Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“Throughout the rest of my walk I felt extreme fear”

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I was really upset last February, so I decided to go for a long walk to clear my mind. I was fifteen at the time.

After maybe five or ten minutes, I had made it to the elementary school a few blocks from my house. The street it’s on is one of the main streets in the neighborhood, so it’s usually moderately busy.

I was about half way up the block, when I saw a large pick up truck with two guys heading down the street towards me. Instantly I got a weird feeling and felt terrified. They passed me and I noticed one guy looking through the rear view window at me. They turned the corner and came up and drove passed me again, and this time they whistled and yelled.

I would’ve kept walking, but they turned the corner on to the street I was going to turn onto. So instead I walked onto the campus of the elementary school and went to a sheltered area and sat there shaking, figuring I would wait until they left and moved on. After a few minutes, I didn’t see them and started to think that maybe I could continue on my walk.

But I was wrong, they circled the block again and yelled at me and honked, before laughing and driving off. I didn’t want to sit there any longer, so I got on the phone with one of my friends and left the elementary school and turned onto another street. I didn’t see them the rest of the day, but throughout the rest of my walk I felt extreme fear of running into them again.

I ended up taking such a complicated way around to get where I was going and back, I ended up getting lost for a few minutes.

Even though it was already seven months ago, I still feel really uneasy whenever I walk down that street alone.

– Elizabeth

Location: SW Birch St, McMinnville, Oregon

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Harassers to 16-year-old: “Damn, baby, you got a nice rack”

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This happened a couple weeks ago – I was walking down the street to a bus stop in order to go to a rehearsal downtown, and this car with two men (in their mid-20’s to early 30’s) pulled up beside me and slowed down a bit. The guys rolled down their window and began yelling things out to me. Things like, “Damn, baby, you got a nice rack,” “You wanna come with us? Hey, girl, you wanna come with us?” and “Come with us baby, we’ll give you a good time.”

I was creeped out by what they were saying, and I kept walking, only I sped up in an attempt to get away from them. An oncoming intersection forced them to pull into a lane farther away from me, and as I reached a crosswalk, they passed me once more, this time shouting at me “Well fuck you, bitch!” and other vulgarities.

I was shaken! I wish I had said something, but when it was happening my only thought was to ignore them and get away from them. It’s not like I was dressed becomingly either – unless baggy jeans are considered “becoming.”

I hated their comments on my chest, too. Not only do I hate references a girls chest as a “rack” or “tits” or anything like that, which I find vulgar, but I also felt degraded knowing that just walking down the street would get a 16 year old girl like me subjected to such comments. I hated hearing them tell me to “go with them” as if it would be enticing for me. I hated that intersection from that time on.

OH! And when I got on the bus I saw (to my dismay) that the same guy who I frequently saw was there. This guy stares at me every time I’m on the bus – no matter where I sit. And it isn’t glances, it’s him very blatantly turning and staring and smiling at me – and my chest. Reporting it doesn’t help, because he hasn’t said anything to me or in anyway “harmed me,” besides making me incredibly uncomfortable.

– Emmaline

Location: Madison, Wisconsin

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“I hope he finds what he’s looking for”

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Mid-afternoon, I was walking alone down the street, when a man approached me from behind and told me I had a nice ass and asked if I knew where he could get a blow job, and offered me a hundred dollars. I ignored him for a minute until I could tell it wasn’t getting rid of him, so I told him, no, I didn’t know where he could get a blow job. He gave me another line that I don’t remember and disappeared.

I called a male friend of mine and told him what had happened. His only response was, “I hope he finds what he’s looking for.”

I then called a female friend of mine who immediately asked where I was, if I was some place safe and if I needed a ride. I told her, thanks, I was fine.

– Anonymous

Location: None listed

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