She rang her best friend Cait in an attempt to get some closure and support through the situation. With few options available, Liv started to belittle her own discomfort. And yet he’d ruined her day, made her self-conscious, and drew attention to the fact that she was a lone female moving through public life and so ‘fair game’ for unwanted attention. She didn’t know if there was CCTV on that line but even if there was, what would you see? He hadn’t touched her, hadn’t followed her and no one was hurt. When Liv got off the Tube she felt violated and angry, but didn’t know where to turn. He then pretended to take a call and talk loudly about the “beautiful girl” who was opposite him. The perpetrator directly stared, smiled, licked his lips and stayed standing close even when there were empty seats. This wasn’t an accidental ‘zoning out’ incident. In 2019 our co-founder Liv was leered at whilst on the Tube. We do this for an array of reasons- we believe it’s just part of life, we are thankful the situation didn’t escalate, we just want to forget it, or we don’t even know who to tell. Many women diminish their own experiences of public harassment. Transport for London found that 90% of all incidents of public harassment go unreported. Have you ever decided not to wear an item of clothing because the last time you did, another passenger took this as an invitation to touch you? Have you ever changed your commute to avoid a creepy guy who shamelessly stares at you? Have you ever tried to ‘laugh it off’ and convince yourself that you should take it as a compliment?
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