I was walking home from the gym on a sunday evening at 7pm. On a quiet residential street, a guy cycled past and groped my breast. It was a quick brush because of the speed he was moving and the fact that my coat was slippy. I was so shocked I kept walking, I even wondered if it was accidental, that he was pushing me out of the way even though he was the one cycling on the pavement. But then further down the road, having taken my headphones out, I heard a bike come up behind me again. I raised my arms instinctively and the same guy cycled past and turned to smirk at me, he seemed happy that he had made me scared and defensive. I was too scared to say anything but I took out my phone to try and take a photo of him and he cycled away. I was terrified the whole rest of the way home in case he tried to follow me back. I filed a report with the police when I got home because I didn’t know what else to do and I was so appalled that he felt so entitled and enjoyed making me uncomfortable. I’m so angry that we still live with this and that so many women, LGBTQ+ people and people of colour have to live with the fear of being harassed and attacked just by stepping outside the door. Misogyny needs to be a hate crime.
