Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Yuck! Harassers in a Truck!

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I was walking back to work, enjoying the weather, enjoying the freebies I got from Georgetown Cupcake and from a girl on the street handing out free Ghirardelli chocolates, and these fools had to ruin it!

Out of nowhere, I hear “Yo, gorgeous!” and I turn in the direction where it came from. I see these two losers in a red and yellow truck smirking at me. Gross.

The truck pulls up further in traffic, and I catch up to it and snap a photo with my phone. I wish it’d came out clearer so you could see their faces, but at least the company name is somewhat visible.

When I told them that they needed to do their jobs and not hit on women, they didn’t care. They continued to smirk and giggle. Passers-by made a comment about me and giggled, and I don’t know if they were laughing at me getting harassed or laughing at me giving the harassers an earful, but I just didn’t care. I felt like these harassers just ruined what was a good afternoon.

The license plate on this truck was a Maryland plate, 11K 394. I saw that it said “Joy” on the side of the truck and got part of the truck’s phone number, 800-992-, but I couldn’t catch the last four digits. Google searches yielded nothing close.

I hope the employer sees this photo of this truck online, and reprimands these punks for hitting on women while they’re on the clock. It’s so disgusting.

– Anonymous

Location: M St & Wisconsin Ave, Washington, DC

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I’m Not Your Tasty Doughnut!

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So my number finally came up. I phoned in last night and had to report for jury duty this morning. The court house is a mile and a half away from where I live. Spring has come to NYC so I decided last night I would walk rather than pay for a cab. I dressed in a skirt and blazer and dress shoes and knee length black leggings. I am eternally late. I was this morning. But I still didn’t want to take a cab, so with backpack full of laptop and reading materials I headed out onto the street in the warm morning sunshine and ran the mile and a half to the court house.

I got honked at twice. A man walking toward me, paused and looked me up and down like I was a tasty doughnut. On one busy corner the talk and hum and conversations of a group of day workers halted as I ran past them, all of them staring at me like I was a moving parade.

Yes, I was unusual–a woman dressed in a suit, carrying a large backpack and running down a city street. But I tried to think of a man, perhaps my husband dressed in his business suit, carrying a briefcase, running down the same streets. Would women driving by honk at him? Would women on the street that he ran past look him up and down like he was breakfast? Would women gathered at a corner stop their talk and stare at him simply because he was running by?

I am sorry to say that when the second person honked at me when I was only steps away from the court house, I did something I have only done once before in my 51 years of life. I lifted my third finger at the car.

I am so tired of men thinking that this behavior is okay. But was I shocked or surprised. No. Sadly its what I expect.

– Beckie

Location: Queens, New York

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Weekly Round Up March 7, 2010

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Stories:

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

In the News:

  • Politics Daily ran an article called, “‘Eve Teasing’ in India: Fighting for Change as Sexual Violence Grows”

Announcements:

Resource of the Week:

  • The documentary “Hey…Shorty” by Girls for Gender Equity: Watch a 2 minute overview and purchase the 20 minute documentary.

    “This youth-produced documentary focuses on women of color’s experiences with street harassment and men of color’s ideas about and intentions behind the behavior. It exposes the frequency with which street harassment occurs, dispels myths about who it happens to and why, and examines the root causes of why men feel it is their right to approach women, in ways both friendly and violent, in public spaces. Young women share stories of bottles being thrown at them, older men grabbing their hand, and other examples of how street harassment creates a hostile environment for women that perpetuates a culture of violence and the fear of men. Men show off their ‘holla’ skills, give advice to women on how to respond to their advances, and are challenged to think about street harassment in a new light, one that resonates with them in a profound way.”

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Groped at Midday

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I shared my story a few weeks back about the bus stop in Edmonton. I thought I’d come by and share another experience. Of course, I always have to pick the worst of the bunch, because if I wrote in with every experience I’ve ever had with street harassment, I’d do little else.

Anyway, I was walking down the street in downtown Edmonton in the middle of the day. It was the middle of summer, and, since the summers are so hot there, I was wearing a sundress. I didn’t hear the man walking behind me until I felt his breath on the back of my neck. He lifted my skirt and grabbed my butt with both hands.
I spun around and started to yell at him “Hey!” He ran off so fast that I didn’t get a good look at him. I just knew that he had black hair and a smaller build. I didn’t feel like chasing him, so I just screamed “Fuck off!” at his back.

Sadly, it was eight years before I shared that experience with anyone else. I knew I’d most likely be blamed for it for wearing a sundress that flattered my body. I was so used to being blamed for my own harassment at this point that I’d stopped talking about it. It wasn’t until I discovered this website that I started talking about it again.

– MH

Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Brugge Creeper

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Over spring break the year I studied abroad in college, I traveled a few days with friends, and then I traveled alone for a week. The first day of my lone travels, I went sightseeing in beautiful Brugge, Belgium. As I walked around the downtown area, I started to feel like I was being followed. I went in a shop, the guy went in a shop. I went back to the town square, there he was, and so on for maybe 15 minutes. I was getting really nervous and the only thing keeping me from feeling panicked was that I was in a very crowded area.

Photo from contributor in town square where she was followed

Then he came up to me and started speaking to me in French. My socialized politeness kicked in and I told him I only spoke a little French and tried to understand what he was saying. He was trying to get me to go with him to meet his friends and have some drinks. This sounded quite terrifying and a potential recipe for disaster.

As I worked on how to say no without being mean (politeness again), he became bolder and put his arm around me and acted like he would kiss me. I quickly moved away from him and said I had to meet friends (a lie since I was alone) and then hurried away (finally I was done being polite).

I was really scared he would follow me and I took off at a brisk pace and zig-zagged up and down busy streets until I had lost him. By then I had no idea where I was and I had to consult my map and figure out how to get to the hostel where I was staying. I was pretty shaken up – literally – over what had happened and I was very relieved I had lost him. Chances are he meant no harm, but I was taking no chances. And maybe he did. He’d already been physically aggressive toward me. And had he meant harm, some people would have blamed me because I was a 21-year-old woman traveling alone.

I felt like hiding in the hostel but after a quick break, I made myself get back out there to sightsee. I would only be there that day and I didn’t want to miss out on seeing Brugge because of some creepy guy. I didn’t see him again but kept a wary eye the rest of the day.

– holly

Location: Brugge, Belgium

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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