Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“He had no right to touch me”

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Some dude grabbed my butt when I was getting food late last night. There was plenty of room for him to walk and I gave him a wide berth, but he walked very close to me and touched my butt very deliberately, then walked off all cool like. I gave him disgusted and annoyed looks from across the room but he ignored me and kept talking with his friends, even talking about following his female friend home to “make sure she’s safe.” He sounds like a stalker-rapist and he had no right to touch me!!

– Heina

Location: Albatros in Mission Viejo, CA

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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“The insanity”

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I currently volunteer with organization helping people find jobs. I do not have car so I walk there three times a week. It never fails that a guy will stop me ask me if I need a ride. Why would I take a ride from a total stranger. Once a guy circled around and stop me so that I was unable to cross the street. I typically curse them out and give eye contact when I do it. They typically speed off but what is going to happen when the guy does not speed off?

What is odd to me is, I am a college graduate and doing something positive in another person’s neighborhood and I am seen as a prostitute. This is absolutely insane!!!

-Natasha Toon

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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What a creeper

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I am not exactly happy to hear that others experience harassment as well, but it makes me feel a little better. So, I have this creepy guy at work. I am usually a very approachable, pleasant person, and even if someone totally creeps me out I don’t shoot them a dirty look. Perhaps I am too polite.

Ever get that feeling that you’re being whatched? Well, I had that feeling in the cafeteria, and I look over, and there is creepy dude, standing stock still, just STARING. I try to ignore it and finish my food, and look up like 45 seconds later, and he is STILL staring, unmoving. What a creeper.

When I see him in the hallway he stares. Only when I am in the faculty lounge by myself, does he seem to show up. But the last straw was him going past my classroom 4 times, eyeball fu****g me each time. Here I am trying to learn law, and he is like a shark, circling my class. His stares are predatory. I am moving forward with a sexual harassment grievance, but it is strange…I feel guilty, and confused.

– anonymous

Location: Auburn Hills, MI

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.

Story shared with me by Holla Back DC! since it happened outside the DC region

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Vulnerable to street harassment on a Vespa

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I drive a Vespa in Dallas, TX to save on gas, but lately I’ve been wondering if it’s worth the hassle. There are a few things about a Vespa that make me very vulnerable to street harassment and unable to escape it:

1) There’s no protection around me, so horns honking are VERY loud and very scary.
2) If I’m stopped at a red light, there’s nothing between me and a man who wants to tell me “how hot my body looks on that bike”
3) It’s not very powerful, so I can’t speed away in a bad situation.

I’ve had men follow me in their cars, stand next to me at red lights and ask me out, and yell “sexy mama” while veering towards me in an intersection. It’s dangerous, threatening and scary.

As women, we shouldn’t have to make sacrifices in the way we get from A to B. We shouldn’t feel threatened because we’re out for a walk, riding a bike or driving a Vespa.

– ALG

Location: Dallas, TX

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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Weekly Round Up Jan. 17, 2010

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Stories:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world.
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In the News:

Announcements:

  • Want an easy way to report harassers from your phone or want to receive a report showing all the places harassment has recently occurred? Then vote for HollaBack 2.0! This is a proposed project by HollaBack NYC and RightRides and they’re in the second round of a competition for funding to make this a reality.

Events:

Resource of the Week:

  • Liz Stanley’s & Sue Wise’s book Georgie Porgie: Sexual Harassment in Everyday Life. (London: Pandora Press, 1987). A lot of the book is applicable to street harassment and even though it’s over 20 years old, it’s still completely relevant (sadly).
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