Barked at while Walking with my Mom
This experience is definitely not the worst I’ve faced but one factor really stuck out to me. I was walking down Connecticut with mom to get dinner at a restaurant. It was evening, but still totally light out, maybe 5 or 6 30. I’m fifteen and my mom is, well, a mom. A large SUV drove past on the busy street, full of college aged boys. One leaned out the window and barked at me in that rowdy, college boy way. Some people would call this “harmless”.
They didn’t hurt me, they didn’t follow me, etc. But the fact that I have to be subject to boys judgment when I walk down the street angers me. And what’s worse, I was with my mom! Clearly my mother. My mom didn’t notice at all, and I was so embarrassed I pretended nothing happened.
Submitted by Bridget
Location: Connecticut Avenue
Time of harassment: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)
Do you have a personal experience with gender-based public sexual harassment or assault you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out the online submission form. All submissions are posted anonymously unless you specify.