Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“Catcalling is never a compliment. It’s an attack”

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I was walking back to my car after work, and I walked through a small pedestrian street as I always do. There is a small smoke shop in this street and there are often people gathered outside. Tonight there was large group of men. They all started shouting things like, “Hey baby,” “Ooh sexy,” “I like your hair,” and grosser things that I would rather not say.

I steered clear of them, kept walking and didn’t make any eye contact. That was it.

This is just the most recent of the countless time that I have been catcalled. And this time, like every time, I was thinking, “What if they decide to approach me? Should I say something or will that make them feel invited to approach me? What if they hurt me? What if I die tonight?”

Catcalling is never a compliment. It’s an attack.

– CB

Location: Stamford, CT

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.

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A Talk Show Segment on Street Harassment

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Thanks so much Rctv28 and Elaine Espinola Keltz for hosting an important discussion this week on street harassment, including points like what’s a compliment and what’s not, how to deal with harassers & men’s roles in stopping harassment! It was great to be a guest alongside Noorjahan Akbar of Free Women Writers & Women for Women International and Jessica Raven of Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

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“I felt so sick to my stomach and I was shaking”

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I’m 16, but when this happened, I was 14 or 15.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of my mom’s car while she was in the gas station close to our house. It was very hot out and our car doesn’t have a/c so I had all the windows rolled down. I was looking at myself in the mirror because I had something in my eye when this grown man easily in his 30’s called from his car, “Don’t worry, you still look good.”

I just turned to look at him and turned back because I was terrified, but as soon as those words left his mouth, I felt so sick to my stomach and I was shaking because he could have easily come over to the car and such… I still get sick thinking about it. I don’t go out a lot anymore but when I used to go out to the store, etc., I would constantly get unwanted comments, looks of lust, and attempts to talk to me. I may look a little older for my age but clearly I am underage…

– Addilyn

Location: In my home town

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.

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“I know he was capable of violence”

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I am a single parent, 46 years old. I was harassed daily by my neighbor for four years He lived across the street from me and yelled vulgar things and grabbed his genitals. I called the police but they did not care. He would follow me to the store and to my son’s bus stop. I know he was capable of violence. I was literally a prisoner in my own home. He and his friends would get drunk and sit in his carport across the street to intimidate me. Thank the Lord above, I was able to move to a better neighborhood. I moved two weeks ago. The trauma of what this idiot did to me has not left me though. It was very frustrating that the police said I needed “evidence”. I always had my phone on video. It was kind of hard to prove.

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

It starts at home. Teach your sons to respect women. Teach them to treat them the way they would want someone to treat their daughter. Teach them that women have souls, feelings, and deserve respect. Police should also take these issues seriously. They should have listened to me and handled the situation. They should patrol the streets and be aware of situations like this.

– Anonymous

Location: Griffin, Georgia

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.

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“I’d have to be invisible for them not to have that power.”

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A man driving by while I was walking to work honked his horn and I naturally looked up. He made a gesture of sucking dick at me and smiled. I felt powerless because he was in a car and got the attention he wanted, and I ended up sobbing to my mother on the phone afterwards because of my helplessness. What makes matters worse is that so many women will respond by saying, “Don’t let it bother you, that just lets them win”, but they already won because men know they can do that to a woman on the street with no consequences. He didn’t see my reaction, and it didn’t matter if he did, he already got the power he wanted. Even if I had not been upset by it, he still has the power. They profit off my beauty, regardless of what I wear. I’d have to be invisible for them not to have that power.

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

There should be a universal coloring agent that identifies people who harass or catcall on the streets, like when someone pulls a fire alarm and the non-washable fluid comes out to identify who pulled it. It could be part of a typical young American’s kit: with their pepper spray and rape whistle.

– AKS

Location: Washington DC capitol hill neighborhood

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.

Share