Stop Street Harassment

Survey Respondents

“I used to pass by this one particular corner to get to the bus stop. There were young men who'd hang out on the corner and make all kinds of comments to women who passed by. I admit to changing bus stops in order to avoid them.” - 30-39 year-old heterosexual African American woman in Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Before I had a car, I was always angry and a little scared when I had to use public transit because men harassed me on an almost daily basis. I was angry because there was nothing I could do to stop it overall. There would always be another guy the next day. I was angry that these men felt they had the right to intrude in my personal space and ask me personal questions and that they felt that I owed them attention. I carried pepper spray in my hand whenever I walked home.” - 20-29 year-old heterosexual Latina in San Diego, California

“An old man started masturbating through his pants on the train while looking at me and my partner, moving closer and closer to us. We changed cars and he even had the nerve to follow us to the other car! No one else even seemed to notice how filthy the man was behaving.” - 20-29 year-old bisexual/queer white woman in New York City, New York

“I had an incident where late at night when I was alone and walking to my car a guy yelled out to me that I was beautiful. Not knowing who he was I ignored him. He caught up with me and got in my face and started yelling and swearing at me, pretty much telling me he thought I was conceited. I stood there and simply stared him in the eye. I'm not sure what he was trying to do, but finally he got tired and just walked away. It was pretty scary, but I'm glad I held my own.” - 30-39 year-old heterosexual Asian American woman in Chicago, Illinois

In 2008 I conducted an informal online survey about street harassment. Over 1000 people took the survey and there were 916 useable responses, including 811 from women. Over half of the women shared their stories about their experiences in public and specifically with street harassment.

Read the responses to the question, "Feel free to share a personal story illustrating a time when you felt unsafe or unwelcome in public."
Read the responses to the question, "If you answered #1 and/or #4, please feel free to share a specific incident" (this question relates directly to street harassment experiences).

In 2008 I conducted an informal online survey about street harassment. Over 1000 people took the survey and there were 916 useable responses, including 811 from women. Over half of the women shared their stories about their experiences in public and specifically with street harassment.

Read the responses to the question, "Feel free to share a personal story illustrating a time when you felt unsafe or unwelcome in public."

Read the responses to the question, "If you answered #1 and/or #4, please feel free to share a specific incident" (this question relates directly to street harassment experiences).