Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Bus Slap

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I had caught a bus in Manchester (UK) in the evening with a friend of mine and we sat near the back of the bus. A couple of stops later two young men got on and approached us and sat down behind us. One of them leaned forward and tried to start a conversation. I tried to be polite but indicated I didn’t really want to speak to them. He then asked if he could go with us to wherever we were going and where we lived. I told him I was obviously going to say no and my friend, who was panicking, asked if we could get off the bus suddenly so they wouldn’t have a chance to follow us or know where we lived.

As I got up to leave, the one who had been speaking to me slapped me on the backside and laughed. At the time I was just glad to be getting off the bus but found the whole thing very intimidating. My friend wanted to run home in case they got off at the next stop, which clearly showed how intimidated she was as well.

When I look back on the situation it makes me angry to think that he thought he had a right to touch me. I’d like to say I would deal with the situation differently if it happened again, but I can’t say I would know what to do.

– Hannah

Location: Manchester, UK

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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“A sad tale of harassment”

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I am a 23 year old Muslim black female student from the north west of England. I have been continually harassed on the street when coming home from work or university. The men are mainly of Asian or Kurdish descent from the neighbourhood I live in. Despite the fact that I am a confident woman and don’t dress up provocatively, I still get harassed by older who ask for my number and others who call me names. Although there is nothing physical about it, it is unbelievably destroying in terms of self esteem and makes me feel dirty and unsafe. the thing that drive me mad even more is the fact that the white population are unaware of the problem because they are the majority and everyone reveres them.

– anonymous

Location: NW England

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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Hollaback UK!

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Yay! Joining the newly launched Hollaback Savannah is another anti-street harassment website, fresh off the press today – Hollaback UK! Check out their site and if you live in the UK, send them your harassment stories.

Personally, having lived in the UK for a year when I studied abroad in college, I can attest to the problem of street harassment there. For example, one day when I was going running through an average neighborhood in Lancaster (north of Manchester, near the Lake District) I experienced my worse verbal harassment ever by a large group of guys near my age.  It felt like verbal rape and I was shaken and upset for hours after it happened. I can’t even bring myself to repeat what was said 🙁

Also, when I was analyzing anti-street harassment websites for my master’s thesis in 2007, there was one called the Anti-Street Harassment UK site that I really liked. They had a place to share stories but they also offered resources and strategies for dealing with it. They’re gone now and I’m not sure why. To my knowledge, no other anti-street harassment website is running in the UK, so, there’s a great need for Hollaback UK!

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