I walk home along a highway, and I've been honked at, shouted at, whistled at. I've had people make inappropriate comments about my body, my clothes, whether I have a boyfriend, etc. etc. etc. Nothing past verbal, though.
I just read through this entire thread, and reading everyone's stories just makes me so mad that you all had to go through such horrible and traumatic experiences. I just want to reach out and give you all hugs.
It makes me deeply sad and sick to my core that this is considered "normal", and that I consider myself lucky I've never been a victim of sexual abuse. Harassment, abuse, assault - it just shouldn't exist, period.
Edit: Just wanted to add something else that also makes me deeply sad and sick to my core - the legitimate fear of sexual harassment/abuse/assault. I, like many other woman (and men), am scared to walk alone, especially at night, or in a secluded area. I get uncomfortable when I see a group of men loitering where I have to walk, even in broad daylight, or in a public area. I get scared when someone catcalls me, or tries to start an unwanted conversation with me in a place where I can't or it's considered
wrong to escape (i.e. the train, the grocery store lineup, at a workplace [just for the record, though, I've never been harassed at work]). I even get uncomfortable when someone follows me too closely for too long, even if they don't show any intent to harass or harm me and they just happen to be heading the same way as me.
The fact sexual harassment/abuse/assault is so incredibly common (as shown by everyone's stories here) that I experience fear doing routine tasks every single day of my life, even though I've
never had to deal with anything past verbal harassment like many of you have, is extremely telling. I can't even imagine what some of you must go through on a daily basis.
