This is my first ever tweet, and it’s a MeToo one. Today as I was walking to the dentist’s along Brecknock Road in Camden, I was reading the Guardian article about Noel Clarke and his appalling behaviour. Three men in an unmarked white van were parked on the side of the road. (1)

The driver leaned out of his window and said, ‘Hello, darling’. Usually, when this kind of thing happens, I grit my teeth and ignore it. Or, it will happen so quickly I feel lost for words and don’t think of something to say until it’s too late. (2)

(Case in point being, the other day, it was warm, I had a tight t-shirt on and a man walked past me, deliberately staring at my breasts. But before I’d realised, and mustered up the courage to respond, he’d gone). (3)

This time, though, I thought: no. So, I stopped. I turned to him and I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ He scoffed. He said, ‘I was just being nice.’ I said, ‘It’s not nice. It’s 2021, mate. Stop it.’ He said, ‘Oh, you’re having a bad day, aren’t you?’ I said, ‘No.' (4)

'I’m not. I’m just not prepared to put up with your sexist bullshit.’ At this point he looked really affronted; clearly he wasn’t expecting me to retaliate. He said, ‘Calm down, love.’ By now, I was fuming. I repeated, ‘It’s 2021. Stop it.’ (5)

And then, he called me a ‘dirty whore.’ Then he pulled away. His mates were laughing. (6)

I lost it. I screamed at the top of my lungs, ‘How dare you call me a dirty whore?!’, but they’d sped off down the road, leaving me there, passersby staring at me. I reached for my phone to take a photo of the numberplate, but it was too late. I burst into tears. (7)

A woman crossed the road, asked me if I was okay, offered me a tissue. She helped me calm down. I walked into the dentist’s and when the receptionist asked me how I was, I started to cry again. I told the whole room — a group of female receptionists, and my female hygienist (8)

what had happened, and they were appalled. One of them sprang to her feet and said we should do something, but, without a number plate or any defining feature on the van or the men inside, we concluded there was nothing we could do. (9)

They were incredibly kind to me, and my hygienist made sure I was alright before I went into my appointment. (10)

Usually, I say nothing. I let the comments wash over me, like so many other women do, and I chalk it up to everyday sexism. But, today, something felt different. And I know that I found the courage to make a fuss, to stand up for myself, (11)

and to yell down the street for everyone to hear because of the women who’ve come forwards about Noel Clarke, and so many other disgusting men who think it’s okay to treat women with disrespect. I know this experience pales in comparison, but I’m fed up. We all are. (12)

I want to say thank you to @thedalstonyears
and @Lucy_Osborne for their incredible journalism, and to all the women who were brave enough to come forwards and expose this insidious behaviour. Thank you. #metoo #enoughisenough #timesup