Has anybody else been followed by a random stranger?

It's happened to me a number of times. It's depressing to think how very common it is.

These are terrifying. I fear for my dds.
Also highlighting how much women rely on their sense of danger, of “wrongness” .
I was followed a few times by flashers in my teens and twenties. That was scary enough, but the most frightening one was when I was 12/13. I was in London with my parents, and they had allowed me to wander round Oxford St alone for a couple of hours, we had arranged to meet at a specific time (no mobiles then).
I became aware of a man staring at me. Mid thirties or forties maybe, everyone looks old when you are a girl. Middle Eastern appearance. Initially I thought he worked in the shop I was in, but he followed me out, and then every shop I went in, I could see him, just at the edge of my vision. Eventually I started to feel very afraid. I wanted to tell a woman working on a till, but I was embarrassed and scared that she might tell me not to be silly. I was struggling not to cry, and I could see that the shop I was in had a rear exit. I went out, and he followed, and I somehow managed to move quickly with a group of people and duck back into the shop, and out of the front exit. I then sprinted down Oxford Street and went to meet my parents.
I didn’t tell them ! I felt it was somehow my own fault. Now I have dds that age it preys on my mind.

Agree, got to say I’m older now and seems to have got worse! Might be because I’m confident and bolder so go to a lots of places on my own now.

For all those wishing they looked older, sorry, but it doesn't stop. I'm over 50, grey haired, and I still get followed.

@Hawkinsxmaslights "I think what we can take from this is if a woman tells you something like this believe and support her." - yes, absolutely.

I was followed once in my late 30s whilst walking home from a pub in a suburban part of London. I don't think he actually followed me from the pub but just came across me.. it was very foggy and visibility was poor, but I could hear his steps keep
pace with mine. It was horrible, all sorts of things were flashing through my mind. I ended up ducking into someone's front garden after turning a corner and hiding in between some bins and a hedge. I heard him walk past, falter, walk away..Waited there for ages before running home.

I carry FARB spray. If they ever got that close, they'd know about it!

Many incidents over the years. Earlier this year I was followed when leaving a music festival. On my way out as the last band were on their last song, I paused and a man did a 'dance with me' dance right in front of me. I moved on, took a wrong turn and ended up in a very quiet area. The same man suddenly walked out and stopped right in front of me. I said excuse me and walked round him, then he followed me. I found the right way out, but there were no security staff and he kept following me. Fortunately there were a few other people around and I stopped in front of some and said "This man is following me. He's fucking creepy" or words to that effect, and walked on as fast as I could. He had disappeared by the time I got to the car park where there were security staff, but I just wanted to get out of there.

I think what we can take from this is if a woman tells you something like this believe and support her.

Once I told about someone following me and was told don’t be silly dear.

It’s a difficult one as if your not believed it can make you sound a bit crazy.

I’ve also been followed by a cross dresser but now I suppose he will claim he’s trans and be able to follow me straight into the toilets where I would have previously gone to hide!

I've had this quite a few times as unfortunately I'm 24 with the face of a 17 year old.

When I was walking home from the shop (about a 2 minute walk) a guy flashed me and asked 'if ya want a go love' and I was so freaked by it I ended up going into an office on the corner of my road and asking if I could sit there until I could see they had gone (could see them from the window).

Another time I was very pregnant and in Tesco. Guy spotted my but I was in a baggy coat and kept trying to ask if I lived nearby and if I was okay (I was just trying to shop). He followed me down every isle and when I tried to ditch him suddenly needed the same cheese I was trying to reach (I'm a shortie). As I tried to reach my bump showed and suddenly he was REALLY interested in whether I had a boyfriend or if I was going to be a single parent as he reckons he'll be 'a really alright dad'. It got to the point where I was trying to use the self checkout and he was right next to me. I ended up calling my friend who came and got me (she lived a few minutes away thankfully) and she was freaked too. I've seen him lurking in the same shop since and he gives me the creeps.

And yesterday was another one. I live alone and have just DS with me at the end of a little cul de sac with an alleyway at the end. A lot of people use this as a cut through. I was in the kitchen in the evening with the blind open and two guys walking in the same direction stopped to chat outside the window. DS was in bed so I stayed in the kitchen to keep an eye out and got on with the washing up. They were there for 30 minutes before I called a friend and told her. After seeing me clearly on the phone for quite a while they buggered off but it's still freaky!

I hate being a woman sometimes, especially one with a younger face.

Oh dear this happened to my sister and me when we were in our late teens. I honestly thought it was an unusual experience. I still think about it often, it's terrifying isn't it? To hear that it's so common and that police (esp female officers) are so dismissive is so so sad

I fear for my daughter, growing up in a world where men like this think they can do whatever the fuck they want

He could be like that because he enjoys it when he is able to intimidate and frighten women

Sounds very scary. Perhaps trying to steal your bag? What were you buying? Anything expensive.? Sorry to be nosy. Just wondering why someone could be like that.

Seems such a common experience which is very sad

Multi-story car park, ended up being chased and ran the wrong way (further in). It was very quiet. I was terrified. But a security guard showed up and escorted me out to a busier street. It was over thirty years ago. I haven’t used them alone since.

It happened to me twice the year before last near my old flat, both times, young black men (which seems to be a different experience to most of the older white men experiences here). Both times eventually I turned around and asked them what they wanted and they both asked me out. Both times I was absolutely furious and told them to fuck off, not to follow women down the street and how would they like it if someone did that to their sisters / mothers. Maybe I shouldn’t have yelled at them but it did make them both leave

I moved shortly after that anyway and feel much safer where I am now

this is bit vague, but the most scary time. As a student, three men essentially fanned out around me, one behind, one in front, the third remaining over the road...during the day,

guy on my course came out of side street, I think he was actually going the other way to start with, started talking to me and escorted me to uni. Only time in 3 years he talked to me.

I didn’t think of finding a police officer at the time because a) I didn’t see any around and b) more importantly, it was in another country and my residency status was, umm, ‘irregular’

Yes. In particular when I was late teens/early 20s, there were so many flashers and run-of-the-mill street perverts, I was on constant alert, but generally they didn’t persist once you’d swerved them (sometimes I’d yell at them if there were enough other people around).

But once I was followed by a man who would not give up - it was in a very busy city shopping street, I tried to swerve him, but he kept at it, only a few yards behind me and with a really weird expression on his face. It was scary and I didn’t know what to do. Eventually I went into a large department store - he followed - I went up to a sales woman and told her what was happening, pointed me to the man who was lurking by a display. She was brilliant - she believed me, no fuss or drama, she whisked me away and let me out of the staff entrance and I buggered off home sharpish. Horrible experience.

Yes, a few times. Scariest was when I was pregnant and a guy on a bicycle followed me trying to strike up a conversation - we weren’t far from my flat and I had nowhere to hide so he saw where I lived and turned up outside on his bike every day for a week or so.

I'm not scared of men because I've read something in the papers as one poster said I'm scared of men because I've been raped assaulted beaten threatened had someone expose themselves to me the list is endless I've even had some one follow me in the middle of the day on the canal path he was so close he was breathing in my hair I'm fortunate someone came along but its ridiculous how we are expected to put up with it no one was interested even when I was raped the questions were you drinking were you drunk have you had an argument with him was he your boyfriend I lived in a bed sit st the time and apparently having a man in a room with a bed in it might have given him a wrong impression I gave up what's the point

Only a couple of time as a teenager.

Firstly, when I was about 13/14, I'd been to the cinema with some friends in the city centre. I was waiting for my dad to come pick me up and was in a busy square. From across the square , I noticed an old man staring at me, or in fact specifically staring at my chest (which was very flat). I walked to the other side of the square and he was still staring and began to follow. This happened a couple of times. Luckily my dad turned up after not too long, but I got in the car with my heart racing and crying - oddly, I remember my dad not seeming too concerned. It was just the intensity of the staring; I've previously googled the city I was living in and looked for descriptions of a similar man because he was so clearly a predator.

Other incidents were again as a teenager, doing things like hanging round shisha bars when I was too young to really be there, attracting old perverts. I remember once feeling so uncomfortable at a man trying to call me over and strike up conversation that I burst into tears in the toilets and forced my friends to leave. But I was lucky that I had sensible friends with me.

Nowadays I live in a very rural area, and the thought has gone through my mind of what if my car ever broke down in the middle of nowhere. I hate how being a woman makes me feel vulnerable.

Yes. Several times.

I said no, I'm only 15, he said oh that's ok, I don't mind

It's like they think you're apologising to them for your age, rather than reminding them that they're inappropriately old/asking you to do inappropriate things for your age.