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Dear men who harass women on the street

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Yesterday I wore a new dress. It hugged me in all the right places, yet it was still modest. It made me feel pretty.

Then that spell was broken when I walked to the train station after work and was subjected to a slew of lewd comments.

A guy followed me and kept making comments about my dress and body. Eventually I had enough and turned around to tell him to fuck off.

Bad idea.

He then started calling me the devil and told me that he’d cut me.

What made this worse is that a guy outside a coffee shop witnessed the whole thing and didn’t step in to tell the dude to back off.

Usually I would ignore this kind of thing, but something about yesterday’s situation made me feel sick.

I’m sure that most girls will tell you that they’re used to hearing crude remarks from men when they walk around town. It angers me that we’ve become so used to this.

And don’t think that these comments only come from street guys. Nope. Just the other day a swanky BMW drove past me with a bunch of dudes in suits, and one of them said something with an entitled “You totally want this” smirk.

Um, actually no. I don’t. Also, your car has ASSHOLE written all over it.

I’m no damsel in distress, and I think our culture has bred strong, opinionated women who won’t stand for this kind of behaviour. But guys, we do still need you.

Please think about the way you treat women.

You might think that your comment is innocent, but that one comment could make a girl feel disgusting about herself.

Not only should you not behave like this, but you shouldn’t tolerate this from your friends either.

Men are incredible – I find myself in awe of you everyday. So don’t let a few creeps ruin it for you.

Anja
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