Sexually-Explicit Comments

Nearly 81 percent of the 814 female survey respondents* were the target of sexually explicit comments from an unknown man at least once. More than 41 percent have been the target at least 26 times in their lives.

“I was walking to my dorm on campus when a group of guys drove past and one called me a 'whore.' They drove past me, laughing. I'd never seen these individuals previously and stopped in shock because this had never happened to me before.”
– 20-29 year-old bisexual African American in Indianapolis, Indiana

“I live in a busy neighborhood and one afternoon I was out shopping when a man yelled ‘hey, girl in the grey coat’ from a car window. I thought maybe I had dropped something, so I turned to look and the man yells ‘I heard you like it up the a$$!’ I was horrified ...”
– 20-29 year-old heterosexual Anglo American in Chicago, Illinois

“I was waiting for a streetcar at a crowded stop, when a car pulled up to the red light and the bunch of guys inside commented loudly, for the duration of the light, that I looked like I'd be fun to rape.”
– 30-39 year-old heterosexual of mixed heritage (Asian, black and white) in Toronto, Ontario

“Walking across a crosswalk I received a ‘nice tits’ comment from a guy in a car. He and his friend laughed afterward.”
– 20-29 year-old bisexual Anglo American in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

“I used to work in Lincoln Park but I lived in Roger's Park; about an hour long commute by El/Bus. I would often get home from work around 1am and have to walk several blocks to my apartment. One night as I was walking home, I was surrounded by a group of 6 or 8 young men who all made vulgar comments about the ‘things they would do to me.’ Needless to say I was terrified...”
– 20-29 year-old heterosexual Anglo American in Chicago, Illinois

* 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.