Groped on the Red Line | Anonymous’ Story
Yesterday on the Red Line a man boarded the train and sat next to me. The train was so crowded I was unable to move, and I had a funny feeling about him.
The first thing he did when he boarded the train was to spread his legs WIDE so they were in my space. I then took a wide “stance” (I was sitting down, hence the scare quotes). At this point, he reached under my skirt and started feeling my calf up to my knee. I grabbed his hand by the wrist and told him to keep his hands to himself.
He responded, “You looked like you were about to give birth. I thought I’d help you.”
I asked him if his mother taught him manners, and he started in with some nasty comments about my weight, my “pregnancy”, and my unmarried status. I alternated between ignoring him and asking him if he would talk like this to his mother/sister/wife/daughter. At one point I told him that I had boarded the train first and that he should really give up his seat to one of the people standing. His response?
“Maybe you should give up YOUR two-and-a-half seats to one of the standees.” At this point he attempted to feel me up again, so I punched him in the jaw.
He told me I had “assaulted” him and that he was going to have me arrested. Two other men on the train who didn’t appear to know him offered to go to the Cambridge police to report me. One of them had claimed to have taken a picture of me.
This guy was in his 50s or 60s. He had short, thinning brown hair that he wore in a combover. He had a long face with a ruddy complexion, 5-o’clock shadow, and brown eyes. He was wearing a purple windbreaker with “get on your feet” printed across the back. This incident has already been reported to the T police.
“I’m still shocked and angry every time it happens.” | Sarah’s Story
I was walking through a parking area to a coffee shop this morning shortly after getting to work, and a taxicab slowed down. The driver (a man of Caribbean descent, I think) said something to me, and I asked him repeat himself. He said, “If you were mine, I’d take you home and nurse you and love you tenderly.” Even after I glared and muttered, “Ew”, he said,”You’re lovely, have a good day” and drove off. I wish I had gotten his medallion number, just like every other time I’ve experienced street harassment and I knew what to do only after the fact. Street harassment is not new to me, but I’m still shocked and angry every time it happens.
Man Arrested for Ejaculating on a Woman on the Red Line in Davis Square Station
From the Somerville Patch:
A man ejaculated on a 21-year-old Cambridge woman riding the Red Line into Davis Square, according to a report from MBTA Transit Police.
According to the report, the woman got on the Red Line train at Alewife Station at about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday and began to read the Boston Metro newspaper.
As the train pulled into Davis Square Station, “the victim noticed what she described as a disgusting smell and something wet on her jacket, and [she] also noticed a male party next to her with his hands down his pants,” the report says.
The woman initially accused the man of urinating on her, and he said, “no no” while zipping his pants up, the report says.
At this point, “the victim reached down to her left side and felt a wet substance on her jacket. She looked at her hand and described the substance as something that looked like [semen],” according to the report.
She wiped her hand with the newspaper as the train pulled into Davis Square and the doors opened and the man got off the train, the report says. The woman tried to follow, but the doors closed.
According to the report, the woman rode the train to Porter Square, where she exited and contacted Transit Police.
Transit Police pulled up surveillance video, and the victim made a positive identification of the man, the report says. Detectives recognized the suspect as 26-year-old Eric Howes, who was a suspect in an earlier lewd and lascivious crime committed on MBTA property, the report says.
Detectives knew Howes often spent time at a homeless shelter in Boston, and they eventually found him at the Woods Mullen Shelter, near Boston Medical Center in Boston.
Howes voluntarily provided a DNA sample to detectives and admitted to the crime, according to the report.
He was arrested and charged with indecent assault and battery.
Badass Chick Helps Catch Man Exposing Himself on the Green Line!
A 24-year-old Allston woman who has declined to be named saw a man exposing himself on a B Line trolley and had had enough. The woman held onto him and screamed until the cops arrived. She says that she went into “She-Hulk mode.” The man, Michael Galvin of Somerville, was charged with open and gross lewdness.
The woman had this to say: “I’ve had enough of being harassed on the street. I’m tired of it and I want it to end. It was the last straw.”
And to all those people on the train that did nothing? She says, “That’s appalling. That makes me so angry. I want everyone to know that they have to say something.”
We love this woman and want to thank her for not being afraid to hollaback! She’s a badass inspiration! Watch the video at the link!
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Hollaback! grows to 52 cities, 17 countries and more than 9 different languages.
Today activists from eight cities around the world are bringing the movement to end street harassment to their communities. We are honored to be able to continue this work and we thank you for helping us make this happen!
Meet our new site leaders by watching this one minute videohere, and take a minute to support their work by visiting their city-specific web pages and sharing your story, clicking the “I’ve Got Your Back” button on others stories, and/or posting words of encouragement.
Hollaback! works, and if you’re looking for evidence go no farther than our new site leaders:
“Brighton has a reputation as a party destination, and we fully embrace its fun, lively and naughty aspects. However we also need to ensure that the streets are safe for women and LGBTQ individuals, whether they’re out jogging on the seafront or walking to work in the morning” says Karis Ferguson, Director of Hollaback! Brighton.
“Street harassment is a big problem for women in Brussels and also for LGBTQI people. If it is a ‘Bounjour’ in a sleezy voice, whistles by groups of men or even groping – nearly every woman in Brussels knows it. LGBTQI folks on the other hand are often insulted or threatened” explains Julie, Director of Hollaback! Brussels.
“Street harassment does happen in Halifax, but it isn’t widely spoken of, everyone should be able to walk our streets without fear of harassment, intimidation or assault,” said Hollaback! Halifax Director, Rebecca Faria.
These leaders will join our robust community of activists around the world who are committed to ending street harassment. And the movement won’t stop there. Already, activists from an additional 36 cities have contacted us expressing interest bringing the movement to their communities as part of our next training class, which starts starts May 1st and will launch in August.
We couldn’t have done this without you, and we couldn’t be more grateful for your ongoing support. Thank you for helping us expand the movement to end street harassment and we look forward to updating you on our progress.
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Go Away: A Street Harassment Poem By Tame
Go Away
See me standing here
and you get so near
I hope to ignore you
I hope you walk away
But instead you speak
expect me to flush and stutter
I am not happy
to be a piece of meat you judge
I am not for sale at the bus stop
available because I’m there
I am not happy
and this I will not accept
You are not owed anything from me
only because you chose to acknowledge me
There is no automated response
just a gentle flip of my finger
Hollaback! Boston @ the Beyond Slutwalk Conference!
If two-fifths of our team will be at the CLPP conference on Saturday, another one-fifth will be at the Beyond Slutwalk: Feminists Demand Gender Justice Conference at Wheelock College! What, exactly, is this conference?
“WE ARE NOT SLUTS. END OF STORY.”
Two Wheelock College Students will be holding a one-day conference answering the call to college-campus feminism with a sustainable, legitimate voice. With an opening speech by professor of Sociology and chair of Wheelock College’s American Studies Department, Gail Dines,this proves to be a compelling conference that you won’t want to miss.
This is a movement about owning OUR sexuality, OUR bodies, OUR sexual autonomy, OUR integrity. It seems like everywhere a woman goes, she has to fight against the stigma of her sexuality; ugly words and actions directed towards women are a casual, everyday occurrence.
We cannot reclaim the word slut, it was never our word to begin with. The word slut is used to shame and blame; we refuse to collaborate in our own oppression and objectification. In response to the “Slut Walk”, we are providing an alternative voice, without utilizing hateful words. Being called a “slut” is not part of the solution; it’s part of the problem.
Other Panels and Talks Include:
- Rethinking Activism After The Slut Walk
- Men and Feminism
- Shit the Media Says About Women
- Women of Color Speak Out
We are super excited to be able to attend this conference and look forward to engaging in and expanding our dialogue regarding the we talk about the work that we’re trying to accomplish. Will you be there? Come say hi to me (Britni) or tweet us @HollabackBoston! I’ll be tweeting from the conference and hope to meet some of you!
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Hollaback! Boston @ the CLPP Conference!
Where will two-fifths of Hollaback! Boston be this weekend? At the Civil Liberties and Public Policy: From Abortion Rights to Social Justice annual conference at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts of course! We are not tabling this year, but we will be at the conference the whole weekend exploring new intersections of reproductive rights, feminism, ending oppression, body politics, and social justice– all our favorite things!
Two years ago, I (Jane) learned about the Hollaback! movement from the CLPP conference and it inspired me to create a Hollaback! chapter in Boston. Now, two years later, our Boston chapter is up and running by the power of five magnificent ladies. We’re fostering a conversation about street harassment without blame and minimization where individuals can share their stories and hollaback if they feel safe doing so.
Will you be at Hampshire this weekend? What inspires you to be active in your communities? Send us a tweet at @HollabackBoston or use the hashtag #CLPP2012 in your tweets!
-Jane
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