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23 Women Confess Their Scariest Encounters With Street Harassment

16.

I was walking with my first high school boyfriend in the parking lot of the mall. It was the middle of the day on a weekend. I was probably 14, he was 18. A bunch of gangsters in full colors drove up beside us, and started screaming about how they wanted to rape me. Being the brash 14 year old that I was, I decided to yell back about how I’d like to see them try. They stopped the car, and started to get out. My boyfriend fucking bolted, they pulled a gun on me, and I yelled about how I’d like to see them try to do anything in broad daylight. People were starting to stare, but nobody was doing anything. One of them grabbed my hair, another grabbed my purse, and then they yelled at my boyfriend that he had “better be getting pussy from that bitch.” We went and sat next to security until my parents came and picked us up. They kept driving around the mall long after we left.

17.

I was 15 and walking to my bus stop to go to school. I had my headphones on and all of a sudden this dude popped up beside me and asked me what time the bus was coming. I assumed he was a new senior or something (he looked older but not so much older that he couldn’t have been in high school). I told him and he then said “have you seen my dick before?” I said “umm… No?” And then whipped it out. I side eyed him real hard and walked briskly away, but not before he said “I’ll see you later” and grabbed my ass. I held it together until I told my friend on the bus (she could tell something was wrong) and I broke down crying. My mom had to drive me to school for the rest of the year.

18.

I was walking to the subway around midnight a few years ago. Plans got mixed up, and I wound up having to take public transportation across the city to get home from a friend’s house. I was walking by myself when a jeep full of guys pulls up to a red light. One guy called out at me talking the normal crazy stuff and asking for my number. I said, “I’m good, no thank you.” That set him off, and he yelled, “I oughta smack the shit out of you.” I got on the phone with a friend (should have called the police instead) and tried to walk faster. Still at the red light, he jumped out of his car and started walking towards me. I almost shit myself. I was so sure something bad was going to happen to me! Looking back, I thank God that I was able to make it home safely. His friends called him back to the car and they sped off laughing. I was petrified, and I refuse to go back to that area ever again.

19.

I was riding my bike home from work, and came to a stop light. A homeless man was at the intersection drinking, and made a few comments. When I didn’t acknowledge them, he threw his beer bottle at me. I rode away, and he yelled after me. It was terrifying. I don’t ride my bike to and from work anymore.

Written by Laura McNairy

Laura is a freelance writer for TFLN. She likes to write about what she knows best — dating, sex, and being awkward, but usually in the opposite order. She is the Assistant Editor and videographer for Peach Fuzz, a sex-positive nudie magazine in ATX.