Once when I was going to college in the morning a group of men at a tea shop near my house started loudly commenting on my attire in an obscene way. I get catcalled very frequently on deserted roads. In the metro once I was standing near the door since the ladies’ compartment area was full. A man came near me and tried to touch my breast as I clung to the steel bars.

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

Frequent police patrolling, CCTV cameras wherever possible

– LG

Location: A tea shop near my house

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

I was waiting in the early evening for a bus into Boston to meet friends and a man sitting on the bench, smoking, asked if I wanted to sit down. I smiled and said no, thank you. He asked if I was a snob or something. I thought he was rude, but explained I have asthma and being close to smoke can trigger an attack. I then put in my headphones, to try to end the conversation.

He tried asking me which bus I was waiting for and I acted like I didn’t hear him. After a few minutes, he got up, walked over and pulled one of my earbuds out. I stepped back, but after a few minutes, answered his question. He then started asking where I was going in Boston. I lied and said my friends hadn’t decided yet. He asked me for my number and I said I couldn’t give him mine, but I would take his.

He was already aggressive and invading my space, or I wouldn’t have tried to placate him by taking his number, but he became furious when I wouldn’t call him immediately. He was shaking and red faced, spitting in my face as he yelled. Fortunately someone else came to the stop at this time and he backed away a little. He continued asking me questions, like where I lived, where I was going and called me a f*ing bitch when I wouldn’t answer.

Just then the bus pulled up and I ran to get on. He ran after me and grabbed the back of my dress and my shoulder. I almost fell, which helped me break free and I jumped on the bus, ran past the driver, while trying to open my mace. The bus driver immediately stepped between us and told him he needed to pay or get off the bus. He stood there calling me names and trying to push past the driver, who then started to radio for assistance.

When he heard the cops were coming, he got off the bus and walked away, making gestures at me and screaming. I was so incredibly grateful for that driver’s actions and  said so.

If he and the other person waiting hadn’t been there, things may have gone differently. The hardest part was I spent weeks trying to figure out what I could have done differently. What if I just ignored him from the beginning? Would that have made him escalate sooner? Should I have walked to a different stop? What if he followed? I go through incidents like this often when waiting for/on the mbta, walking home from the grocery store, etcetera, but the fact that he was physically violent in front of other people made it much worse.

– TL

Location: 556 mbta bus line, Waltham and Newton, MA to Boston, MA.

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

I was on vacation with two male friends. We were walking through the streets of Cairo, Egypt. Even with one friend directly in front and the other directly behind me like a sandwich, there were still unknown aggressive hands grabbing for my crotch VIOLENTLY over and over.

That same day, a 13-year old Egyptian girl was pulled off a trolley and raped in the street during the afternoon because she was “wearing Western clothes.” The next day there was a cartoon in the paper with two women wearing suits of armor, saying “I guess we have to wear these now!”

I left Egypt early.

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

All countries should educate people about not treating women like objects/property. It’s such a simple concept. Yes, we know women have organs on the inside and men have organs on the outside, but that’s no excuse for this low-level savage mentality. If women had “a plug” and men had “an outlet”, we wouldn’t use that physical advantage to hurt and shame and dominate.

– Ankhle

Location: Cairo, Egypt

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

I was headed home on the Lexington subway line this summer in NYC. There was a white male 40ish leering at me and I think he was also filming me with his phone. He followed me off the train and up the stairs. A few seconds later my jeans felt wet so I reached my hand around to feel and they were. I smelled my hand and instantly knew it was semen. I contacted the police right away.

They kept my jeans and the top I had on. It was confirmed that it was semen that was sprayed on me but there was no match in the system. The detective told me that this is pretty common. Males save their semen and get sexual gratification by spraying it on women.

They also film it to have a keepsake and relive it. Repulsive…Now whenever I see a women with a stain on the clothes or a man leering at me, I feel terrible.

– Anonymous

Location: Lexington subway line, NYC, USA

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.

A heart wrenching story: Underprivileged women threatened for protecting her daughter.

Monica Das, 32 lives in Faridabad, works hard as a domestic help/cook to earn a living; both her husband & she come from a less privileged background. Due to her poor financial condition she is not being able to provide education to her two daughters Simran 14 & Anamika 16.

The mother of two has spent last 100 hours in utter horror and anxiety because of a stranger who has been harassing her and her young daughters in vain & threatening them with dire consequences. The stranger (+91-7840992668) named himself Suman (evidently fake) has been calling her up repeatedly, stalking her and even threatening that he will kill her if she doesn’t get her daughter married to him. Heinous as it may sound the stalker even got up to the extent of chasing the elder lass on bike & threatened her to get abducted in case her mother denies to tie the knot.

Petrified to the core, she went to the police station seeking for justice & safety but much to her surprise the authorities didn’t file a complaint instead used derogatory terms like “are you a prostitute” to refrain her from filing a complaint. IWIL (Indian Women Institutional League) heard her plea for justice and stepped forward to provide legal and professional help. IWIL is guiding Ms. Monica Das step by step to fight for justice & approach the right channels. Not only IWIL provided a lawyer to file a complaint against the harassment & threatening but also funded for the tuition fees of her young girls. The women is petrified by the incident but a fighter at heart she is ready to do whatever it takes to protect her daughter from the evil intentions of the pervert. Whilst we keep you posted for the further status we request your support in terms of promoting & sharing to spread awareness for many more such Monica’s who might be innocent& still falling a prey to the moribund system.

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

Police should be more helpful to everyone not just to rich people.

– IWIL India

Location: Faridabad, India

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.