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“A hand grabbed my breast”

December 27, 2017 By Contributor

I was walking down the street around 6 am to catch a bus, with earphones in my ears and jacket covering me. I only thought i needed protection from cold…How naive was I?

A bike pulled off near me and a hand grabbed my breast. I was in shock, utter humiliation and mad at myself for not being able to move an inch. He casually rode on his way, as if it was a day in the park.

– Anonymous

Location: Bangalore, India

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

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment Tagged With: bicycle, grope, India, sexual assault

Plane Assaulters & Perv Busters

June 27, 2016 By HKearl

First, I cannot even believe that a SECOND man was arrested this month for groping a teenage girl seated next to him on an airplane.

An Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to Anchorage was recently diverted to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport mid-flight. A 23-year-old man allegedly repeatedly groped a 16-year-old girl seated next to him. Another man in their row intervened and alerted the flight attendant who then notified the pilot. The pilot diverted the plane and the assailant was arrested in Seattle.

In a similar incident this month, a man groped a 13-year-old girl seated beside him on an American Airlines flight. The flight attendant saw it and moved her and he was arrested at the airport.

What is wrong with these men?? I’m angered by their predatory behavior and blatant disregard for the feelings and bodily autonomy of the girls. And I’m grateful for the bystanders on the planes who took action to stop the abuse.

But in better news, I am loving the new “Perv Busters” effort that launched last week in New York City. We need a similar effort in every community!

Perv Busters - photo by Matthew McDerrmott, via NY Post
Perv Busters – photo by Matthew McDerrmott, via NY Post

Via the New York Post:

“Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa…was training an all- ­female group called the Perv Busters. Their mission: Finding and shaming subway perverts.

“You know the signs that say, ‘See something, say something’? Well, we’re doing something,” said Sliwa, 62, who founded the Guardian Angels in 1979.

After the MTA backed out of a plan to deploy eight MTA cops to battle a recent surge in subway sex crimes, Sliwa decided to take matters into his own hands.

“I’ve got eight girls doing what the transit cops apparently can’t do,” he said.

His crew gathered at Columbus Circle at 8 p.m. Friday for their first night of prowling for “weenie ­wavers.” …

“We all know what it’s like to be harassed and followed. But you don’t have the right to complain if you don’t do anything about it,”
she said.

The team’s youngest member, 13-year-old Veronica Pagan, is a third-generation Guardian Angelette. She sported her grandmother’s beret.

“I joined because I wanted to make them proud, but I also did it for myself. I want to show guys that we are not weak, we can step up just the same,” Pagan said.

After a demonstration on how to handcuff, the girls lined up in formation on the subway platform.

Silwa ordered everyone to board, break off into pairs and stand in the doorways on lookout.

“The first thing we have to work on is the look. If you’re standing there all smiley, people won’t take you seriously,” Sliwa said.

Sliwa then instructed the Angels to hand out the official Perv ­Busters flier.

Rider Daniel Martinez, 33, was excited that the Angels were back, and asked Sliwa how to join.

“I just think it’s beautiful. It’s about time that we see women step up and be warriors. We need more Joan of Arcs in our city,” Pagan said.

 

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Filed Under: News stories, Resources Tagged With: airplane, assault, community action, grope, NYC, teenager

Men Grope Sled Dog Musher in Alaska During a Competition

April 9, 2016 By HKearl

Via CBS News:

“Authorities in Alaska were investigating after a female competitor in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race said two men on snowmobiles groped her as her mushing team passed by.

Alaska State Troopers were looking into the March 13 incident as harassment for now, James Lester said Monday. The 27-year-old rookie musher reported the groping at the checkpoint in the village of Nulato, almost 350 miles from the Nome finish line….The woman went on to complete the 1,000-mile race,”

Unreal. What the hell. I’m so sorry this happened to her. How upsetting.

As an aside (because I was like, why isn’t this assault?), in Alaska, groping falls under “Harassment in the First and Second Degree” and it comes with up to a $10,000 fine.

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: alaska, grope, idiatrod trail, sexual assault, sled dog race

Harassed, groped, and affronted in front of her own apartment door

December 27, 2010 By Contributor

I don’t feel safe at home anymore.

It was Monday, Dec. 20, when this happened. I had just gotten home from a night out with my friends and I walked up to my apartment. I was digging my keys out of my purse when I noticed a couple of guys walking up the stairs. I thought nothing of it as my neighbors are quiet and keep to themselves.

One of the guys started talking to me and I hadn’t gotten my key into the door, and I realized that at this point I was trapped between my living space and two guys I didn’t know. He was asking me if he could come ‘hang out’ and I said no. He touched me and tried to kiss me and at one point ran his hand over my crotch. He then grabbed my keys and opened my door. I went inside, shoved him and shoved my door closed.

I was in shock and I felt stupid that I didn’t call the police. I was too freaked out, and I was just glad that I got into my apartment by myself.

It’s been a few days and I still don’t think there’s enough water to wash all this disgusting off of me.

– DL

Location: Katy, TX (Houston Suburb)

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment Tagged With: forceful harassment, grope, sexual assault, street harassment

Frightful sexual violation by a stranger in Columbia Heights, DC

August 24, 2010 By Contributor

I am a California native, and I’ve been living in Washington, DC for the past 3.5 years. I have been astounded time and time again by the level of street harassment that goes on here, as well as the type: It is not just excessive in terms of frequency, but it is also usually very verbally aggressive and hostile, in addition to overly vulgar.

From the moment I arrived in DC, I began attracting an excessive amount of negative sexual attention from men on the streets. I have had an abundance of uncomfortable experiences, ranging from simple, sexually explicit comments thrown my way, to men exposing themselves to me and masturbating to the sight of me in the park, and guys grabbing my butt while they ride past me on bikes. I am a 5’’9 Caucasian female with a curvy figure. I am attractive, but no more than any other female in this city. I do, however, seem to generate far more harassment than my friends, and I have to attribute it largely to the curves. Whatever the reason, the frequency has concerned everyone in my life.

On the night of Thursday, August 12th, just slightly after midnight, I was walking with my friend back to her apartment in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. We only had a 5 block walk to go, and we were together, so we didn’t think it was necessary to take a cab. We were carrying groceries in both our hands. A mere half a block from her building, I heard a sudden rush of footsteps behind us, then felt someone’s body slam into my back. I then felt myself 100% bound, as the person wrapped their arms solidly around me in a strong bear-hug hold.

Because the brain does not process things normally when in shock, the first thought both I and my friend had was, “Oh, whose that? Is that a friend I know that’s just surprising me with a hug?” We had just said goodnight to a friend, so I thought perhaps it was him.

The attackers grip suddenly changed, and though he still had me bound, his hands suddenly gripped my breasts very hard. My arms were pinned to my side. I could not move. And to be honest, I didn’t even realize just what was happening to me.

–That is until his left arm shifted to hold me in place while he shoved his right arm between my legs, placed his hand over my vagina, quickly rubbed it aggressively and then attempted to shove his fingers inside of me over my dress. I heard an utterly disgusting sound of sexual arousal leave his mouth in that moment– I think that sound disturbed me even more than the molestation. It has certainly been the part of the experience that has haunted me the most.

It was only then that the shock gave way to an understanding of what was happening to me. According to my friend, I screamed “Get off of me!,” then dropped my weight to the ground. I don’t even remember doing this. And that’s when she realized just what was going on. Even as my body fell away from his grip and onto the ground, he was still struggling to hold onto me. When he let go, I looked up to see my friend struggling with him and pushing him away from me. He grabbed her hair, yanked her head back, shoved her and ran away.

The entire thing probably lasted a total of 10 seconds. This person knew exactly what he was doing. He worked my body with such precision that he clearly had the attack down to a routine. I was in shock for nearly the entire thing. I didn’t fully understand what had happened until I saw him running away.

We called the police, but he was long gone. During the entire episode, there were approximately 10 men sitting on the porch to an apartment building just 2 houses down the street. They witnessed the entire thing, made no attempts to intervene, didn’t move at all to run after the attacker, and, when it was all over, sat passively in place watching me weep in a ball on the sidewalk. When the police questioned them, they said they saw nothing.

It has been a week, and I feel NERVOUS. Everywhere I go. I don’t want any man walking behind me on the sidewalk, even if he’s simply going to work, I don’t want any many standing behind me on the bus, even if he’s reading. I don’t even want any many looking at me. I cannot relax AT ALL when I leave the house.

The sexual violation isn’t even the most traumatizing aspect to the experience: Sadly, I’ve been expecting something like this to happen for a long time, and I’m frankly surprised it’s taken 3.5 years given the level of harassment in this town. What has been the most traumatizing aspect of it is feeling like anyone who passes by me could attack me at any moment. As I lay there on the sidewalk crying that night, I wasn’t crying because some stranger had tried to shove their fingers inside of me: I was crying because I felt so utterly outraged and helpless. The violation of my power as a human being and my right to not be dominated feels even more intense than the sexual violation as a woman.

I have owned pepper spray since I was groped by the cyclists last year. I have spent the past year with it clutched in my hand, switch on, finger ready every single time I’ve left my house. 4 days before this attack, my spray broke. I had been walking around DC feeling extremely naked and vulnerable and scared without it, but I tried to tell myself I’d be okay for a few days until I got a new one. –Irony at its best.

Having said that, even if I’d had my spray: Given the way he had my arms and hands pinned to my sides, the pepper spray would have been useless. In fact I wonder what, if anything, WOULD be useful in a situation like that: We all think we’re going to act like cheetahs in these situations. We carry pepper spray and take self-defense classes and think we’ll be ready. In fact I once took a self-defense class geared precisely toward what to do if someone grabs you from behind and pins your arms down.

The fact of the matter is: When it’s happening to you, you just go into SHOCK.

I am very surprised that this man attacked me with another person at my side, but I’m very thankful she was there. I’m positive I would have been raped had she not been.

Though they are illegal here, I have ordered a stun gun and I intend to begin carrying it in my hand if ever I have to walk in DC at night. The fact that I have to resort to this infuriates me, and the reality of never being able to simply go for a walk in the city I love and reside in, without feeling perpetually on guard and defensive and nervous, makes me really sad.

I don’t know what it is about this city, or me, or the combination of the two that makes this type of thing so very prevalent, but I want it to stop, and I don’t know what to do.

– B.

Location: Washington, DC; Columbia Heights neighborhood; 16th St. NW at Spring, near The Woodner apartment building

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Filed Under: Stories, street harassment Tagged With: columbmia heights, grope, sexual assault, sexual violation

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