Leering

Ninety-five percent of 814 female survey respondents* said they were the target of leering or excessive staring in public places by unknown men at least once. Over 68 percent reported being the target of it 26 times or more.

“Lots of leering on public transportation.”
– 13-19 year-old heterosexual Asian American in New York City

“In Seattle: honking, leering men in cars, I couldn’t even walk past a bus stop at night without being hit on by creepy old men.”
– 20-29 year-old pansexual white Canadian in Canada

“When I went running and I had my backpack tied around my upper waist, some dude came up to me leering, and said, ‘Girl, I like the way you tie your backpack’ while staring at my breasts. I just kept running and was disgusted by it for the rest of the day. I still am.”
– 20-29 year-old heterosexual Latina in New York City

* I conduced an online informal survey in fall 2008 to learn more about people's experiences in public, including street harassment. Nine hundred and sixteen people had useable responses and they came from a range of backgrounds and geographic locations, demonstrating the prevalence of street harassment globally. Survey-takers selected age-range categories from “13-19” through “80 and older;” they represented every major American racial group; they identified as bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, queer, “other;” and they came from 45 American states, 23 countries, and five continents.