Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a crazy MTA experience. It can be funny, traumatizing, just plain crazy, and everything in-between. A student from the Pace community, who shall remain anonymous, shared her story of being harassed on the subway in order to show what it feels like to be a woman and be a victim of harassment in New York City. This is her story:
“I woke up one morning to begin my everyday commute to Pace University. Nothing seemed different: got dressed, walked out the door, walked to the train, waited for its arrival. Well…. one thing was different. That morning was my first life threatening experience.
As I waited in the station for my train to arrive, I noticed this man looking at me from the corner of his eye. He was at least 50 feet from me, so I didn’t think much of it. But as I stood in front of the train doors waiting for them to open, I felt the man breathe on me. I felt scared and angry all at once. He invaded my personal space so much that I could feel the zipper of his pants between the back pocket of my jeans. I rushed into the car as soon as the door opened. He followed and sat across from me.
In the car, it was only him and I. But I thought, “Ok.. he’s not sitting next to me. He’s not looking at me. It’s over”. So I put my headphones on and listened to my favorite songs. Since the volume was fairly high, I failed to hear the man calling out to me repeatedly. Once I noticed, I took an earbud out and said, “Yes?” He began to tell me how beautiful I was and how he would love to take me out. I declined the invitation, adding that I already had a boyfriend. The man continued by saying every girl says they have a boyfriend. I tried to assure him that even though females do sometimes lie, I happened to be telling the truth. He seemed to finally accept that information, so I put headphones back on.
Apparently our encounter was not over yet. Failing to hear him calling me out, he resolved to throwing newspapers at me. He even found an umbrella under his seat to bang at the pole between us in an attempt to grab my attention. I removed an earbud one more time to hear him cuss me out, calling me every degrading work possible: “B***h,” “c**t,” “whore,” and “slut” were just a few of the words he repeatedly yelled at me in his sentences. At this point, the train car was full of people (men and women) watching the scene. Not one stepped up to calm the angered man. I know I should’ve gotten up and switched cars. But I was so shocked by what I was happening to me, that I could not move. In fact, my instincts were to stay put, because if I made an attempt to move, he would follow – or even worse, he would touch me. I treated the situation the same way you treat an encounter with a ferocious animal: do not move.. do not show your fear.
Thank God the man got off a few stops before me, but the events of that day were enough to leave me shaking, emotional and paranoid for the rest of the day. To this day, I am extra cautious of my surroundings and remain aware of the people who look at me.”
If you’re a member of the Pace community and have a subway story you would like to send in, email it to us at pace@hercampus.com!