This morning, I witnessed a particularly nasty example of sexual harassment on the tube. I’ve seen this so many times before, but today it really got to me, particularly in the current climate (1/ )
(2/ ) a women was sitting in the tube carriage next to me, reading her book with her earphones in and minding her own business. The man sitting opposite her began trying to strike up a conversation...
(3/) she was extremely polite (more than I would have been) but made it clear she wasn’t interested in talking. The man was also very loud, aggressive and obviously drunk (at half 10 in the morning)
(4/) he complimented her several times, before telling her to “smile, I’m talking to you”) and then asked for her number. She politely refused, saying she was married. He continued to insist on a phone number
(5/ ) he became increasingly loud and aggressive, insisting that he was “only trying to be friendly”, and “why was she being such an uptight bitch?” To be clear: nobody in her carriage said a word.
(6/ ) at this point, ever the interferer, I decided I had to say something. I called over from my carriage: “Dude, she said no. She said she’s not interested. Leave her be.” That’s polite for me, by the way...
(7/ ) he was absolutely incensed, and began shouting down the carriage at me, calling me a “disgusting bitch” and “fucking slag”. I laughed at him and tried to ignore it, but I admit I was worried he was going to come over. There’s no security on tubes
(8/ ) the woman looked at me gratefully, as he continued to alternate between shouting abuse at me and insisting that she give him her number. Even at this point, nobody in his carriage said a word, not even the several strong looking men, who might have intimidated him
(9/ ) luckily, both the woman and I were approaching our stop, but we would probably have had to get off anyway. We had a quick chat on the platform, and both shrugged it off as something women simply have to deal with...
(10/ ) but why do we have to? Because one drunk fool thought he had the god-given right to a woman’s attention and phone number; because he knew nobody would step in and say anything; because he knew he has physical superiority and could intimidate us?
(11/ ) because public transport is one of the most dangerous places for women; because people would rather keep their headphones in and pretend it isn’t happening; because women are trained to ignore #everdaysexism in order to stay safe?
(12/ ) two women’s days ruined. For no other reason than because we are women. And people ask, why do we need feminism? Because we experience shit like this on a daily goddamn basis, and we’re fucking tired and pissed off.
(13/13) so thanks, @TfL , for having absolutely no safety measures in place. Thanks, all the men on the carriage who didn’t say a word. And thanks, society, for allowing some men to believe they have the right to act this way - and letting them get away with it.
Afterword: I'd like to reiterate that this is in no way unusual. I've seen / experienced situations like this on public transport more times than I could possibly count.
