Men Who Harass Me: One Woman's Partial Collection

This is the 34th in the series. Submitted by Sally N.

Vote for Hollaback 2.0!

We are currently rated #2 out of 243 applications. A #1 ranking will help us secure the funds to make this initiative happen. HOLLABACK against street harassment! Vote now, here.

Men Who Harass Me: One Woman's Partial Collection

This is the 33rd in the series. Submitted by Sally N.

Vote to Help Bring RightRides to DC!

Reposted from Hollaback DC: How much would you love to see safe, free rides for women and LGBTQ individuals on weekends through a partnership with Holla Back DC! and Zipcar? Wouldn’t that be cool? Well, we want to bring a RightRides chapter to the DC metro area. To make this a reality, Holla Back DC! is asking you to vote for this idea through Ideablob. If we win, half of that $10K would be used to bring RightRides to DC. But we need YOU to make it happen! We urge you to take one minute to register through Ideablob and vote for HBDC! A vote for us is a vote for a safer DC for all. And hey, good ideas spread, so get your friends and family in other places to vote to make our nation’s capital a safe place! Read about our plans, register, vote, and spread the word. As always, a heartfelt thank you for your votes and continued support. Holla Back DC! is a community initiative that would not be possible without the loving support from people like you and the DC metro community.

Grazed, then Chased

I live in Philly but since we are almost a New York suburb and we have no Holla Back yet, I'm sending my story to you. I walk into a bookstore in Old City, it's one of my favorites because it's all used books and there are so many books, they pile them up everywhere, it's like cairns up and down the aisles. It's always an adventure to go in and generally fun to strike up conversation with fellow book lovers. That evening was hot and humid, I had a sun dress on. I found my favorite section and started scanning for books. I hear someone walking down the aisle and press up against the shelves to make room (there were 5 or 6 towers of books near my feet), I hear the individual say something, Hey, Hi, What's up sort of greeting, but at the same moment I feel him graze my butt. In that instant two things cross my mind - it was an accident/he did it on purpose. The blood rushes to my face because I know it was no accident. I lean back from the shelves and dig my nails into the book I'm holding. I look at him, he doesn't look back. I pay for the book, he quickly leaves the store but turns back to look at me as he passes the window. All manner of gruesome scenarios invade my mind and I count to 20 and leave the store. Two blocks down the street, I'm still boiling, mostly that I didn't do anything, and then I hear it. "Hey, hey miss" I turn to find him jogging down the block towards me across the street. I cross the street screaming any and all obscenities at him, and so the people near us get the picture, yell at him for groping me in a bookstore, being a pervert, asshole and the like. He turns, walks away, turns again and then starts running down the street. I hope I have scared him one tenth of what he scared me.

Street Harassment that Led to Assault

Reposted from the New York Post: An ex-con is back behind bars for groping a young woman in broad daylight as she walked into her SoHo apartment building, police sources said yesterday. José Marrero, 32, allegedly stalked the 23-year-old victim for three blocks on Oct. 4 while saying, "Hey beautiful, come with me, let's go somewhere." The suspect, who has done time for drug charges, pounced as she stepped into the lobby of her building on Varick Street near Broome streets at 8:30 a.m., sources said. The victim tried to fight off the attacker, but Marrero allegedly threw her to the ground, rubbed his body against hers and molested her. Two witnesses stumbled upon the attack, prompting the suspect to dash off, but the victim picked Marrero out of a photo array. The suspect was arrested last Wednesday and charged with burglary and sexual abuse.

HollaEXPANSION

Check out the newest HOLLAsites! HollabackUK and HollabackSAVANNAH

Be in a Street Harassment Documentary!

Maureen K. Doll is making a short film on street harassment and she needs your help. Are you a woman who has been street harassed in New York City? Today? Yesterday? Five years ago? Whatever your experience, she wants to hear about it. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbor. Tell your mother. And contact her at l.acrobate@gmail.com. After completing a brief questionnaire, you may be invited for an interview. Regardless, your input is invaluable---thank you in advance. This project is a part of The New School graduate program in documentary studies.

Garbage

A garbage truck full of men whistling at you isn't so bad. Except when you are walking home alone at night on a street without a soul in sight. Then it is terrifying. Submitted by Emily

Perv Flashes Kids

This guy (in camo) has pulled out his penis twice & displayed it to our sidewalk sale and children. Submitted via cell phone

Ass-Swipe Harasser

This lowlife asshole always stands on the Manhattan bound side of DeKalb ave off the L line and tries to swipe people with found metrocatds. He always gets up in girls personal space and harasses them if they say no and use the machine. A week ago, I had firmly said "NO" and he started immitating me so I told the MTA person at the other end. Obviously he had gotten away so after taking his picture today, I hope he gets caught! Submitted by Danielle

Bigots: It's None of Your Business

These are two incidences that happened within the same week in July, in downtown Toronto. I'm used to people asking me where I'm from, because they get confused about how someone who looks European has such an "ethnic" name. But in the space of one week, I had two creepy strangers come up to me and use my "exotic" ethnicity as an excuse to hit on me. Incident one: I was listening to my iPod waiting on the subway platform at Spadina. A guy comes up to me and says something, I take my headphones out, and this is seriously what he says: "Excuse me, are you German? Because you look so good in that dress." I was in a really good mood, so I just smiled politely and said no. Then he started asking "Norwegian? Swedish? Swiss?" He went through pretty much all of Western Europe before he started on Eastern Europe. I told him "You'll never guess, and I'm not going to tell you." Then he acted all offended, "You're not going to tell me? That's so mean, why are you being mean to me? Can I have your number so I can call you and find out where you're from?" Luckily, the subway came then, and I just said "I'm not single, and it's none of your business anyway." He looked pissed! Incident two: This one actually really pissed me off. I went to the store at the ground level of my apartment building to buy cigarettes. I was turning to go back into my building when a skeezy looking middle aged guy stops me. "Excuse me, where are you from? Are you from Switzerland?" That day I really wasn't in the mood for it, and I was pretty cold when I said "No." and tried to leave. But it was right in front of my building and he was following me. He started going through all of the Western and Eastern European countries, when I noticed his accent and asked where he was from. He said he's Albanian, and I said, ah, my great-grandfather was Albanian. Then he says, "Okay, so how about a nice Albanian girl like you has a coffee with a nice Albanian guy like me?" I told him no, I'm married and I don't have coffees with strange men. He then proceeded to tell me that I couldn't possibly be married because I look "too fresh and lovely, and married women are all tired and unhappy", and he asked if my husband was Canadian. I told him "My husband's ethnicity is none of your business, he's a Muslim and I'm a Muslim, and neither of us have coffee with people who stop us on the street." Then he got REALLY MAD, and told me not to be Muslim because only poor Albanians are Muslim, and I'm too young and beautiful to be married to a Muslim man! I didn't bother telling him that it's my Italian husband who's the convert, I just walked away. A dirty pervert and a bigot! Submitted by Zeyneb

Hollaback is about to go 2.0!

We've been working hard for the past few months with our friends at RightRides on a new generation of Hollaback. We want to create an online map where women can "Hollaback!" directly from their cell phones. Quick, 140 character stories can be submitted through three easy portals: a) text it, b) tweet it, and c) submit it through a "Hollaback" mobile phone app. Once we launch in New York City, we want to take it worldwide. What do you think of our idea? We need your help. Click here to tell us: http://bit.ly/14Egc2 and vote for our idea to make it happen. Once you are done with that, spread the word to your networks. Cut and paste this to your facebook, twitter, Myspace, and LinkedIn pages: Vote for Hollaback 2.0 http://bit.ly/14Egc2 then repost to end street harassment!

Fucking Rude with an Attitude

I was harassed less than 1/2 hour ago. I went to the supermarket. I got out of my car and walked toward the store. As I was walking, I noticed a man but ignored him because my focus was on walking to the supermarket and getting what I needed. I heard someone call out to me, and the man had a friend with him. I turned around and one of them said that they liked my dreads. I said thank you and continued walking. One of them then said something about me being "fucking rude with an attitude" and how he liked that, and he said not to do it again because it turned him on. Then one or both of them said something about wanting to fuck me. It scared the shit out of me. But I walked fast and tried not to look obviously scared. I got the 2 items that I needed and before leaving the store, I asked the cashier to please call security to walk me to my car. The security guard obliged and said that it's a damn shame (with other expletives thrown in there) that I have to be afraid of the men in my culture, and that if I ever felt unsafe again to call security and they'll walk me to my car anytime. I'm still rattled. Submitted by P.

Strength in Sisters

This man was on the G train heading to queens around midnight Friday night. He came into the car alone, and proceeded to sit in front of me and my sisters. Then he wouldnt stop staring at us .. and feeling himself.. So I took out my camera and snapped him in the act. He asked if I had taken a picture of him, and I said.. no, no I did not. All the while.. he stared. He made me completely uncomfortable, and I took out my mace in case he tried anything. But there were too many people on the train.. thank God! Submitted by Veronica

Village Assault

On Sunday afternoon a random stranger attacked my friend. He came up from behind us with no warning and when I asked him why he claimed that she had bumped into him and not apologized. He knocked her teeth loose and she is covered in bruises and scrapes from how hard she hit the ground. I followed him several blocks up University Place and when I grabbed his shirt to try to keep him from running away he punched me multiple times and bit me before several guys wrestled him to the ground in front of the Whole Foods in Union Square. That's when I got these photos. Submitted by Cori