“I felt so uncomfortable for the rest of vacation that I didn’t even go swimming.”

I am so glad to find this group! It helps to identify that this sort of harassment is real and should not be expected to be taken as “flattery.” I have experienced this crap since I was 12 or 13. Once I was with my sister and cousin (aged 11-13) walking down a road at night in a rural town and these guys in a car yelled out at us. We thought that it was over but then we saw them turning around to follow us. As we were crossing a driveway, they pulled in and we ran into these woods as fast as we could and luckily they didn’t follow us further.

Once I was on vacation with my family when I was 13 and we were eating dinner. This creepy old guy at a different table, who was with a woman by the way, made eye contact with me and waved. My dad asked if I knew the guy and I was so embarrassed I looked down. The guy made a pouting face at me. I felt so uncomfortable for the rest of the vacation that I didn’t even go swimming.

This sort of harassment has continued throughout my life and has always affected my feeling of safety and empowerment and I’m in my 20′s now. Since it’s been nice out it’s gotten worse and men have been honking a lot at me lately. I always return to that feeling of shame when I was so young.

Now I currently work with the typical men that would be street harassers. Constant comments about hot women and liking to watch porn and women working out in yoga pants. I’ve talked to my boss about it and she did a sexual harassment training. It’s been a struggle to stand up to these guys and I feel like I need to keep the peace and just work with them. We are doing stressful work and you would just think they would know better. It’s a complete culture of machismo and misogyny I am finding.

Strangely enough this sort of harassment doesn’t just happen to adult women and this can be very traumatic to girls just trying to grow up.

Spring Forward – Hollaback! Launch Party!

Come hang out with Hollaback! Portland, Maine, drink some $2.50 draft beers, and learn about how you can be part of Portland’s most badass movement to end street harassment!

in the grocery store parking lot….

I was putting groceries in my car today and someone just came up said “Nice ass” and proceeded to cop a feel. Needless to say I was a little embarrassed/offended.