This is part of the series “Street Respect. “Street respect” is the term for respectful, polite, and consensual interactions that happen between strangers in public spaces. It’s the opposite of “street harassment.” Share your street respect story and show the kind of interactions you’d like to have in public in place of street harassment.

I was walking down the road and walked past a garage. As I went past, one of the men smiled at me and said, “Good morning.”  Obviously I smiled back and also greeted him. He then said, “You look beautiful today.”

I smiled, said thank you, and walked on. End of the interaction, and I had a great smile on my face for the rest of the walk!

– Anonymous

Location: Brixton, London, UK

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

[Editor’s note: While this blog contributor felt respected by this interaction and that is great, many women would not because it entailed an unsolicited evaluation of her appearance by a stranger and that is something men generally don’t have to deal with. Since not everyone would feel respected by this interaction, if you’re unsure how to interact with someone on the street, I suggest making a gender-neutral comment. If you want to pay someone a compliment about how they look, to be safe, say it to someone you know or say it after you’ve been talking to someone for a few minutes.]

This is part of the series “Street Respect. “Street respect” is the term for respectful, polite, and consensual interactions that happen between strangers in public spaces. It’s the opposite of “street harassment.” Share your street respect story and show the kind of interactions you’d like to have in public in place of street harassment.

I wanted to share two really awesome stories about interactions that I’ve had with male strangers in my city. Although I have definitely experienced my fair share of harassment while walking around the city I think it is also important to focus on the amazing genuine human interactions that can happen.

One night as I was walking home from class I passed a man who I noticed was staring at me while I walked by. He then quickly stopped and said to me, “Excuse me miss, what is this?” pointing at a patch I had on my jean jacket. I told him that it was a merch patch for an artist who plays harp that I had seen once. “Really that is so awesome,” he said. I told him that he should check her out and told him the band name and he was like “awesome I definitely will thanks!” and turned around and walked away. It honestly kept me smiling all the way to class because this guy did not seem like he would be into harp music at all and he was genuinely interested and kind while we were talking.

Another time that I was walking down the street I noticed an older gentleman trying to lift boxes into his car off a cart. I stopped to ask him if he wanted help and then put a few boxes in his car before another guy stopped and started to help as well (probably seeing that I am pretty tiny and was struggling a little as well). After we got all the boxes into the car the man thanked us and I proceeded to walk away when the other guy stopped me and said, “I just wanted to thank you for inspiring to do a good deed today.”

He then just smiled at me and walked the other way.

I know that not all men (or women) are necessarily like this when you interact with them on the street, but times like this remind me that I don’t need to be afraid of everyone when I am walking alone through the city.

– Anonymous

No location disclosed

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem.
Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.