A few months ago I was at work in the clothes store that I work in. To access our stock room we have to venture out the back of the shop and down a corridor that is shared with the rest of the shopping Centre. On this particular day there was building work happening in this corridor meaning I had to walk past a group of 3/4 men without a phone (we’re not allowed to carry them at work) or a radio to contact the shop. Immediately I could tell they were whispering amongst themselves and making comments and as I got closer they began shouting at me, asking for my name and for my phone number. I went into the stock room, aware they had followed me and were waiting outside of the door. When I went to exit the room I found I couldn’t open the door and realized they were holding the handle up. I felt scared and completely helpless and burst into tears. I asked them to let me out and they said they would on the condition that I performed oral sex on them or had sex with one of them. After a couple of minutes of wrestling with the door handle I locked the door from the inside and curled up in a ball and cried. I was in there for half an hour until I couldn’t hear them anymore and ventured out. When I got back to the shop my boss was very concerned and contacted security. The men were escorted off the premises and lost their jobs. I realize this isn’t half as bad as some of the other things that happen to women and men every hour of every day. We need to share these stories though in order to at least attempt to make them realize that to us it’s not a joke, it’s not funny and something that they may say in passing can stay in our minds for the rest of our lives and be the reason that we’re constantly looking our shoulders.
Anonymous