and I got a very uneasy feeling. I took out my phone and called my sister who was already home. While the phone was ringing I could hear the to boys trying to get my attention. One seemed to be laughing while the other tried to call me over as if I were a dog. My sister eventually answered and I asked her to come out of the house because I was being harassed. She hung up the phone and from a distance I saw her waiting for me at the front door.

I could still hear the boy yelling at me. Only this time he began to say, “Hey bitch!” over and over just because I wouldn’t turn and look at him. I felt so disgusted and angry. I tried to calm myself down to not start crying because of the frustration I felt. I found it so unfair the way they were treating me. I don’t deserve to be harassed. I was not “asking for it” because of the way I dressed. NO ONE (male, female, lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, etc.) DESERVES TO BE HARASSED OR WORRY IF THEIR OUTFIT IS “TOO REVEALING”.

– Anonymous

Location: California

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

Throughout my stay in Morocco I wore a black hijab and an abaya and not a single day passed without men leering at me, whispering comments like ‘beautiful’ as they walked past me, being followed or even being touched whilst in crowded places. It made me feel so disgusting and filthy.

The worst incident was when I was not even outside my own house and a guy decided it was OK to start winking at me and make gestures just because I made eye contact with him when I was looking out of the window. It made me feel so angry that I wasn’t even safe inside my own house, let alone walking outside, regardless of who I was with.

– Anonymous

Location: Morocco

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