This post deals with sexual harassment and might be triggering for some readers.
A few weeks ago, my friend frantically texted me.
She, a 19-year-old girl, was taking a bus home from university in peak hour when a man sitting opposite her pulled out his penis and started masturbating.
Once she noticed, he placed a hat over his crotch and spent the rest of the ride continuing to touch himself, all the while staring at her.
Watch: Unsure if you’re a feminist? Post continues below.
“Emma, what do I do?” she messaged me.
“Ask him very loudly what he’s doing with his hand under his hat,” I wrote back knowing that my friend, Lauren, would absolutely not feel comfortable saying that.
We spent the next fifteen minutes deliberating on how to react. What are you to do in that situation?
We went back and forth on the pros and cons of speaking up to him. “He’d probably be embarrassed, he doesn’t think you’ll call him out,” was my argument. But the ‘what ifs’ were too risky to ignore.
Eventually, we decided that when she was getting off the bus she should very deliberately take a photo of him and alert the bus driver.
Top Comments
Years ago I was at the local mall and as I walked in I saw a man kicking a woman who was on the ground in the fetal position. No one, not even security, was doing anything, there was a crowd just watching. I was terrified to help but still walked straight up to her and stood over her to offer some level of protection. I know I shouted at him but don't remember what I said. Only after my intervention did anyone else step in to help. I felt both powerful and terrified in that final moment. I always hope she is now ok.
I was standing outside David Jones at Christmas time when I noticed a guy dressed in a suit bending down tying his shoelace. But when I looked again I realised he was ‘upskirting’ two young girls. I went up to him and said “what do you think you’re doing. You’re disgusting!” He quickly got up and rushed away. I made sure to tell the girls what had happened and told them to let security know.