In the past year, many women and men from all over have come out to speak against sexual harassment and share their stories with the world. Although I applaud these women for their courage, sexual assault and harassment don’t end with celebrities, they happen to everyday people. I decided to poll women on my Facebook page to anonymously tell me their stories of sexual harassment and assault and to allow me to share them here. I live in a world where jokes about rape and assault are normal for men and women to make, but they shouldn’t be. This is a real epidemic of power exerted onto women, to keep them afraid to be who they want to be. Here are stories of 14 different women who have endured sexual harassment and abuse in their lifetimes and come out stronger than ever. Remember these women, because they represent a change that needs to be made in our society.
1.
“At one of my jobs a coworker constantly asked me to be with him and tried to touch me. The manager replied with the excuse that I was being so nice my coworker THOUGHT I was flirting.”
2.
“At a concert, I started chatting with a group behind us before the show started. They were all very nice, but as the night went on, they kept drinking more and more. One of the males started getting handsy with me, and although it was more playful than threatening, it was still uninvited and unwelcome. It wasn’t a major debacle, but it was my first time being touched like that by someone I barely knew. It didn’t ruin my night, but it had me continually checking over my shoulder, especially as it got darker and darker, louder and louder.”
3.
“Of course I've experienced the typical cat calling sexual harassment. However, I've had exes make me feel like absolute shit for saying no to sex. Or have even forced me to go through with it when I didn't want to.”
4.
“Comments such as ‘cute’, ‘pretty’, or ‘nice’ soon escalate to ‘hot’ and catcalls, whistling, and staring. I have seen this in the workplace, being told ‘You’re cute you must have a boyfriend.’ Or ‘You’re attractive why don’t you do this or that.’ It’s not just words it’s accidental touching, it’s being asked to hang out after your shift, it’s saying no to things you don’t want to do and being called a bitch, but if you say yes you’re too easy."
5.
“When I was in school, I was constantly teased about my breast size and was subject to bra-strap pulling and scooping at middle-school age. Scooping was when someone, usually a male classmate, would walk up next to you and push your boob(s) up in a scooping motion. As I got older I experienced more people commenting on my body publicly in a sexual way. When they were asked to stop, they will usually say ‘If you don’t want me to talk about it, don’t show it off...’.”
6.
“When I was 18 years old I was raped by a fellow student at my college after a night of drinking.”
7.
“I was invited by a good male friend to come over to drink and watch movies. I thought it was safe because he was in a relationship, and I was as well. We both became very drunk and he began touching me. I told him several times no, but he still continued, even pinned me down so I couldn't move. I was so drunk that I didn't know what to do, and couldn't even stand up, let alone move.”
8.
“I’ve had my breasts grabbed without permission on numerous occasions from a young age (I hit puberty in the 5th grade. I was a C-cup before ever getting to middle school). Once, when I was walking back to my dorm on my college campus at 2:00 in the morning I passed a group of guys hanging out by a bench. I have social anxiety as it is, so when I pass groups of people I always pretend to be texting or calling someone. As soon as I get my phone out and type in my passcode, I hear one of the guys call out ‘Awh come on, she’s texting!’ Not two seconds later, another voice calls out ‘She’s got HUGE tits’.”
9.
“My brother used to have this ‘game’ which would end up with him raping me. I never knew that it was wrong for a while because I trusted him. Once he starting dating his current wife it would stop. He raped me for years and when I snapped and finally told my mom he denied everything and my mom believed him over me.”
10.
“ A guy kept sending me messages about things he wanted me to do to him and sending me pictures of his private areas even after I told him to stop numerous times. I told him that I didn’t want to do anything with him but he kept on even though I said no.”
11.
“I had a boyfriend in high school, and when I would stay over his house there were times that I would wake up with him groping me. He would try and push me father than I wanted to go and I would panic and then he would apologize. At the time I didn’t think much of it. I thought that that’s just how boys were at that age and I just wasn’t ready, but in retrospect, that shouldn’t have been something that happened.”
12.
“My senior year of high school I dated this guy and one day we were in his basement with his little brothers (who were seven at the time). He stuck his hands down my pants and forcibly fingered me. I kept saying no over and over again, but he didn't listen, and I couldn't make too much of a fuss because his brothers were literally two feet in front of us playing a video game. He was interrupted by his mother calling him for football practice. When I went upstairs I said I had to use the bathroom and he leaned in and asked if it was so I could finish. I spent the entire ride home convincing myself that it didn't happen and that maybe I wanted it. I didn't.”
13.
“It was the scariest time of my life being severely intoxicated and having two men pushing themselves on me. It was a dark and cold place it and it happened all so fast.”
14.
“I was in fourth grade when a family moved into the house behind mine. One day I was outside playing with my neighbor and two kids from the house, a brother and sister, came over to introduce themselves. The girl was in sixth grade and the boy was in eighth and we invited them to play with us. We all decided to play Sardines and the boy volunteered to hide first. I was the first one to find him hiding under a huge pine tree in front of my house and I slid next to him to hide. After a few seconds of sitting in awkward silence he told me to look at him where he then proceeded to try to kiss me to which I grimaced because I was young and boys were still gross to me. He got kind of mad that I rejected him and pushed my head towards him to force a kiss and proceeded to try to unzip my hoodie. Fortunately enough, my neighbor found us and I ran back home before anything else could happen.”
