I was waiting at the pedestrian crossing for the light to turn green, when at the other side of the crossing a young man turned around to stare at me. I started to feel uncomfortable and tried to hide myself behind the pole of the traffic light. He gestured for me to walk towards him while the traffic light was red. He kept staring and saying things like “beautiful” and “come here” even when his light turned green. I remained friendly because I felt cornered and stuck waiting for the traffic light and I didn’t want him to get aggressive by I rejecting him. I would probably have to endure racial slurs or sexist remarks.
I shook my head and said the light was red and avoided further eye contact.
I was hesitant whether to cross in a straight line at the pedestrian crossing to get to the tram stop or walk away from the pedestrian crossing to the tram stop in order to avoid further interaction. I felt mad that I did not have the freedom to walk the public space without being hindered by men harassing me. And that this guy was taking up the public space.
I decided to walk a straight line when the light turned green. I avoided eye contact and walked as far as I could from where he was standing at the tram stop. I was relieved that he didn’t follow me, until… my tram came and I saw him popping out from somewhere again. He took a seat at the tram stop and continued to stare and mumbling things about me. I had to walk past by him and felt threatened
