I was walking to work, minding my own business, when a man on the street made an unsolicited comment about my body, as I was passing him. I decided to stand up for myself; I turned to him and simply said ‘excuse me?’ Trying to suppress the anger and frustration I felt. He moved towards me, defending his behaviour and trying to intimidate me. It worked. I walked away, feeling frightened and unsafe. Meanwhile, he hurled verbal abuse at me; calling me a ‘stupid b*tch’ and ‘stupid c*nt.’ When I reached safety around the corner, I cried my eyes out. I already feel vulnerable, trying to cope with trauma following incidents of sexual violence. When I got to work, I went straight to the bathroom to try and conceal all evidence of tears. I’m pretending that I’m OK, but I feel so hurt and shaky. I wish I could say that this was the first time this has happened to me, but it happens constantly. And there are no consequences. I don’t feel safe in the world.
