I was walking down the street with my little sister and mother in front of me and a group of teenage boys passed next to me walking in the opposite direction. They were making noises to attract my attention but I looked down and actually, I didn’t even noticed their presence until one of the boys almost rubbed himself against me when passing and stroked my cheek. I was shocked and angry. I didn’t even know how to react.

That wasn’t my first time experiencing street harassment. I am quite used of it. I’ve already been stalked, followed, called names, but that was the first time someone had actually touched me without my consent. Normally I don’t pay attention to those behaviors but this time it was different. I realized that this wasn’t normal. Like my body isn’t a public area and these kinds of thing shouldn’t happen. I shouldn’t go out and worry about street harassment. Because street harassment isn’t normal and shouldn’t happen!!

I was really shocked and angry as I said, but this made me realize that people shouldn’t be afraid to talk about things like street harassment or whatever makes them uncomfortable!! That we should also stand for our rights and help create a world where we could walk wherever we want without suffering from street harassment!

So in the end I’m glad I’ve realized all this and I hope this story will help others to express themselves.

Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?

I think we should continue to raise awareness and encourage women and men to speak their mind.

– Khooshalee

Location: Port-Louis/Port-Louis/Mauritius

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

I was walking through an unfamiliar, mildly questionable neighborhood. A man on a bicycle with sunglasses said hello to me. I replied by saying good morning politely, and continued walking. Several blocks later, I looked backward and saw the same man pedaling leisurely beside me. We were the only people on the street, and I was becoming rapidly very uncomfortable.

Knowing that I was only a few blocks from a well-peopled place market, I started speed-walking. He mockingly asked why I was running and where I was rushing to. To which I replied curtly, “The farmer’s market.” He inquired as to whether that was really where I had been going, then asked what I was going for. After I answered that I was going to buy fruits and vegetables, he emphasized that I must be going to buy “exotic” produce and that I looked like a “nice girl” (I am Asian American).

At this point I had reached the farmer’s market and began looking at plums and mangoes pointedly, trying not to look up in case he was still following me. I walked a block farther, checking to make sure he hadn’t tailed me. Thankfully, he hadn’t. I had left that morning to go grocery shopping, so I did that, but I took a circuitous route there to make sure he wasn’t waiting for me somewhere. Even after I got home, I felt rattled.

Optional: Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?

I’d love to say that women being harassed should either take the high ground and explain why street harassment is hurtful and violent, but I know that confronting harassers can be terrifying. Ignoring comments, trying to end conversations politely, and entering highly public places seem to be the best strategies I have found.

– JC

Location: Gillespie District, Sarasota, FL

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

I’ve been travelling with my boyfriend for an entire summer, and we have traveled together every day. We’ve visited Indonesia, India, Morocco, and France so far. In our travels, I have received absolutely 0 street harassment because I have been accompanied 100% of the time by a man – my partner.

Today was the first day that we ventured out on our own; I walked around the city and visited a few cafes. For the first time in months, I experienced four instances of unwanted street harassment. We’ve been in vastly different parts of the world this summer, and I am horrified to realize that I’ve basically been chaperoned the entire time – temporarily veiling me from the street harassment I’m otherwise accustomed to living in Washington, DC.

I’ve gotten used to the surreal, problematic feeling of having a man ever-present, shielding me from objectification by other men. This summer, I’d forgotten what it feels like to walk around afraid. Why should I need a chaperone to move about the world? When I’m not accompanied by a man, why do I become fair game like a deer strolling through an open meadow? I’m disgusted. I’m even more disgusted that when I turned to my boyfriend for support once we got back to our apartment, almost in tears from rage at these advances, he paid me little attention. He washed his face, got ready for bed nonchalantly, looked at his Instagram.

WHERE ARE OUR ALLIES? WHERE ARE OUR MALE COMRADES? The solution lies with all of us, but most certainly with them. We can’t continue moving through a world where our safe harbor from “bad” men is only promised at a dock tended by “good” men. Ending street harassment is a question of recalling humanity.

We need those in positions of power and privilege (MEN) to act courageously – on a systemic AND a day-to-day basis – to create an environment where women feel safe in every space. This ear th was intended for us all to walk upon with safe passage.

Optional: Do you have any suggestions for dealing with harassers and/or ending street harassment in general?

Call back. Keep calling back. Fight back, short-term and long-term. Carry rocks and knives.

– RLM

Location: Paris, France

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

I was walking down 5th Avenue on my lunch break when I was approached by two large men trying to sell demo CDs. One tried to hand the CD to me and I said, ‘No thank you’ and continued walking. Both followed me and yelled at me and called me a stupid slut when I didn’t respond. This is on ultra-busy 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on a weekday during lunch an no one said anything to these men. It took me 20 minutes to stop shaking.

– LH

Location: 5th Avenue between 37th and 38th Street, NYC

Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.