Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

One week, three instances of harassment in Wales

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Hello. I have not written in here for a while – fortunately. But now I have a reason to write.

I have been harassed three times this last week.

Ok, first one: I was walking down my street on my way to my boyfriend’s house. Two lads walked past me and one said, “Alright love?” I politely replied, “Yes thanks,” and went on. I didn’t think much of it until i heard them snickering a few seconds afterwards. Why?

Second story: I was walking back from my boyfriend’s house (on a different day) and a gang of teenagers walked across the road near me. A boy shouted, “Can I have your number?” I told himI have a boyfriend. Then he yelled, “Twat!” at me before rambling on that I was being ‘stubborn’. What appauled me the most was that there were girls with him and one said, “He wants to buttf*ck you.” Sigh.

Third tale: I was walking to the local supermarket when a teenage boy and girl came walking towards me. As I came in line with them, he shouted, “Fuck my ass!”

I have two words for the lot of you idiots. GROW UP.

– Clarice

Location: Porthcawl and North Cornelly, Wales

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“Mmm those look delicious”

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I was at a Borders in Cleveland in the cookbook section because I love cooking and this gross old man goes, “Mmm those look delicious.” I was bent down and he was looking right down my blouse.

I said, “That’s awkward,” and he said, “Sorry but i thought i would tell you…”

He walked away and I Was like WTF. Why do I always feel like a piece of meat?

– Tanya P

Location: Borders in Cleveland, OH

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“A male ally in the construction industry!”

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I live in Sydney, Australia, and for 98% of the time I can walk the streets feeling very safe. I’ve never had more than a drunkard say, “Woah, look at them breasts!” but have never been physically threatened/touched. And at my 5ft height, that isn’t a hard thing to do. However, I always get the good mornings and hellos from groups of men that my gut instinct says are up to no good, with that long and lingering glare while they look at my body. I feel violated.

When construction for a new apartment building began next to mine, I felt ill. Each morning walking to the train station I’d walk as fast as I could. I’d wear jackets even if it was too warm to do so just to give the men less to look at. Then the “Good morning’s” started by two particular groups of men. I’d cross the road if I saw them and they’d simply laugh knowing they got to me, so a couple of times I stopped and stared them down. It worked, for a few mornings, until they got the guts to wave back as I stared.

One morning I had enough, I was furious so I wrote a letter of complaint to the development company. That was last Friday afternoon, and this Monday morning I was stopped by the foreman and he politely let me know that he will speak to the men and have them stop the harassment and that if it happens again to seek him out or contact the company again. He was very gentlemanly, well-spoken and non-threatening and I repeatedly thanked him. A male ally in the construction industry!

I wondered how I could complain about men simply saying, “Good morning,” and then laughing as I ignored them… how do you complain about a hunch that they are not respecting me?

After finding this website and global movement, I was given the confidence and words to use to strongly construct a good letter. I had obviously done it though, and I hope my morning walks to the station can be enjoyable once more! I will let you know how it all goes.

– Anonymous

Location: Sydney, Australia

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“I felt like at any moment he might pounce on me”

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I was waiting for a bus after a business meeting in Midtown one morning and I was wearing a pencil skirt and heels. A short but respectable-looking middle-aged man in a suit walked up to me and, practically panting, said, “You know, you have really nice legs…” as he lecherously looked me up and down.

I just gave him a disgusted look and hoped he would go away, but instead he sidled up really close to me and continued asking questions. “What’s your name? How tall are you? You’re really tall.”

I tried to ignore him and whisper one word responses in hopes he would just leave me alone, since I wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation. Finally he said, “We should really have lunch sometime,” and when I replied that, “My boyfriend really wouldn’t like that,” he finally left me alone, of course muttering as he walked away, “He’s a really lucky guy.”

It’s not so much what this guy actually said, but the way he said it – I felt like at any moment he might pounce on me, which was nauseating. He invaded my personal space and privacy and just didn’t know when to back off. What a pathetic old creep.

– Anonymous

Location: 45th & 6th Ave., New York

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Street harassment snapshot: February 27, 2011

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Read stories, news articles, blog posts, and tweets about street harassment from the past week and find relevant announcements and upcoming street harassment events.

Street Harassment Stories:

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You can read new street harassment stories on the Web from the past week at:

Street Harassment in the News, on the Blogs:

Events:

Announcements:

New:

On-going:

10 Tweets from the Week:

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