Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
Once walking at night a guy stepped in front of me then when I moved over he did as well. I was freaked out but yelled at him that he was a jerk and asked him how he would feel if I was his sister or girlfriend. He then apologized.
I told a group of construction workers that I used to walk by every day on my way to school that I’m not their dog to whistle at, and I angrily stared at one of them in the eyes to let them know I was serious. When I did that, they were shocked; I guess they had never gotten that kind of response before.
– anonymous
I grew up in Manhattan. One day in 6th or 7th grade, my friends and I got out of school kind of late because of an after-school program. When we left the building there was this homeless guy sitting outside and we didn’t pay him any attention, but were standing around trying to figure out what to do now that we were out for the day. He started mumbling something at us and we started feeling uncomfortable so we started to walk up the street and away from him. Finally, I guess he got mad that we ignored him and he says “Hey! Girl with the yellow back pack!” (I had a bright yellow Jansport,) “I wanna stick my d*ck up your a*s!”
I’ve never been so humiliated and horrified in my life! We all took off running up the street and I just remember looking back at some point and seeing him walking after us. We ducked into a convenience store and luckily it was crowded because he actually followed us in there! I saw him looking over people’s heads to see if he could find us but we stayed low and eventually he went away. Usually I took the train the opposite direction of all my friends to go home, but I was so scared I went home with one of them so I didn’t have to be alone. I was so scared he was going to find me.
My mom was really upset that I had went to my friend’s house without telling her. I remember being so angry that she didn’t understand how scared I was to take the train alone that day after what had happened…
-Ashley JC
Have you ever been whistled or honked at, commented on in a sexual way (positively or negatively), leered at, groped, masturbated in front of, followed, or assaulted while in public? If so, please share your story via e-mail and it will be added to this blog as a new entry. Visit the blog to learn more about the kinds of harassment women face and how they deal with it.
Note: In public, we are all susceptible to verbal, physical, and sexual attacks from complete strangers. People who are “different” or less “powerful” are particularly vulnerable to attacks by strangers. However, this site focuses primarily on the experiences of women being harassed in public by men.
In a society where politics and business are still male dominated, men make more money than women, and women are depicted in the media and advertisements simply as sexual objects, women as a category are less powerful than men as a category. Women are also vulnerable to physical or sexual assault by men and have a history of being men’s legal and sexual property. Thus, the dynamics of men harassing women on the street has a different underlying meaning than if a man harasses another man, a woman harasses another woman or a woman harasses a man. Also, the street harassment of women by men is further complicated by the different ways in which women perceive the harassment. Factors like how often they are harassed, the severity of the harassment, the race, class and age of the harasser compared to themselves, and issues of fear and safety all play a role in how women feel about and classify the harassment they receive. While surely no one would like an unknown man to grope, stalk or assault her, the circumstances and personal history of the woman will determine if she finds a man’s whistle or comments to be offensive or complimentary. Feel free to share your views on this blog.
– Administrator