Men are pushing women over in the street - as a trend

[IwantToRetire]

Experts fear that new types of misogyny and harassment – including spitting and pushing women over – are taking hold in the UK as they move offline

This type of targeted shoulder barging has a name: butsukari otoko. The term, which originated on the streets of Japan in 2018, describes a type of violence against women that is done in a crowded public space, most commonly train stations.

It could at first appear accidental, but it is actually intentional; it is gendered (men doing it to women), and done for misogynistic reasons.

Researchers fear it is gaining traction in the UK, spreading from online videos to real-life encounters. “It’s come out of a subculture that existed years ago in Japan,” says Megan Hughes, a researcher at the Alan Turing Institute’s Centre for Emerging Technology and Security, which tracks online extremism. “It is something that’s been around for a long time, and people are now recognising it and are speaking out, but it’s a really difficult thing to track.

“They are sometimes subtle collisions, which are designed to appear accidental. They’re making victims second-guess intent or motive, and that then makes it really difficult for people wanting to report a crime. So it’s really hard for us to monitor.”

Street harassment isn’t new, but many believe it’s getting worse. A poll by Zencity, which surveyed 1600 women, found that 69 per cent said they had first or secondhand experience of women being ill-treated within the last 12 months; 75 per cent of women surveyed said violence and harassment was a serious problem and asked whether it had got worse in the last five years – 42 per cent agreed, and 30 per cent thought it was the same.

Article continues at https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/men-pushing-over-women-street-trend-3845874?srsltid=AfmBOoq29csw2CYnH2QwNMgW8lX9zoYcwXTwbx8cTQP2Fr1LzvR33aT5

And https://archive.is/GMI7T

I think this is absolutely correct. We have been sleepwalking into this for decades. Look around the world at what has been happening to women's rights. The method and means might look different in Afghanistan, Australia, Iran, Brazil, Scotland, just to give a few different examples, but the direction of travel is the same.
Germaine Greer was right.

It’s not new. I had an incident over 20 years ago when I was pushing my daughter in her stroller. A man deliberately barged into my chest. When I turned around he was laughing.

It’s not all men but a substantial minority that pose a threat to women and girls.

Just after COVID, I was walking along a tube platform, a man walking the opposite direction stuck out his arm, hand on my throat, and pushed me backwards. I stumbled but didn't fall. I was massively shocked. It had been witnessed by other who checked I was OK.
I did go to the BTP who quickly found the footage. They did write later asking if I wanted to take it further but I didn't as I was second guessing that I had done something wrong (I was pushing luggage, but carefully, in front of me). It's stuck with me as I had just arrived back in the UK after being out of the country for over a year, I was so happy to be on my way to see family and then that happened.
I am horrified to think this may not have been an isolated incident and that many other women are experiencing 'insignificant' incidents that don't get dealt with because it would be making a fuss or we know it would not be taken seriously.

There’s nothing you could have done ‘wrong’ by accident that would warrant someone pushing you by the throat!

I had another incident around a decade ago in a northern French city. There was a massive festival taking place and I found myself in a crowd crush: more and more people were surging into a street, unaware that it was closed at the other end.
Naturally everyone was getting pushed this way and that, just by the force of the crowd. But all of a sudden a young man behind me used both his hands to shove me in the back, effectively using me a battering ram to force his way through the crowd. After a while I managed to move to the side and he and his friends (all male) laughed as they went past.
I simply don't believe that they would have dared do that to a man.

I’ve yet to be barged out of the way but have had several instances where a man has ‘accidentally on purpose’ bumped into me and grabbed me around my waist or around my shoulders so that I wouldn’t fall. 😣
Never happens when I’m with DH

There's an excellent BBC Eye documentary, Catching A Pervert, which is a good starting point for info on Japan's deep problems with misogyny & sexual assault. Trains seem to be focal point for that there. Worrying it has spread : via gaming forums maybe? Also maybe manosphere forums?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mp06

I think it’s men realising they can get away with something if they can excuse it as an accident. It’s not new. I’ve not been barged into that I recall. Like previous post said I have had men touch me as they pass by as if to do it by accident but funnily a woman has never had to place her hands on either side of my waist when passing by.

I’d completely forgotten about the Putney Bridge jogger. That’s so frustrating he hasn’t been found. We should do a crowdfund to hire a private detective. His identity can’t be that difficult to find.

This happened to me today. I was so shocked. It’s stayed with me all day and I just thought I’d search online and had no idea how often this happens.
I was in Sainsbury’s and this guy really hit me with his shoulder. I knew it was deliberate as it was so hard and it really hurt. I sad “ hey why did you do that” he just kept walking but said really loud over his shoulder “ you walked into me. Love” it was said with such contempt.
Im 6ft and not invisible! I wish I’d asked his girlfriend if she was going to be ok with this level of misogyny. I can’t decide if I should report it..

This literally took my breath away to read. How absolutely fucking terrifying.

I've been very aggressively shoulder barged too; whilst walking along the street - by a man in his twenties. It really did feel like an assault - as it came out of nowhere.

It also happened on another occasion...but this time by a man in his early fifties. It really did feel like he'd been bottling something up and then I got the full force.

I'm sorry this happened to you.

If nothing else, I'd definitely consider reporting it to Sainsbury's as he could well be a regular customer and they may even have had similar incidents reported by other women. Plus there's the possibility that the assault was captured by CCTV.
Realistically there may not be much they can do unless his behaviour repeats or escalates, but they should be made aware of such serious anti-social behaviour taking place in their store.

The inidents I experienced, detailed up-thread, were not as physically violent as yours but they still left me shocked, angered and unable to let go of what had happened. Unsurprising, of course, as they are criminal assaults with a good dose of misogyny thrown in.

victim blaming bollocks.

I think I love you 😊

... a man shoved me out of his way on an empty pedestrian street. I didn’t even see him coming – well, I wouldn’t have, as he came up from behind me.

I had walked in his path, he barked at me. “What path?” I thought, baffled, as I took in the huge expanse of empty pavement around us. I was so stupefied by the encounter that I found myself frozen to the spot, watching him walk away in his blue anorak and technical rucksack. He could have been any man from anywhere on his way to work. ...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/17/men-push-abuse-women-street-stranger

Still happening.

MAMILS

This happened to me around 25 years ago, coming off a train at Stratford. I was with a crowd of people getting off the train and a man shoulder charged me with such force that I fell backwards and I would have hit the ground, but for several people catching me. A few men chased him but he'd gone.

Oh my goodness. This makes for horrific reading. Similar but slightly different happened to me last year which I struggled to get my head round but makes more sense in the context of this thread.

Pickup lockers were being installed outside of the supermarket (Sainsbury’s - maybe it’s something in the water?) and an area cordoned off. As I trotted towards it looking for a safe place to cross (they’d parked their big works van outside the entrance causing traffic chaos) one of the workmen downed tools came out of the cordon, walked over to where I was and shooed me whilst going “can you just “whistling noise” off”. I was shocked and confused in equal measure so was a bit lost for words but did note he’d gone for the dumpy, middle aged lass as opposed to any of the men or younger women.

I crossed the road pretended to film him (cue more glaring from his end) then contacted the COO of the company named on the van. Pointed out that women have a right to be and feel safe on our streets, his employees shouldn’t be harassing women in a public place whilst at work and if he was confident enough to do that in broad daylight in front of colleagues what the heck was he doing when no one was looking

They took it really seriously and when questioned he apparently even admitted he’d done it, accepted that he’d really shaken me up and been out of order, but couldn’t explain his motivations.

I had something similar about a year ago. I was waiting to get off a train which lurcher as it slowed. I very slightly bumped into the man in front of me. I'm a polite person, but it didn't strike me that I'd done anything wrong. It wouldn't have bothered me if the person behind had nudged into me in the same way.

Then as I went down the steps from the platform the man who had been in front of me shoved past me - he must have held back to do this - and raked his shoe down my ankle and onto my foot. I looked up in surprise and he said, 'That's what happens when you stand too close to someone' and shoved off through the crowd at a fast walk. I wasn't hurt as his shoes were soft and his aim was terrible, but it was unpleasant and disturbing.

Which, clearly, was his intention - though he wanted to hurt me too.

Those three accounts are really horrible, so sorry those happened to you all!

I’m gonna start Wearing a body cam and send the footage each and every day to the local police station I think it would boggle their minds if they saw the scale on which this happens

I was barged into at a local train station outside my office quite recently. The male was quite young, rough looking, but it was the look of abject hatred he gave me. Another one pushed me out of the way in a department store, the way you’d push a door open. Both times I had to pick the battle for my own safety. I honestly think we need tasers or something. Men are out of hand.

But also an alarming reminder that it seems so many men just hate women.

Carry your keys out