Being 11

I was about 11 or 12, don't remember exactly, but I do remember by first incident of street sexual harassment rather vividly, because it was one of the worst I've encountered till date. And not just because it was the first.

31st December, New Year's Eve, Park Street, Kolkata. Crushing crowds, jolly, riotous, loud and happy, car horns and yells of "happy new year!" everywhere. I'm walking with one hand in my dad left hand, and my mother and brother are walking right in front of us. The footpath is crowded like Ashtami night, but there's a relatively orderly procession bi-direction foot traffic.

When we're next to Flury's, going towards Magnolia, suddenly I feel a bunch of hands, at least 6-7, clutching at, groping, pinching my butt all at the same time. It hurt, and was completely unexpected. I had never experienced and don't recall seeing any instance of street sexual harassment before this. It was a group of boys going in the opposite direction on the same footpath. I twist around, utterly shocked, to see some leering faces for a moment before they melt into the crowd, but that moment of shock when my body is turned is enough for the rest of the same group of boys to collectively grope my breasts. Several hands, again, tugging, squeezing and pinching cruelly for a brief moment that feels stretched in time. I turn forward again, even more shocked and scared, and have a fleeting impression of wide grins before they're gone forever.

This whole incident takes a few seconds, and is almost invisible in the noise and crowds and confusion. It was extremely well-planned and executed, with almost militaristic precision. My father, right next to me and still holding my hand, has no idea what's just happened. We are borne along in the opposite direction by the crowd. It takes a week or more before I can get the memory of those touches off my body. The anger I don't think has worn off yet.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Kolkata, India

Being 11

 I was returning from school to my grandmother's house, walking down with our elderly caretaker who has been around ever since my toddler days. i was probably 11 or 12 years old when this happened. our school uniform was a white loose pinafore which didn't covered our knees.school to home was a 15 minutes walk but it seemed like eternity that day. maybe it was a growing awareness of the stares and nudges among the men in the street, maybe i was not aware of it before? From the peanut vendor to the petrol pump guys and every gateman we crossed,i realised the trick was never look them in the eye. The moment you do- That Look takes over! ofcourse, i didn't know what a lecherous look was- That Look just made my stomach churn! i still recall the relief of turning into our lane - a motor garage flanked our compound wall. A soot covered mechanic zoomed by in a derelict Amabassador car or one of those old fashioned Fiat, can't recall now- lunging out , beating against car door, whistling and commenting. This went on till i was 13- nearly every day till my brother and I shifted out with my mother when she remarried.coming home from school became a nightmare. more so with my aged caretaker being a silent witness. only kailash singh ji from gaya protested- he was a burly durwanji who joined our service as a gatekeeper after my uncle's factories closed down. he was adept at weilding a laathi.Ma and I are back to staying the family house after nearly 20 years- and guess who I saw a few days back? mr. mechanic, a little older no wiser. ofcourse, he gave me a once over as our paths crossed in front of the grocers shop but that's it. he didn't recognise me, thankfully though i couldn't care less. but I never forgot.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Calcutta

Being 14

I was 14 and walking to school alone, because I was mad at my girlfriends. In a big field along my way a 17 year old male tried to rape me. I hit him with my books and ran away. He chased me but stopped when I got to a populated area. I was wearing a pretty new dress and felt so pretty that morning. After that I was scared to be along with any male, forty years after I will still never walk alone in the woods or an open field, and worst of all I was and am scared to feel pretty.

Action Shero Beckie Weinheimer

Place: Bountiful, Utah United States Of America

Being 20

 I was walking down a road in Civil Lines when a man on a scooter came up behind me, put his hand between my legs and dragged me for a few feet further. Then he looked back and laughed.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Civil Lines, Delhi, India

Being 17

My cousin and I were 17, and over summer in Mysore, learning to play the guitar. We used to walk to the teacher's home and back, around 4 in the afternoon. One day while enroute, a lot of guys started following us, calling rude remarks, whistling, making obscene sounds. We ignored them and went ahead to the teacher's home. An hour later, when we emerged to head home, we were shocked - the place was surrounded by over 15 college age boys, just lying in wait for us to come out. The situation was so bad, we had to wait inside for almost 2 hours, then call my uncle to escort us home.

Action Shero Priya

Place: Mysore, India

Being 15

When I was walking back from school and a young boy, probably a street child, grabbed my breast. Fortunately I was wearing my school blazer and so while I didn't feel as violated (if I had not been wearing the blazer) it left me feeling used and powerless even against a person almost my age and size.

Action Shero Elizabeth

Place: Bangalore, India

Being 13

I can't remember the first time I was harassed. This is how ingrained harassment has been into my daily life, my conversation with the city. What I do know is that the feeling of fear hasn't changed. I think I started getting harassed around the age of 13. I am now 24. the rage, the fear, the sadness is the same, every time.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Hong Kong

Being 13

Biking to summer school as a 13-year-old freshman in high school. Wearing a helmet, usually sweaty, non-sexy clothes, and yet was whistled at or otherwise verbally harassed at least once a week on my daily 3-mile rides all summer long.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Winnketa IL, USA

Being 12

A 12-13 year old boy stalked, faced me, put his hand forward to feel me up and said 'Do you know that I can rape you?'

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Bangalore, India

Being 12

I was being stared at, unblinkingly. And then in another incident, being felt up.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Calcutta

Being 18

There must have been earlier incidents, but the one I really remember with tangible clarity was when I was groped while getting off a bus in south Calcutta.I was 18 and dressed in loose jeans and my favourite oversized white tshirt. I was new to the city and even though I'd been travelling on my own in public transport since I was 14, I burst into tears.

Action Shero Sunayana

Place: Calcutta, India

Being 12

I was twelve years old when the threat of sexual violence became a concrete reality in my pre adolescent life. As I was walking home from school one day in Athens, GA, a well dressed, middle aged, white man walked alongside me for several blocks attempting to lure me into his car with promises to drive me where I was going because "a little girl so beautiful should never walk alone." It was only when the man leaned close to my face and stuck his tongue into my ear--a disappointing penetration substitute, no doubt--that I finally found the courage to run. I never told anyone what had happened, but the way this incident changed me was fundamental: I no longer had the luxury of feeling like I was safe when an unknown man waylaid me on the street.

Action Shero Mandy Van Deven
Place : Athens . GA. United States of America

Being 21

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My friend and I went out at 8 pm to a street next to her house to get some groceries. While returning, we were just about to turn at a corner. I was pointing my friend to a nearby apartment and talking to her. Just then, a guy on a bike came driving in the opposite direction and grabbed at my chest. He had to actually leave the bike handle to grab me. What pleasure the pervert received from this split second contact is one thing I still fail to understand. I was stunned to silence and inaction at that time. After a few seconds, I shouted at him but he has already left by then. And just so we are clear, this 'guy' is old enough to have been a father of a girl my age.The bastard.

Thinking back, I should have run after him to the traffic signal which was really close by and made a scene. But I was too shocked that someone would do that to a woman.

Action Shero Anonymous
Place : Hyderabad

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Being 13 :

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This memory sticks out in my mind so much that I can't think of what came before that: I was 13 or 14 and at water kingdom wave pool in Mumbai when 4 men surrounded me and took turns pinching me - mostly my breasts. I was first shocked - then my reaction turned into panic as I realised I was in the deep end surrounded by sniggering men until a friend saw panic in my eyes and came to help me out.

We told my mom and complained to the security but nothing got done.

Action Shero Shivangini
Place : Mumbai

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