Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Street harassers crush her dreams of loving to live in the city

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I was at a stop waiting for public transportation to go home. I was new to the city, so walking alone wasn’t a big deal yet. As I was walking towards the platform from the mall, a few 40 year old or so men were standing in the corner, waiting for the same light rail. One of them shouted saying, “You know you’re hot. You know you are. I’d like to take you home and tear you up,” and the others laughed.

I did nothing but ignore, and feel my eyes start to swell. It just so happens that on my way home on the same evening, just ten minutes after that incident, I caught an even older man staring at me. I tried to ignore it, but when his stop came he looked at me and stated so everyone could hear, “You’re so beautiful you look like a model.”

I am from a small town, and could feel comfortable going to the mall in the evening. I am only 19 and I moved away from the city because of how frequent I would be bothered walking in the street. My dream since I was a little girl was to love living in the city.

– E

Location: Lloyd Center Mall Portland, Oregon

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“I want to throw that bitch on the ground right here and fuck her up”

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Trigger Warning!

I was riding the Red Line in Chicago when two drunk men got on. You could tell they were both drunk and high. One had an alcoholic drink in his hand, and they both had joints behind an ear.

They started swearing and talking about the woman on the train. The said some really vulgar things. They pointed to me and talked said, “I want to throw that bitch on the ground right here and fuck her up. Teach her her place. I’ll nail her right here. Look at her sitting there like she is better than us. I’ll fuck her up.”

They said the things along the same line about several females on the train. Several times when females would exit the train (the men where standing by the doors) they would grab they woman’s but or breasts. I did notice they were armed. It really shook me up.

– Anonymous

Location: Chicago, IL. CTA Red Line

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Weekly Round Up: October 10, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

In the News, On the Blogs:

Announcements:

Upcoming Events:

10 Tweets from the Week:

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“He grabbed my head and tried to whisper ‘You’re beautiful’ in my ear”

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I was taking public transportation and an obviously drunk guy came on with two swollen eyes and dried blood stains by one eye. Not trying to make this a race thing but i’m a black female and with some black men I know I cant even make eye contact or it will start. Not that all men harass and not that black men don’t harass others because they do but I have noticed they are worse with us because they think no one is going to intervene and they can get away with it.

Anyways so, I tried not to make any eye contact cause I just knew he was gonna say something to me. He came right to my seat, grabbed my head and tried to whisper “You’re beautiful” in my ear. Then he sat behind me. I told him there was no need to ever touch me and I don’t like people touching me and he said he did that cause he thought I had head phones on.

I go back to ignoring him and then he tells me he got beat up in the war just now and that’s why his eyes are swollen (lmao!). He keeps talking more nonsense and I tell him I have a boyfriend i’m gonna marry just to keep him off my back but of course he said he didn’t care and he starts pulling out his credit card saying he’ll take me wherever I want to go. He keeps trying to touch my shoulder and i’m like STOP TOUCHING ME but he wont and then he starts saying i’m not even his type and i’m a mess really loud and i’m like “oh I’M the mess”.

Meanwhile the driver is doing NOTHING to stop it. There was a girl that looked shocked and I could tell she wanted to say something but didn’t want to get involved so she wouldn’t get harassed as well. Finally he got off at the stop but I was totally humiliated and violated.

I’m 29 years old and have been dealing with it since I was about 15. Some men just see women as second class citizens and they have a right to say and do anything to us and get away with it. I have tried everything to get them to stop and nothing works.

– Anonymous

Location: Southern Illinois, near St. Louis, MO

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My new hero: Lisa Robinson

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As much as I talk, write, and think about street harassment, I admit that I can still get stunned into silence by harassers. I really admire all the women and male allies who’ve shared stories on my blog about times they’ve confronted harassers. And I also really admire Lisa Robinson.

Robinson, her husband, and their five-year-old son were on the train, returning home from a day trip to Cardiff (Wales) where they had celebrated the son’s birthday. There were about 30 drunk Cardiff football (soccer) fans on the train with them (when I studied abroad in England, I had that experience in Manchester and did my best to become invisible).

The men were harassing a female passenger on a train platform. When Robinson told them to stop, they began yelling seixst and obscene comments at her.

Robinson pulled the red handle to stop the train. She informed the conductor about the harassment and asked that he call the police. The conductor did nothing and started the train back up.

Already her actions are impressive – standing up for other women, standing up for herself and reporting the harassers. But this is where her actions go above and beyond.

Undeterred by the train conductor’s indifference, Robinson and her family got off the train at their stop and again asked that something be done about the rowdy men. The train conductor refused again.

She decided to do something more. She stood in the tracks! She would not move until the police were called.

From the BBC:

Ms Robinson said: “I slithered down off the platform on to the track.

“I wanted to protect both my husband and my child and I wanted this behaviour to stop.

“Some of the fans got off the train and took pictures of me with mobile phones and continued to abuse me.

“This is my community, this is my village. We’re not going to be bullied and certainly for women and families, they should be able to travel on the train in peace and quiet and go about their business without being bullied like that.”

The police were eventually called, and the service was terminated.

Wayne David, Labour MP for Caerphilly, called the “apparent inactivity” of Arriva Trains Wales and British Transport Police “unacceptable” and said he would be in touch with them about the incident.

“No member of the public should be subject to abuse of this kind and it must never happen again,” he added.

British Transport Police said: “BTP officers attended Ystrad Mynach railway station after a report that a woman had been verbally abused by a group of football fans after she challenged their behaviour on board the train.

“BTP does not tolerate anti-social behaviour of any nature on the railway network and will do everything it can to identify offenders and bring them to justice.”

Peter Northcott, head of stations at Arriva Trains Wales, said: “We take all complaints very seriously and I personally contacted Mr and Mrs Robinson on the day of this incident.

“A full investigation is taking place with the British Transport Police.”

It’s sad that the the harassers and the train conductor would not stop or do anything when she asked until she risked her life on the tracks and stopped the train. But she got their attention and got them to do something. And that is how change happens.

Thank you Lisa Robinson!

 

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