Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“I just wish it would stop happening to me”

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I was out hunting for Pokemon, barely three blocks from my house when a car drove by me and a man yelled that, “I’d F*ck you, n*gger!” It wasn’t even 8 p.m. on a Monday.

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

I just wish it would stop happening to me.

– Cara

Location: Eugene, OR

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

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See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.

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“Throughout the rest of my walk I felt extreme fear”

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I was really upset last February, so I decided to go for a long walk to clear my mind. I was fifteen at the time.

After maybe five or ten minutes, I had made it to the elementary school a few blocks from my house. The street it’s on is one of the main streets in the neighborhood, so it’s usually moderately busy.

I was about half way up the block, when I saw a large pick up truck with two guys heading down the street towards me. Instantly I got a weird feeling and felt terrified. They passed me and I noticed one guy looking through the rear view window at me. They turned the corner and came up and drove passed me again, and this time they whistled and yelled.

I would’ve kept walking, but they turned the corner on to the street I was going to turn onto. So instead I walked onto the campus of the elementary school and went to a sheltered area and sat there shaking, figuring I would wait until they left and moved on. After a few minutes, I didn’t see them and started to think that maybe I could continue on my walk.

But I was wrong, they circled the block again and yelled at me and honked, before laughing and driving off. I didn’t want to sit there any longer, so I got on the phone with one of my friends and left the elementary school and turned onto another street. I didn’t see them the rest of the day, but throughout the rest of my walk I felt extreme fear of running into them again.

I ended up taking such a complicated way around to get where I was going and back, I ended up getting lost for a few minutes.

Even though it was already seven months ago, I still feel really uneasy whenever I walk down that street alone.

– Elizabeth

Location: SW Birch St, McMinnville, Oregon

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Car tries to run over woman, passengers yell, “We don’t stop for ugly bitches!”

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I have been harassed an infinite amount of times. The most painful, however, are the occasions where instead of “complimenting” my appearance, the men criticize it.

Just a few days ago on my campus, I was crossing at a crosswalk. A car that was idling rather far down the street suddenly sped up and tried to hit me; as I looked over my shoulder, I saw two male students leaning forward and smiling as they nearly hit me.

I was shaken, but tried to not lose my cool. I continued walking as the car sped away. After a couple minutes, I reached the next crosswalk and heard a car pull up and stop: it was the same men. They had seen that I was headed for the next crosswalk and had waited for me. I motioned for them to pass but they gestured for me to go. I was furious at this point, but noticed that other cars had began to line up behind them and didn’t want to make others wait. I began to cross the street and the car charged me again, yelling out their window, “We don’t stop for ugly bitches!” and holding down their horn, making a spectacle.

I dodged the car and it sped off. As I walked away, I was more distraught to realize that the people surrounding me (almost entirely male engineering students working on projects in the park), were laughing uncontrollably.

I called to police once I got home, and the male police officer took down my report incredulously. I called back later to see if anything had been found on the men (I had a description of the car) and was essentially laughed off.

I haven’t left the house in days, I feel too ugly to be in public… or, or that matter, to live. I don’t have a car so I need to walk places and it feels like a punishment. I just want a mask to wear on my face so no one can judge it as ugly and try to run me over. I feel no protection from others, neither the police nor my peers; no one will stand up for ugly girls.

– Anonymous

Location: On Campus

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What did he expect?

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I had my car window down and a man started leaning out the window of the car next to me, making kissing noises and sexual comments. I ignored him and he got mad and then drove off.

– Anonymous

Location: Louisville, KY

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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"Fine ass ho"

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In Athens, Ohio, USA, I was having an evening workout around 7 PM. I was running in shorts and a tank top, minding my own business when a group of teenage boys in a sedan slowed down next to me. One of them said in a sing-songy voice:

“There she go, the fine ass ho.”

I WAS 15. I froze. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing while they drove off laughing. I was scared to death, I wanted to cry, and most of all, I couldn’t understand why anyone in their right mind would terrorize a girl like that. Now that I’m 22, I realize that my offense was being in public while female. And, even more egregious was the offense of wearing shorts and a tank top while young and attractive.

I wish I could say that I reacted strongly every time I’ve been harassed since then, but it’s not that simple. You can never be prepared to react to a harasser, because it is impossible to tell which man will be the next perpetrator. So these days, I just stare straight ahead and stomp my ass off. Nothing scares harassers more than confidence. But, when men harass me anyway, I still find myself at a loss, frozen, scared, with no sense of how to react until after the fact.

– A.G.

Location: Athens, OH

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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