Sexual Harassment at CSUSB

To Whom It May Concern:

First off, I'd like to thank whoever is responsible for creating and running this site. I really hope Holla Back California continues to be updated, and I've been telling my peers about it, especially after what happened today.

At around 11:35 A.M. I had crossed Northpark Blvd. to get on the California State University San Bernardino campus. There was an African-American male, around five and a half feet tall, walking towards me. He had short, shaved dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and was wearing a gray USC shirt, red and white PE shorts, and a black backpack. When he got next to me I opened my mouth to say "good morning" but he told me that I should "let him suck on those titties". I immediately scowled at him and flipped him off and he quickly walked away. Since he had a backpack and was walking off campus I'm assuming that he is a student at CSUSB. I hate that I wasn't able to take a picture of him, but I hope my description of him will help. I'll be on the lookout for him when I walk around Northpark now. I just want the students at CSUSB to be aware that there's sexual harassment going on near the outskirts of campus.

Just a letter

Hello. This is long, but I have to get it out.

I have not left my apartment alone in 6 months, except once per week to go to the grocery store (in the car), and even that is a nightmare I dread.

Every time I leave the house I feel intimidated by street harassers, cat callers or otherwise rude, aggressive men. No, I'm not a supermodel, nor a sea cow. No I don't dress provocatively (most of the time I don't even get out of my PJ's) or instigate trouble. I mostly try to look at the ground when I walk now.
Its every single time I leave the house, and its not my imagination. Its not an age thing, a race thing or a lifestyle thing-Its a gender/aggression thing.

Even going to the grocery store once a week is a nightmare; the last 2 trips I was cornered by crazy, sick old men that could have been my grampa, or at least my dad. One of the guys stopped at the end of an aisle and stared at me for over a whole minute-When I stared back he said 'sorry' and scurried away. Another one was a really old man when I was at the check out; He stood so close to me I could feel his breath on my neck, so I changed check out booths after trying to take steps back several times, and him just stepping closer very time. He FOLLOWED ME!!! But this time he was blocking me in, so I couldn't get away!

The last time I went out without my BF and not to the grocery store was to walk to the bank 1/2 mile away and back. Outside the bank is a fruit cart with a guy selling fruit. I saw him staring at the end of the block, and he leered the whole time, whistled when I passed the cart, and leered again until I got into the bank doors. Same thing happened on the way back.
As soon as I turned the corner, 3 men parked in a car on the side street began making kissy noises and yelling toward me...The three of them followed me all the way to the other corner where I live, making squishy mouth noises the whole way. I don't go to the bank on foot anymore.

Aside from yells and weird encounters (this is only the last couple times Ive left the house), I can't walk down the road without beeps from passing cars, or men yelling obscene comments or leering out their windows at red lights. It doesn't just happen in the summer when I wear t-shirts and shants. It happens in the winter, too, wearing long pants, sweaters and coats.

At my last apartment, the balcony was over an alleyway shared with a major road where a building was undergoing construction. Every time I went to water the plants outside, the construction workers would yell obscene things to me. I had stopped going even on my own goddamn porch to avoid abuse!!

Yes, I used to do container gardening and would like to again, but Home Depot is another nightmare/obstacle so I decided not to garden this year. There's always workers standing at the entrances of the parking lot (on Western/Sunset), which is cool, but I'm not building a deck; I'm buying snapdragons for my porch and don't need any assistance. As soon as the men see inside the dirty windows of my jetta and find a woman, the yelling and hissing starts.
Often they've become very aggressive, and banged on the car windows while making foul gestures with their mouths, etc... Exiting the home depot is scary, too. My last shopping trip there, one man followed me all the way from the exit door to my car (which was far into the lot) making squishy noises from his mouth and yelling things at me. I tried to walk really quick, but he got to my car and blocked me from my car door-I nearly ran him over when I finally got him to get away from me.

At my last job (I was laid off last summer), there were lots of uncomfortable moments, too. I had to water the plants outside before the showroom opened, and the cat calls and leers from cars never ended (I would be wearing pant suits w/ flats). It didn't matter...Old men in BMWs, young men in sports cars, packs of workers in beat up trucks, dads in Volvos w/ little kids in the back, hippy surfers in vintage/rusty cars... it didn't matter!!!

This has been happening to me since I was 13 years old. I'm 24 now, and cannot ever adjust-It just makes me feel lower and lower each time I go out. Now I just don't go out. It happens from ALL men...I've even been cat called by police officers in squad cars 4 times!!!(Not just Los Angeles-Boston and New York, too). I was pursued by a Fireman on duty once at my old job.

I remember once I was 16 years old, taking the train home from a museum with a group of other girls (From Boston to Salem) and 2 men followed us onto a train. It started on the platform, where they were catcalling to us. One of them even touched my hair once we were on the train, and we complained to the conductor, who called the police (they also didn't have valid train tickets). The Salem PD waited for us at the station where they were arrested-They drove us home. Funny that 2 years later I'd be catcalled by Salem PD officers in uniform ('Nice Legs' from a squad car at a red traffic light, on a 98 degree 98% humid day).

Don't even get me started on the New York transit system! That's just as bad as walking alone on an LA city street!

I remember being 13 years old spending summers on New Hampshire and Cape Cod beaches with my Nana, and getting cat calls and honks from cars and being 'hit on' by men 4x my age. At age 13.

Even going out with my boyfriend is uncomfortable. We don't go out much, but sometimes we have obligatory things to do, like friends parties, art shows, film openings and the like. I hate them all. If we go to a party or have to go to a lounge, leers come from all sorts of men-The most bewildering are men who have their own girlfriends in their arms while they leer at others! Any bar/lounge/restaurant is uncomfortable.

On my birthday last year we went to a fancy restaurant/lounge in Malibu, and a scary, older man was leering at me for some time. I felt like a piece of braised brisket. As soon as my boyfriend left our corner to refill our drinks, the man came over and rubbed up against me even though he had plenty of room. I asked him to step away from me, and he didn't heed my request until my boyfriend returned and told him to buzz off.

Another quasi recent time was when we went to Medieval Times-The dinner theatre with the horses where you eat w/ your hands. We were waiting in the court area and a man with girlfriend in tow kept leering in my eyes, very aggressively like he was going to beat me up! These leers are not sexy. They are frightening, and are intended to be demeaning.
Later when we went in to wait for seat, the same man found me again, and continued the terror. Understand, this isn't an innocent glance. I kept walking around my boyfriend trying to find places where my BF would block the harasser's view, but the harasser kept moving about to keep me in his eye site.

That's what it is. Its harassment, intended to dehumanize.
It happened at Disneyland. Once, my boyfriend and I were just being seated into the CA Screaming roller coaster, and apparently there was a group of college aged emo kids behind us in line. One of them noticed me, and bent his whole body over the railing to leer in my eyes. I turned the other way so not to make eye contact, but when I looked back the kid was still aggressively leering at me.
Flipping the bird, staring back or being verbally crass yourself doesn't fend off the terrorists. It only provokes them.

Waiting in the ride lines at Disney is no pick nick. Last time we went, a family was behind us while we waited for space mountain; a couple teens, parents and a grampa. Throughout the whole hour wait, the grampa stood so close to me his chest and belly rubbed against my back. Every time I would change spots, or step forward he would follow, and rub against me again. He even tried to maneuver around my boyfriend to stand near me. It makes me even not want to go to Disney anymore. The leerers are so numerous, its impossible to account for each one-Each stare that makes me sink lower and lower into my shell.

Even trips, vacations-anywhere-It's never ending. We went to visit some distant relatives in Louisiana for Christmas, and eating at places there, walking down streets of the boonies was hardly different, however less populated. Beeps at red lights, 'hollers', and the ever dreaded 'leer' remained a constant. We went to eat tiny lobsters at some Cajun seafood joint, and one man at a table beside ours kept staring at me in the eye. To what purpose, I wonder? It made me feel mortally uncomfortable the whole dinner, and he sat with 6 kids and a woman. I wanted to crawl under a rock, and never come out.

A few years ago I was at Logan Airport flying back to LA, and a scary man was glaring intensely at me for about 20 minutes, with that crude 'I'm undressing you in my mind' look; The type of leer you can feel like a heat ray, even if you don't look back. It was the same situation as the Medieval Times episode, where I kept trying to move around and use my boyfriend's body to block the man's view-He kept maneuvering to keep me in his sight. I flipped him the bird, said 'what are you staring at?'. It made a small scene being so close to United's customer service desk (in the gate), and United nearly barred my entry onto the plane-
They made me stand to the side while I cried and while the flight attended yelled at me, so every passanger who boarded could give me a dirty look. They then had me come on the plane last after the pilot 'OK'd' me, but only because my boyfreind would not board-They were trying to insist he board the plane without me because I wasn't allowed. It was absolutely humiliating, and all because I didn't want to be stared at like a piece of meat- Note that I didn't start crying until I was told I wasn't allowed on the plane for flipping the bird at another passanger. (Yes, it was wholly inapropriate for me to raise voice in a busy airport, but I stressed, hadn't slept in 3 days and was tired of the BS and being stared at, while atempting to avoid the harasser). This is a major reason I've given up-I used to 'fight back', but after the airport incident, I stopped.

These are only instances about street harassment, and only the ones I remember in detail without much contemplation. This doesn't account for all the times my mother's husband undresses me with his eyes, the number of times he's pinched my butt or reached down my pants for a 'thong wedgie', or the time he grabbed my genitals.
Nor does this account for the several times I received unsolicited 'back rubs' and 'butt slaps' from managers and bosses at different jobs, then was fired for complaining. This doesn't account for harassment and discomfort by customers and clients at different jobs, either.
This is only the fear and dehumanization I've experienced from complete strangers in public places.

Men:
Please stop this, so I can come out of my house, and be able to walk to the bank or the video store or the art store without fear. So maybe I can go to the garden store again, or enjoy a ride a Disney or a meal at a restaurant without wishing I had worn a burka instead of a pants suit, or shants and a t-shirt.
Thank You.

Dogwood Project

I would like to post this message on your blog.

Sexual harassment is around us everywhere we go and ignoring it will not make it go away. Neither will brushing it under a rug. Lawmakers and employers are not doing enough to stop this nauseating behavior so most incidents go unreported giving the harasser a false sense their behavior and harassment is acceptable. What is even worse is when someone actually does speak up and reports harassment they often face retaliatory actions from their harasser, employer and others. These retaliatory actions range from personal threats and stalking to the victim losing their job for reporting the behavior and legal actions against them. Feeling the need to help change these issues, I recently started a grass-roots non-profit organization (The Dogwood Project) that provides aid and support to individuals, both men and women alike, who have reported sexual harassment and now face retaliatory actions. I have also just created a facebook page for the organization -- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37558609042. Please come join us in the fight against sexual harassment and for women's rights!!

Thanks,

Lucky

Threatning Perv!

This incident happened in Mesa, AZ and Cali is the closest hollaback I can find, so here's the story..

I'm from Indiana and was living in Mesa temporarily with my boyfriend while attending classes. I was walking back from a string of classes, I was mentally exhausted, and I was dreading going to work that night. The college I went to was right across the street from my apartment complex, so I only had to walk about two blocks home... I crossed the busy street and my habit was to walk through the parking lot of a strip mall situated next to the apartments, then slip through a crudely fashioned "gate" someone had made by ripping out a few planks of the fence. As I am walking into the parking lot, some guy with his window down on the road is like "Hey giiiiirl!" I sometimes laugh these off by yelling "hey" back, which I did, and dismissively raising my hand. I continue walking, only to find that he has pulled into the parking lot and is idling not far off, and he says "Watchu doin?" and I say, "Going home from class and going to work!" briskly. Continue walking. Then, he cuts me off with his car, trapping me awkwardly between the passenger door and an abandoned fast food building. This is where I feel like crapping my pants. I walk around the front of his car to continue walking and he proceeds to ask me where I live, who am I going home to, and if I want to exchange numbers and "hang out" later. I say, "NO, I have a boyfriend" and he asks "Why does that matter? We're just going to hang out." And I say, "No thanks my boyfriend wouldn't like that.." He proceeds to ask me for my number, ask why we can't hang out, to which I promptly yell "Goodday Sir!" and run around the FRONT of the apartment complex so he can't see me entering.

FUCKING CREEP

N Judah in San Francisco

This guy was shouting comments at every woman that got on the tram... until I snapped a shot of him, then he was pissed at me and followed me off at the next station. This sort of ass makes me ashamed to be a guy, so thanks for this forum! -Tristan

Disgusting

This man should be arrested. He kept calling out to me, and I was
ignoring him, having a drink with some friends outside my favorite
bar. When he didn't get a reaction, he started saying rude degrading
things. So I took a picture of him. He started calling me a slut, and
tried to rip my camera from me. I ran away with my friends...
abandoning our drinks.
so I don't go back there much anymore.
This happened in Stockton CA. Keep a look out for him. He drives a
dark gray truck with, I thinking it was, red Chinese writing on the
side.

By the way, his english sucks, so you can barely understand what he is
saying. He told me that he likes "white woman."

Santa Barbara harrassment

To the sexist jerks who yelled out "Show us your tits! Show us your
cans!" to the woman driving next to their White Ford Explorer
(California license plate number 5EWL017) yesterday at Storke &
Hollister, this behavior is NOT OK.

Using that language with someone you don't know is clearly offensive,
and I'm sure you have mothers/sisters/lovers/friends who you would not
want to be treated that way. To harass a woman verbally is still a
VIOLENT act and she could be deeply hurt by what you did. (For
instance, you don't know what kind of traumas she may have
experienced that could be made worse by what you did. Over one in six
American women are victims of sexual assault - see
http://www.rainn.org/statistics/)

For those in the car who did not stop the ringleaders, you are also to
blame but can still speak up and tell your friends they were wrong.

To anyone who knows the driver and his friends, or identifies this car
driving around Santa Barbara, please pass on this message in whatever
way you feel is appropriate.

Thank you.