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I want to get this off my chest. I was 9 visiting Bangladesh and when the electricity would cut off, a twenty something y/o neighbour would always find his way to me. When it happened I screamed as loud as I could until everyone in my mum’s bari had surrounded me.
I watched him get beaten black and blue at the hands of his own father with our entire village watching. I was 9 and didnt fully process what was happening and why. I was 11 when my sister and I noticed that a man would follow us home from school.
I was alone one day and noticed him following me, I walked into Greggs in Stratford mall and told the lady behind the counter. I was frightened. She could see him lurking behind me. She kept me by her side and then held my hand and walked out with me.
I was 12 and my sister was 13 when a teacher at school gave us a rape alarm. I was 13 when a 17 y/o guy pulled my school shirt off and took pictures of my pubescent body. I was naive, I was a child, I didn’t know bad like this could exist, I trusted him.
I wasn’t fully developed, I was so embarrassed and resisted throughout but he was grinning, he didn’t care. I was 15 on a crowded 25 bendy bus, one early morning omw to school when I looked down to see a man’s hand grabbing my breast. I lashed out in a frenzy and struck him with
all the strength I could muster until my sister dragged me off the bus. 16 on an empty bus when a guy threw himself on me and touched me up my skirt. I ran out at the next stop, into an office on Stratford High street and broke down in front of complete strangers. It was women
who dried my tears, held my hand, and stayed with me until the police came. 16 cutting through the Stratford church courtyard after our school NRA ceremony, when two drunk guys came up to me, and one grabbed onto my breasts.
17 during my first summer job at river island where a guy grabbed my ass in an empty stock room and when I turned around, he tried to kiss me, I ran out and during my lunch break, I told his manager who thought it was the funniest thing he had heard and laughed in my face.
18 coming back from a late A2 exam revision sesh at the library, on an empty tube carriage where a guy who was watching me the entire journey blocked my path as I got up to leave, I tried to push past, he grabbed me by waist, I shrieked but no sound came out, i managed to get off
When I started uni, a guy from Instagram tracked my every fucking move, I’d see him outside my workplace, he’d send me sexually disturbing messages, ask my mutual about me and in 2018 followed me to my front door. This stalking spanned over a couple of years.
I know I have definitely removed certain incidents from my memory and I’m going to stop here because im still processing through more recent situations but this thread was just to highlight how common and frequent sexual harassment can be in a girl’s life.
The one positive that we can be sure about is that women are now talking. We are sharing our experiences, giving each other courage and being heard. Serial abusers should be fucking frightened and know that the truth will haunt them and come out when they least fucking expect it.
