Last year, I was on a relatively empty train. Three men got on the train and shouted “I told you there were girls on here”, and I was immediately scared. The three of them circled around me while I was sitting by myself, and made sexual comments and asked if they could have my bag. I swore at them and told them to leave me alone, and it worked. I was terrified, I didn’t know if it would escalate or if they would follow me. I was worried being politer would make them see me as more of a target, too. When I told my Mum about it, she criticised me for not being more polite and implied it was my fault. She didn’t say it was a horrible thing that happened to me, she just blamed me for not being a compliant and quiet woman. That happened 6 months ago, and I’m still too scared to go on the train.
