Being 5

The first time I experienced sexual harassment in public spaces, I was five years old, walking to school with a male friend my age. Older boys surrounded me, pinching my cheeks and trying to lure me to one of their houses. My friend ran away and I stood crying, scared. The dad of another friend saw what was happening and he thankfully intervened and helped me get to school safely. This experience taught me that public spaces are not always safe for me, a message that was reinforced hundreds of times by men who harassed me and even chased or touched me without consent when I was a teenager and a young woman in my 20s and 30s.

Action Shero Holly