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Three Examples of Scary Street Harassment Escalation

September 8, 2016 By HKearl

Street harassment can escalate without warning. That’s what makes it so scary. These three stories from this past week alone clearly illustrate this:

tiarah-poyau-2016Via For Harriet:

“22-year-old Tiarah Poyau was fatally shot at the J’ouvert festival in Brooklyn over the weekend. NYPD said the fatal altercation occurred after Poyau asked a man to stop grinding on her, according to the New York Post.

She was walking down the street with three friends during the pre-West Indian Day celebration when she told the man who invaded her space “get off me.”

Poyau was shot in the eye at close range.

20-year-old Reginald Moise was apprehended. He has five prior arrests. Police say they found the gun used in the shooting at Moise’s girlfriend’s apartment.

Moise was charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.”

 

Via Thailand’s National Newspaper:

“A 23-year-old American tourist suffers spinal injuries falling down a ravine in Krabi while she was fleeing from an alleged sexual assault late Thursday night….

According to the Phuket Gazette, the man who attempted to molest her, identified as Apai Ruangwong, has been charged with committing obscene behaviour toward another person and causing serious injury.

‘He said that he had known the victim for a day. He volunteered to walk her to her place, but couldn’t stop himself from touching her inappropriately.

‘The victim was frightened and ran away to escape him,’ Piyapong Boonkaew, superintendent of Ao Nang Police Station, told the Phuket Gazette.

Apai called rescue workers for his victim, who fell off the high cliff, the officer said.

It was only on Friday that rescue workers could reach her.”

 

Via City Living Seattle:

“Police arrested a 31-year-old man Sunday after he approached a woman as she was working in her yard, told her he wanted to have sex with her, and then returned hours later and broke into her home as she was showering.

The victim told police the suspect approached around 3 PM her as she was working in her garden near the 5100 block of 12th Avenue Northeast and informed her he wanted to have sex.

The woman immediately left her yard and went inside her home.

Hours later, around 7 PM, the woman was taking a shower when she heard someone trying to get into the bathroom.

The woman thought it might be one of her roommates and opened the door, only to find the suspect standing inside her home.

The woman began screaming for help, and one of her roommates grabbed the suspect and shoved him out the door of the home.

Officers arrived on scene minutes later and arrested the suspect in a nearby alley.”

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Filed Under: News stories, street harassment Tagged With: attack, escalation, murder

Harasser Shoots Man for Telling Him to Stop Disrespecting His Wife

July 25, 2016 By HKearl

Via Fox 13 News:

“Shortly before midnight on Sunday, officers say Bradley Mills was outside his home on Mason Avenue [in Florida] with his wife. Mills says he saw and heard two men two houses down staring and whistling at his wife, and told them to stop disrespecting her.

According to the police report, Mills’ wife went inside, and when Mills followed, he heard one of the men shout after him. He allegedly ignored him and kept walking, but turned when the man called out again and saw the man holding a gun, which he shot towards the ground. Then, Mills says the man shot several times at him while following him towards his house. Two of the bullets hit Mills, and he told his wife to call 911.

Authorities say they tracked down the shooter and identified him as Rolando Fernandez Rodriquez. He was arrested at his home on Pine Avenue in Haines City.

Mills was treated for two gunshot wounds at the Heart of Florida Hospital. He is expected to be okay. Rodriquez was transported to the Polk County Jail and charged with Attempted Murder in the 2nd Degree.”

Bradley Mills did everything right as a witness to street harassment. The scary reality is, you never know which harasser will escalate — some will escalate if you ignore, if you speak back assertively (as he did), or if you lash out. All we can do is make the best decision we can in the moment and try to stay safe.

I am grateful he told the harassers they were disrespectful and I’m relieved he will recover from his injuries.

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Filed Under: News stories, street harassment Tagged With: bystander, escalation, florida, gun, shooting, violence

USA: Street Harasser Shoots Into Women’s Shelter

July 5, 2016 By Correspondent

Kathleen Moyer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Past SSH Blog Correspondent

On Thursday, one Philadelphia man showed just how much street harassment can escalate, just how entitled some people feel to other’s bodies, and just how little regard some have for women’s lives.

Police are currently searching for a man who fired shots into a North Philadelphia women’s shelter Thursday afternoon.

According to investigators, the unidentified man approached a woman outside a Rite Aid and attempted to speak to her. When she refused, he followed her into the store and trailed her as she shopped. When the woman was finished shopping, she began to walk back to the women’s shelter where she lives and noticed that the man was still following her. Shortly after she entered the shelter, surveillance footage shows the man standing outside, then pulling a gun out of his pants and firing several shots into the building.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

This case shows that street harassment truly is a heinous act. Some people may dismiss it as a way of complimenting someone or guys just joking around, but it’s not. It goes much deeper than that. Think about what must have gone through that man’s head for him to get to the point where he was motivated to potentially kill people because a woman didn’t want to talk to him. He didn’t see a woman outside that Rite Aid; he saw an object he was entitled to conquer. When he failed, his pride was hurt so much that he felt the need to stalk her, instill fear in her, and assert his dominance over her. Then, when she finally got to safety, in a building filled with women who had possibly been treated like objects by other men with the same mentality, he decided that she didn’t deserve to live. None of the women, who were presumably safe, deserved to live. Even if the shots were only intended to be a threat, he knew very well that he could end up killing someone and he decided that was a fair outcome. Why? Because a woman didn’t want to talk to him.

Street harassment is not flattering, it’s not funny, and it’s not a trivial problem. Street harassment kills, and it’s time to acknowledge that horrifying fact. Luckily, no one died in this case, but far too many people have been killed as a result of street harassment. Someone who was stalked and shot at should not be considered lucky, because at least she’s still alive. It’s time for society to start addressing street harassment like the serious issue it is, so no other person has to endure what this woman did, and so no one dies in such a senseless way in the future.

No arrest has been made in this case yet. Anyone with tips should contact the Philadelphia Police Department.

Kathleen is a full-time graduate student studying professional and business communication. She plans initiatives to increase awareness of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other related issues through her university’s anti-sexual violence group, Explorers Against Sexual Violence.

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Filed Under: News stories, street harassment Tagged With: escalation, rejection, shooting

3-Year-Old Girl in Critical Condition

May 17, 2016 By HKearl

Trigger Warning – Violence escalation

Via Jezebel:

“On Sunday night, a Memphis man opened fire on a woman and her three year-old daughter after she refused his advances. The girl was hit multiple times, and is now in the hospital in “extremely critical condition.”

The gunman, who is still on the run, had had a confrontation with the girl’s mother. Local Memphis reports that, after the woman rejected him, he flew into a rage and fired into the car.”

Sending many positive thoughts out to the mother and daughter with every hope that the three-year-old recovers.

#Streetharassment is a serious issue. Male entitlement is deadly. We must address and end this!

H/T to our board member Laura S. Logan

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: escalation, girl, killing, memphis

“I felt really uncomfortable and ashamed”

February 4, 2016 By Contributor

I was walking into a Safeway grocery store in the early evening when I was about 21 years old. Two men who were much older than me were standing near the entrance and started saying things over and over as I was walking by like “Hey sexy”, “What are you doing tonight”, “Where are you going?”

I felt really uncomfortable and ashamed for some reason. I was coming from work and was dressed modestly, not that that should be an excuse. I tried to ignore them, but ended up turning my head to look at them. I didn’t say or do anything and I didn’t smile and then I turned my head straight again. For some reason they didn’t like that I looked at them and still ignored them or didn’t say hi or what. Then they started yelling that I was a “fu**ing bitch” and “you’re not pretty anyway” but it was very angry and I felt extremely scared and uncomfortable. I asked a bagger to walk me out to my car.

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

In my instance, a security guard and cameras in the parking lots. Management that will take action — or anyone that will take action.

– Elaina Cordova

Location: Sacramento, CA at the Safeway store on Fair Oaks and Howe Avenue.

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea
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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment Tagged With: escalation

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