When I was about 11 or 12, I was walking back to the car with my mom from the grocery store. I was walking a little behind her, and was wearing a sweatshirt with jeans. A guy walking past us in the opposite direction slapped my ass as he walked by. I was so shocked I didn’t do anything. My mom saw out of the corner of her eye. She turned around and started screaming at him and he ran off. A man at a sports bar next to the store saw everything and chased the guy, tackling him to the ground. Someone else called the cops.
The cops interviewed me. I was still in shock, and just wanted it all to go away. I acted like it was no big deal. I have always repressed that memory and tried to pretend like it doesn’t bother me. To my knowledge there were never any charges pressed and the man was not punished at all for doing what he did to a minor, however small of an action it was, it scarred me.
Adult men in my life now still make comments about my butt and it makes me so uncomfortable. I am trying to learn how to speak up for myself and tell them to stop, but I am scared because I know they will just belittle me and not listen to me.
As a woman, I feel helpless against men.
I want to change this. I don’t want women to constantly live in fear.