To ask how many women have either been sexually harassed in the street in the teenager or have a daughter who has?

[Carla786]

For context I'm Gen Z. I live in a very quiet neighbourhood & through my teens was never harassed. There's lots of building works in my area often but builders have always been fine & so has everyone else. I've never witnessed anyone else my age being harassed either (nor adult women). Some of my friends are the same, some unfortunately not (most don't live in my area)

However, I know this is not typical. I've read so much on here about people being harassed in school uniform, having daughters harassed etc. How common is this? Surveys show pretty high results too...

Was it always like this? Has it got worse or better? I've read some arguments it was worse in 70s-80s, others that online misogyny & porn has made harassment of teens worse.

All the time in my teens and in my 20s.

Did not matter what I wore. Did not matter what type of environment I was in, it happened in fancy ski resorts, at balls, in the workplace, at football matches, in nightclubs, in sleepy village pubs ...

Men did step in : that's good to hear. That needs to happen much more often.

I have seen it and stepped in and said oi - but usually wasn't alone - though one occaion was with my young DC. Also asked if they are alright - often enough to get men to move on - or eye rolled with them at some shouted comments.

It depends - if it phyical be more likely to step in shouted comments unless catch eye don't want to make it more of a thing and embarrass the girl more.

I've seen men - young and old say knock it off as well.

I don’t remember it happening to me when I was a teen- however, I don’t have a good memory, and I am also not very observant so am often in my own world and don’t notice what others are doing or saying.

My DD (who is now 20) has had it happen a lot. Men leering out of cars at her when she was walking to school (in uniform). When she was 11, I was waiting outside a shop for her and when she came out she showed me a gesture and asked me what it meant (‘peace’ fingers either side of mouth with tongue wagging 🤢) as the shop assistant had done it at her. I didn’t tell her exactly what it was supposed to represent as she was 11 so I just said it was something obscene and he was a disgusting man. She has had loads of that kind of thing throughout her teen years. Now she’s 20 she says it doesn’t happen much anymore.

Pretty frequently aged 14-28 as was conventionally attractive. Too many incidents to begin to list.

Dd aged 17 also now gets street harassment just been in a group that have whistle blown on a group of boys making persistent grim misogynistic comments to girls. School taking it very seriously some are being expelled. So ime it’s endemic.

Have women including teens been harassed like this always? I guess in previous times young girls weren't allowed out alone so much- which obviously isn't the solution.

Teen in the 90s. Yes I was.

Started when I was 11. I would be in my school uniform when it happened the most.

Going to an all girls school, on quite a large semi rural site in the early 90s we seemed to constantly be either kept in at lunch time/had games cancelled. Or be rushed in by a bell being run, due to a stream of men being caught wanking in the bushes or exposing themselves.

We also had to be escorted to the train station as there were men there who would blatantly flash and touch themselves on the platform.

Nothing ever seemed to be done about this. I attended there for primary and some of secondary and it was all the time. But I never remember any police being involved. Just "girls cover your eyes and return to the school buildings"

We also did PE in artex shirts and big knickers which probably played into some sickos fantasy.

In the late 90s I worked in a supermarket from 16-20, I looked very young. I was sexually harassed a lot by the department manager. He was awful to a lot of the part time girls. We were to afraid of him to complain.

In my first professional job, 3 trainees, me included were harassed by a male senior. Touched in cupboards, inappropriate chat, groping on nights out.
Eventually after being told we were being too sensitive he was fired....but in reality this was because he wasn't doing his job properly not because of our complaints.

The owner of the company was also a massive sleaze....kisses on your birthday and neck massages.

All of this was from about 9 to 21

Harressment was normal - jeering and the like , sexual comments

friends were flashed

80s

My grandmother told me about dirty old men hiding in bushes touching themselves when she was coming home from school in the early 1930s.
Apparently they were told to laugh at them and the boys threw stones.
So absolutely not something that hasnt always happened to women and girls

Thinking about it and looking back I now do wonder if that the biggest regional difference - men being more likely to step in and say something.

Flashed at 3 times. First two male bosses were perves. Constant street harassment. I am not particularly surprised by the Epstein files most men are absolute dogs on heat.

With the street harassment, it was always worst if you were walking home alone, or with other girls. It never happened when you were walking home with a boy or in a mixed group.

First time it happened I was about 12 walking down the street with a friend, we had shorts on. I remember us asking each other if we on a wrong path or something dangerous, because all the cars kept hooting at us. Most recent time, yesterday out for a walk. Lad in a van young enough to be my grandson at a push, asked to see my tits. I'm 56 so that makes me in my 44th year of it.

I lived in London from age 0-23 and by age 23 I had been..
Wolf whistled at by builders/scaffolders.
Had men old enough to be my dad try it on with me, one of which was my boyfriend’s step dad.
Flashed at multiple times.. The one that stands out the most is when I was working my Saturday retail job (primark) and a man walked up to me as I was putting stock out and started wanking at me. It was 9am and I was 16.
At age 18 I was raped by a boyfriend and treated like scum by the met police.
One of whom told me I had a “banging body” as he no further actioned my case.
At 23 I moved to Sussex, I’m in my forties now and the wolf whistles stopped maybe late thirties.. I doubt this is because men have stopped doing it, I’m probably just not there type anymore.
My step daughter is 16 and she doesn’t have to put up with builders shouting at her but her generation are having to deal with the Andrew Tate crap.
I did notice in the summer that a lot of men were openly gawking at her on the beach.
One in particular was sat with his wife and I could see him undressing her with his eyes.
I actually went over and told him to put his eyes back into his head, she’s young enough to be your granddaughter for fucksake.
Queue.. The Wide eyed innocent response of.. I don’t know what you mean.
So to answer your post, yes you’ve been lucky, lots of men are grim, they always have been.

Im 45 & as an older teen I had a few instances of unwanted attention. I eas followed after school where I hid in a toilet and asked a lady to help me. She saw me onto my bus & when this man tried to get on it she caused a scene and the bus driver kicked him off the bus. I had a man masturbate whilst looking at me on the bus. Again good Samaritans intervened, I was cornered at work and told I could pass if I kissed his cheek. I was grabbed by the arm outside of work and they tried pulling me down an ally, again someone in one of the factories saw it happened and came over to help. I haven’t really thought about this but it is scary, my 20 yo daughter thankfully hasn’t reported anything happening to her

Also the death of the landline stopped random dirty phone calls where you would pick up the phone and hear a man masturbating at the other end of saying dirty things

Gen X more times than I can remember.

The absolute worse was a fully grown man when I was about 12 waiting for my friend coming up to me and saying get your knickers down.

@JuliettaCaeser Also not shocked by Epstein files at all. It’s got so much publicity because it’s the rich and famous. Nobody gave a crap about the Rotherham grooming gangs did they.

This sort of behaviour is, unfortunately, so common that frankly, I'd be surprised if any woman hadn't been subjected to it. If a woman said she hadn't experienced it I would think 'well, maybe she's been lucky, but she's probably just not very observant'.

I was a teenager in the 90s and I'd get sexually harrassed on the street - mostly chatting, never wolf whistling or flashing. It wasn't leery comments, more like chatting me up and asking what I was up to, if I had a boyfriend etc. I would just answer their questions but not encourage further conversation. I found it annoying but didn't feel scared by it.
Hasn't happened to me for decades.

Teenager in the 90’s. Pretty much every time I went out.
Exposed at, followed, sexual comments, groped….one middle aged man once drove into the car in front of him because he was too busy leering out of his window at me to pay attention. I was sitting on a bench waiting for a friend. I was 14.

Me and my friend got flashed at once on the way home from school. Other than that no, I was a tomboy though so I don't think I garnered much attention. My dd 14 gets the bus everyday she's not had any issues thank goodness, we live in a city. I don't think it's as big a problem as people make out. My other halfs in construction, they would get bollocked if they whistled at girls / women Its not the done thing now. But others may say different.

Yes I was often harassed and intimidated when I was a new mum to DD1. I was 20 but I did have a bit of a baby face so I got a few “slag” comments (I was fucking married btw) but also some school kids yelled “milf” at me a few times which made me really uncomfortable. Kind of stupid because they’re 16 year old boys but they were genuinely intimidating. We moved before DS was born and I’ve not had anything else like that thank god but I have had some bad experiences when I have been out. Me and DH like to play darts and pool so we are at the pub a lot and sometimes when I’m waiting for him I feel uncomfortable. I don’t feel as uncomfortable when I’m out with the girls but we go to very different bars and pubs tbh like we tend to go to girly places with those ugly plastic floral displays.

When I was 8 the leering, staring, licking of lips, hanging out of cars to get a better look, and wolf whistling started. These all happened while I was out with my Mum too, as I was not allowed out on my own at that age - and it was definitely aimed at me and not my Mum.

As a teenager I was walking home from 6th form and was wearing knee high boots and one of my neighbours in his 50’s at the time with kids the same sort of age as me and who was close with my parents came close to me and told me I’m so sexy and drive him crazy and I need to wear these boots more often as they make me look even sexier. I laughed it off as I never used to know how to respond or what to do. He told me not to laugh and to take a compliment. He then asked if I have a boyfriend and I said yes. He said ‘what a little 6th form boyfriend, you don’t want to mess around with a boy, you need a man.’ His wife emerged from the front door at this point and called out hello to me, I replied and he called out to perfectly normally saying he’d just been asking how I’m getting on in the 6th form. I made my excuses to go home and walked away.

I’ve been followed, had obscene things shouted at me and gestured at me, and was given a bouquet of flowers by a customer when I was working in a shop as a student with a greetings card stuck inside with his name and number and telling me how stunning he thinks I am and it’s the highlight of his week when I serve him, and telling me to come around for dinner and ‘dessert’ - and that is how he wrote it the dirty sod.

I even had a man in his 70’s buy me a pair of shoes - he simply handed over his credit card and paid for them as I was about to. I was 19 and found it odd obviously and wasn’t sure how to react. I knew I didn’t trust it, but he told me I was beautiful and that he’s been admiring me as I walked around the shop. He creeped me out but he said he would take me for a drink and I stupidly said yes as I felt a bit sorry for him and told myself well you could sit and have a chat with him as he did buy your shoes for you for £30 and maybe he is lonely, but deep down I thought it wrong. I sat with him in the pub and he moved his chair around to be right next to me with hardly a gap and he moved up to me when I moved away and I gave up moving. He was having general conversation about my day and asking what I do etc, then told me to put on my new shoes (gold high heeled sandals). I told him they were for my holiday and thanked him for them, and he said I want to see you wear them as I bought them for you. I put them on and he put his arm around me and told me I looked even more beautiful and that after our drink he’d take me and buy me ‘a nice short dress to wear for me with those shoes.’ I laughed it off and he turned moody and told me he means it, then put his phone on the table and told me to put my number in there. I decided to have a quick look at his messages and there were three in a row between people with women’s names followed by messages from him saying things like ‘why aren’t you replying to my messages, call me, and I just want to kiss you.’ He asked me what was taking so long and I panicked and lied and I entered the wrong number and quickly typed in a random number and my name which I’d already told him. He then starting searching for his glasses in his pocket as he said he was going to call me number to check I’d given him the right number. As he was doing this, I grabbed my bag containing my original shoes and leapt up and started rushing towards the door and he was shouting at me that he can’t hear my phone ringing and telling me to go back to him. I walked as fast as I could in the high heeled sandals - no way could I run, and I looked back and he was stood in the pub door way watching me and looking so angry.

It actually felt very therapeutic writing this down.

Not sure how to vote but I'm tail end of Gen X and was sexually harassed whilst out and about roughly from the age of 12 (early 90s).

Im counting catcalls, wolf whistles, penis flashes, and shouts from vehicles in this.