By Torshawna Griffin
While scrolling on Facebook, I came across a social experiment that showed how naïve some people are to what street harassment is. I found two different videos with two totally different outcomes.
In the first video, a girl asked different guys on the street if they would have sex with her. Some guys were down for the challenge and quickly said yes and followed her to her “house.” However, others declined and one man called the police. Even though the video claimed to be a comedic experiment to see how willingly people were to “hook up,” I got another message. It showed how people don’t know or understand what street harassment is.
While the video claimed to be a harmless prank, this is street harassment and people should not have to be subjected to this. Only one person had the right reaction, which was to call the police and report it.
Most women just giggled and walked away, but one woman threw her drink in his face and told him to back off. Street Harassment like this happens every day and mostly to women! Videos like this that make it a joke are not funny. Street harassment is any unwanted attention (gestures, comments, and actions) forced in public without the person’s consent. Street harassment is a big deal because it makes women uncomfortable and can be scary and intimidating. Asking random to people to have sex with you on the street is an extreme version of street harassment. Catcalling and calling someone baby to get them to talk to you is also street harassment.
This is something that we have to call to an end in order to protect not only women, but everyone who has ever been harassed on the street.