Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“A sad tale of harassment”

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I am a 23 year old Muslim black female student from the north west of England. I have been continually harassed on the street when coming home from work or university. The men are mainly of Asian or Kurdish descent from the neighbourhood I live in. Despite the fact that I am a confident woman and don’t dress up provocatively, I still get harassed by older who ask for my number and others who call me names. Although there is nothing physical about it, it is unbelievably destroying in terms of self esteem and makes me feel dirty and unsafe. the thing that drive me mad even more is the fact that the white population are unaware of the problem because they are the majority and everyone reveres them.

– anonymous

Location: NW England

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Metro Stalker

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Although I am verbally and sometimes physically harassed literally every time I walk to and from the DC metro to my work place, the most recent incident was the most disturbing.

Waiting in the metro station for my train, i heard a male voice saying “Hey sweetie” over and over again while I read a book, and then was approached by a very tall male who proceeded to “praise” me with what he must have considered “compliments” about my appearance. He asked a series of questions, very aggressively, so I felt pressured to comply and answer, though I lied about my name and where i was headed, where I lived, etc., and di not feel comfortable telling him, I’m a lesbian, I have a long-term partner, because those sounds like excuses with the potential to infuriate. He grabbed my hand and wrote his number on it, pressing so hard it cut my skin, and proceeded to ask about me calling him, demanding details about this future call.

When the train arrived, he got on the same car as me, despite telling me he lived in the opposite direction of my train. I tried to sit away from him, but he continued trying to speak with me across rows of seats and passangers. At a high-traffic stop, I snuck off behind another passanger. When he spotted me through the large window on the platform, he was obviously very angry, and stood up. He was moving quickly for the door, but they had shut and the train was moving. I let a few trains pass and took a longer, more complicated transfer pattern from train to train to ensure I didn’t see him again.

While the entire thing was obvious annoying, it goes beyond that – that kind of control exhibited over you in a public sphere is disempowering and disoriented, and shakes a person’s sense of confidence and safety. The anger on his face and his attempt to get off at the arbitrary station I chose sincerely lead me to believe he had plans for following me to the false end-point I’d told him, which is TERRIFYING unto itself, but especially in conjunction with the series of media stories detailing the indifference and non-action of public transportation attendants/others in the general public.

– Jess

Location: Washington, D.C.

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Dirty schoolboys

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When I was about 16, I was walking around the grounds outside my school and a younger boy (about 14) grabbed me between my legs and had a good feel. I was so ashamed that he’d found out I was having my period that I forgot to punch him in the face. I have never got over letting him get away with it and I never recognised him at school although I probably passed him many times.

– anonymous

Location: Midlands, UK

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“When will it end? It’s wearing me out…”

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I go to college in Maryland. I was born with what some would call a “gift”. I am thin, have thick, naturally bright blond hair, huge green eyes, and very large breasts. This is a recipe for disaster. I love myself and my body, but sometimes I find it hard to see myself as anything but a disposable object after the way I am treated.

I wear t shirts to class and stopped wearing makeup. Still, as I walk to class every single day I am verbally harassed. I’ll give an example from today. It was pretty warm today so I wore a jacket with a tank top underneath. For the most part the tank top covered up a lot. Since my chest is pretty big, however, tank tops are a nuisance and I have to pull them up sometimes. As I discreetly pulled it up a bit someone shouted, “PULL THAT BACK DOWN BABY THATS ALL WE WANT TO SEE” from a balcony above.

A few days ago, I was taking the trash to the dumpster. As I waked, a hispanic maintenance man stopped and asked me if I needed help because the bag was extremely heavy. I said thank you and handed him the bag and he hoisted it into the dumpster. His response: ‘YOUR WELCOME SEXY GIRL. MMMMMMM.” as he licked his lips. So I guess having him help me with my trash was a sexual proposition. GREAT.

I work in the mall. Last week I was handing out samples of cheese. I wish I had counted the countless men who referred to me as a “ho” when they thought I was out of earshot, whistled at me, or said “LOOK AT THEM TITTIES” after they had walked about 30 feet away from me.

I get dozens of sexually explicit messages from my fellow college students through social networking sites every weekend. Its funny, all of these men are so quick to say these DISGUSTING sexually explicit things, yet I havent been asked on a formal date in a year…

I’ll end with this. When I was a freshmen, 2 years ago, I went to the nearby supermarket. Some man and his friend approached me and asked me if I knew where batteries were. Before I knew it, one of them proceeded to attempt to “MOTORBOAT” me. I backed up just as his face touched my chest. The worst part was after the men quickly ran away, thinking it was the funniest thing in the world, people around me gave me disgusted looks. It was horrific.

I hope everyone finds their strength and can overcome street harassment. IT NEEDS TO STOP NOW!

– Lala

Location: Maryland

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European Harassment

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I studied abroad in Paris for a semester, and I was shocked by the amount of harassment I experienced. I’m from a major U.S city, and i have never been treated like this until I lived in Europe. Riding the metro every day to school meant that men would follow me, try to kiss me, grab my ass, or just verbally harass me. I’ve very very fair and blonde so I don’t look very French, so people always asked me where I came from…I soon learned that pretending to speak neither French nor English really helped. I always said that I was Russian (which they believed) and that I only spoke Russian. That certainly shut them up quickly.

I never had any problems in London or Dublin, but Brussles, Paris, and any Italian city (even the Vatican of all places) were prime sources for lewd comments and whistles. The most shocking form of harassment was in Marrakech where my super white skin and platinum blonde hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Men constantly catcalled and finally one man came up to me and just started fondling my boob. I finally just pushed him off and ran away.

– anonymous

Location: Paris, France

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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