I was walking back to my car after a night class when a group of about five young men started following me. They were talking to each other, but intentionally kept the volume loud enough so I could hear clearly (they were several meters behind me). They spent several minutes commenting on my skirt, which they deemed slutty, before the conversation turned to how much they enjoyed “gang-raping sluts”. When I got back to my car, I locked it right away and drove home. This isn’t the first or last time I’ve been harassed on campus, but it’s definitely the scariest example.

In the end, I decided not to report because the response to sexual violence around here is worse than useless. A serial groper last year prompted an email telling women to “be careful”, an offer for a women’s self-defense class, and plenty of jokes around campus. RCMP believes that the same man was flashing and assaulting women as early as 2004, and his behavior was still escalating several months later. AFAIK he’s still not been caught. Doesn’t exactly make me feel safe, or give me much confidence in the authorities’ abilities to deal with sexual violence.

– anonymous

Location: Vancouver Island University, Vancouver, Canada