I was 14 years old and I was at my local library. It was a hot day so I had a short t-shirt on and leggings, but you couldn’t see my butt or my boobs. I was just sitting there, reading a book when two teenage boys (maybe 17-18 years old) approached me and started to have a conversation with me. At first it was basic questions, if i had a boyfriend, how old I was, etc. I felt already really uncomfortable and after a time I didn’t respond them anymore and just ignored them.

They got angry then, started to yell at me that I was a bitch, that I surely had a nice pussy and that they would f*ck me on the bathroom floor. It was terrible. I couldn’t answer, I was so scared they would actually hurt me. Luckily the librarian noticed what was going on and sent them away. I don’t know what would have happened otherwise. Still, I left the library feeling dirty and scared.

– S.P.

Location: Local library

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

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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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

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