Walking home from the shops yesterday, I passed a couple of men. As soon as I’d overtaken them, one yelled at me, “I’ll take your bags from you, you little whore”. I stopped and turned to face them, and yelled back not to call me a whore and not to threaten me. Then I turned and walked on, shaking, while the pair shouted more misogynistic and threatening stuff at me. I had tuned out the content by this point.
Confronting them didn’t feel safe, but I chose to, partly because of my anger in the heat of the moment, and partly because I absolutely hate silently submitting to this kind of abuse. It’s lose-lose; either put up and shut up, or risk further violence by showing some resistance and standing up for oneself.
