Sexual Harassment Stories and Experiences

Michelle, New York

     I am eighteen years old and just recently I was on the  train, when a twenty-five year old man sat down next to me.  He began a conversation with me about why the train hadn’t moved yet.  He was a foreign man, so I figured he wasn’t used to being on a train. 

     He began asking me questions, like my age and name and where I was from.  Then he started touching my arm and leg and then proceeded to lay his hand on my knee and upper thigh, right below my shorts, numerous times.  I barely looked at him.  When I didn’t react, he said “are you scared? Are you scared or are you just shy?” 

     Then he started saying he liked me and that I should visit him and that he wanted to take me out.  I kept rejecting the offer of going out and then he got persistent .  He asked for my number and after numerous times of me saying no, he made me put his number in my phone.  When we got to the lasts stop, he said “Come on sweetie, lets go.”  He went first, but I let other people go in between us, then went the other way.  Still, he followed me to the stairs, and went to follow me up the stairs, but I quickly called a friend.  He stood there for a while, but thank goodness, he eventually left.

     I am not sure if this is sexual harassment.  I know it feels like it; I feel everything that all the websites say about how victims of sexual harassment feel.  I just really would like to know if this actually constitutes sexual harassment.  I know knowing this won’t change anything, but it is just something I need to know.  I have been reading websites, trying to figure it out on my own, but I figured that there are people more educated than me and maybe they can help.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Sexual Harassment in Miscellaneous Settings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.