“I wish I could feel safe…in my own neighborhood.”
Location: 6th & M St. NW (Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center Metro)
Time: Evening Rush Hour (3:30pm-7:30pm)
I had just exited the Mt. Vernon Square metro and was walking home after work. I saw out of the corner of my eye that a white van had slowed down to my right. The man driving the van had his head out the window and was cat calling things like, “damnnnn,” “look at thatttt” and whistling. When I was outside my apartment building a few minutes after this incident, a man on the steps of the building said, “damnnn, did you see the ass on that girl?” to his friend, about me.
What a terrible commute home from work. I wish I could feel safe and walk down the street in my own neighborhood without worrying about which man will be the next one to objectify my body, comment on it in a demeaning way, and leave me feeling threatened and paranoid. I don’t want public existence to be one of paranoia.
Submitted on 7/23/12 by Anonymous
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