when I was 14 I got two buses to and from school. On my second bus home a man stared at me the entire way home, he never looked away even when I caught his eye. This happened every day for weeks. When the bus was packed and I didn’t get a seat, he would stand right up against me. One time I did get a seat and he sat beside me. he spread his legs as wide as possible and leaned against me until I was pressed up against the window. After that I never chose the double seats, I would always choose the single-seat behind the driver. He would hold on to the handrail either side of the seat so I couldn’t get out but it was okay because he got off the bus before me. When the bus was bumpy he would knock his body against the side of mine. Over the months he got braver and started stroking my sleeves or running his fingers through the ends of my hair. One time when I felt him do this I scowled at him and he said ‘you have very beautiful hair’ I looked away. One time I was sitting in the single-seat and the bus went over a bump and he grabbed my thigh for balance. I told my mum and she called the police even though I begged her not to. I didn’t want it to be a big deal. I didn’t want to have been sexually harassed. I wanted to keep thinking it was just an accident, it wasn’t real. A policewoman came to my house and took a statement the next day she came to my bus stop with me. I pointed out the man and she took him away in a police car. They released him on bail but he wasn’t allowed to get my bus anymore. Nobody told me what happened at the hearing. I probably didn’t want to know, I was just glad he wasn’t on the bus anymore. I do see him in town every so often. I’m 20 now.
