Masturbators

More than 37 percent of the 814 female survey respondents* have had a stranger masturbate at or in front of them at least once in public.

“Once while I was walking to the gym, a man pulled up beside me in his car and honked. He shouted vulgar things, exposed himself and proceeded to masturbate. I felt so bad and even defiled. I ran away and hid in the bushes while I called my fiancé to come and help me. He found me there shaking and sobbing a short while later.”
– 20-29 year-old heterosexual Anglo American in Baltimore, Maryland

“When I was in high school, I bicycled to and from school each day. I used to live in a very rural area and lots of deserted places and so. One time I saw a guy standing beneath a tree. He was wearing a T-shirt and the closer I got the better I could see he wasn't wearing anything on the lower part of his body. Then I saw he was masturbating. At first I just laughed and thought he was some crazy person, a bit exhibitionistic. But then, the moment I passed him, he began calling me. ‘Hey, pretty missy. Come here. You're so beautiful’ and so. And in the meanwhile he ran after me and got a grip on my bike. I cried out that he had to leave me alone and was able to bike very, very fast, so that he wasn't able to keep his grip on my bike. When I got home, I told my parents and we went to report it.”
– 20-29 year-old lesbian Belgian in Ghent, Belgium

“When I was a teenager in NYC, I twice had strangers masturbate in front of me on the subway. I was terrified and had no idea how to react.”
– 30-39 year-old heterosexual Latina in Lakeville, Connecticut

“Once I was in a public, outdoor area on a park bench when a man started talking to me and masturbating. He made sexually explicit comments towards me and tried to make me touch him. I was 13 and very embarrassed and uncomfortable about the situation, so I walked away.”
– 20-29 year-old heterosexual white woman in Toronto, Canada

“Once I was on the bus and the guy sitting across from me was staring at me the whole time. I tried to avoid eye contact and when I looked down I saw that he had his penis out and was masturbating. Ugh.”
– 20-29 year-old heterosexual Anglo American in Chicago, Illinois

“I was at a library and was masturbated at -- I freaked out and chased the guy out of the library.”
– 30-39 year-old heterosexual of mixed heritage (Latina and Anglo American) in New York

* I conduced an online informal survey in fall 2008 to learn more about people's experiences in public, including street harassment. Nine hundred and sixteen people had useable responses and they came from a range of backgrounds and geographic locations, demonstrating the prevalence of street harassment globally. Survey-takers selected age-range categories from “13-19” through “80 and older;” they represented every major American racial group; they identified as bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, queer, “other;” and they came from 45 American states, 23 countries, and five continents.