Intervention (m, bystander account, warning: violent)

I was walking to New Westminster SkyTrain station on my way to work when I heard screaming. It was just after 1500, so I assumed it was the usual noise I always heard from the kids who were freshly out of school and thought nothing of it. But I kept hearing it as I went into the station and up both flights of stairs to the platform.

When I got to the top, I saw a man pulling his fist out of a woman’s face at the edge of the platform. Her face and shirt were covered in blood. He walked a few steps away, then whirled and threw something, I think it was a can, directly at her face and she screamed again. Then he started walking directly toward me, at the top of the stairs.

I’m not a fighter, I’m an arguer. And I only had about a second to decide what to do. So, when he got next to me at the top of the stairs to head down, I kicked him as hard as I could in the thigh with my steel-toed boots.

He tumbled about halfway down the stairs until he caught himself  on the railing, then turned to face me. That’s when I threw my full piping hot latte at him, hitting him in the neck and shoulder. He ran off.

After he was out of sight, I went to check on the woman who had collapsed on the platform. I helped get her over to one of the seats and despite all of the blood, her nose didn’t seem to be broken. Some people who were on the platform started coming over to me and I yelled at them to hit the button to call the attendants. I admit I was pissed off that none of them had tried to help when this was going on.

But a couple of them came to talk to me and they had some of her blood on their clothes – it turned out they HAD tried to help her and the guy was just too strong.

She was speaking by that point, and what had apparently happened was that he had set next to her on the train and was making suggestions about her and marrying her and what he could do for her and such. He had dark skin (hoodie and scarf so I don’t know what ethnicity) and she said that guys like that always go for brown girls (she looked to be of Indo-Canadian descent).

She said that he was very insistent and she was feeling worried, so she got off at New West (not her stop) to get away from him, but he followed her.

That’s when he started hitting her, at one point knocking her down on to the tracks. The people with her blood on their clothes helped her back on to the platform, and tried to intercede but said it was like trying to move a boulder.

I waited with her until a pair of platform attendants arrived, left them my number and a brief statement, and then had to run to get to work.

The RCMP called me later but as I didn’t have a description (I was only face to face with him for a moment, and he was pretty well covered) there wasn’t much I could offer them.

I know this isn’t an account of me being harassed, but I’m glad there’s a place I could tell about this incident. I’ve never forgotten that woman.

Lady in Fear

in the year 2006 or 2007 I don’t  remember well I took the train from Broadway to  Nanaimo , I used to lived about 4 blocks away from the station. that evening I walked about two blocks down and two or three young men followed me from the station and  insulted me  for being black , I was told to get lost from here to return to Africa where slaves were . They hit me so hard and threatened me  to hit me worse if  the police was  warned . I was told they  knew who I am and where my  house was located. They told me that if they see something strange around my house they will kill me . That experience was so bad that I end up in the hospital took exams in the face, but was never able to denounce . Today when I find this blog I realize that the situation would have been different if I had dared to denounce, those damn misfits are everywhere , and for someone like me who was  fleeing the violence of my country was even worse . that period of time  was so hard specially  because I left a country where violence against women is at high levels, to meet these cowards here. I hate not having the courage to denounce , but now at least I can write about it.

It was very painful to see my face completely swollen I know time has passed and there is nothing We can do but I also know that, that experience was so traumatic that sometimes I still have dreams with them

Telling Stories in Different Formats

A previous submitter to our site has developed a pitch and a script for a film project about events very relevant to the theme of this blog. In her words: 

I have recently applied to get a $10,000 production grant to make my short film, and I need your help!!

Essentially, it is a story about how trauma and sexual assault can have a lasting effect on the mind and the body. The script aims to create awareness and also fight against rape culture and victim blaming. Even though it is fiction, the script draws a lot from my own personal experiences. One of the assaults in the script happens on public transit.

 My video pitch has been approved by Telus for the Storyhive short film competition here in Vancouver, and if it receives enough VOTES online I will be able to claim one of ten Storyhive production grants.

 All you have to do is register as a community voter and vote for my project “PRESSING CHARGES” 

 Click the link below to watch my video pitch, and read my project details (logline, synopsis, etc.) if you like what you see: VOTE!! (X5)

 http://www.storyhive.com/project/show/id/26

 Anyone can sign up as a community voter, you do not have to be from, or living in Vancouver.

 Just select your voting location as ‘Vancouver’ and vote for my project “PRESSING CHARGES”

 You will have ten votes to distribute to all of your favourite projects, but you can vote up to five times on any one project SO PLEASE VOTE FOR MINE MULTIPLE TIMES!!

 Then please share this link with your friends, family, and social networks to help me get more votes!

 Your help and support means the world to me!!!

Heidi J. Loos

Project Global Guardian

Yesterday, the founders of this blog attended a press conference with the Transit Police, in support of their participation in Project Global Guardian. This campaign seeks to bring international attention to the issue of sexual harassment and assault on public transit; other transit policing forces from Boston (MA), London (UK) and Washington (D.C.) are also involved.

We are extremely pleased with the response of the Transit Police to this particular problem–they are making it one of their primary focuses over the next year. They have officially launched their texting initiative (87-77-77 for non-emergency situations. Please text your location, description and a description of the perp if you are using this service) and have announced the imminent launch of their On Duty mobile app, both of which are intended to simplify discreet reporting.

Reporting offences of this nature is an initial step in demonstrating the unacceptability of harassment and assault. If you See Something (or if something happens to you), we implore you to Say Something.

 

Vancouver Sun’s article on the project: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Transit+police+target+offences/9711920/story.html

CBC Video featuring yours(x2) truly: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/BC/ID/2447526278/

Who Even Knows With These Aggro Bros??

Thanks for starting this project. These stories are horrifying to read, but also so, so important to discuss and acknowledge and validate. I just learned about this blog today, and I’m really glad that I have this venue to air my grievances.

I was on the 19 Metrotown this evening on my way home from work. The bus wasn’t particularly crowded, and I was standing by the back door.  Somewhere along Pender, a red-haired man, slightly stocky, maybe 5’6, got on and immediately yelled at an older woman in the aisle to “Get out of my way! Watch where  you’re going!” So, you know, great first impression. He came to stand next to me, and made another comment about “stupid people getting in the way, idiots, blah blah.” I ignored him. From pretty much right away, I could feel him staring at me from the overly-close proximity that public transit affords, and after a couple minutes, he says, “You know, you look really good today, miss.” Again, I completely ignored him. Dude, I just saw you yell at an old woman, but wait, you think I’m pretty? Watch me swoon.

When a seat in front of the door was vacated, he made a big show of offering it up to me. I took it, and said thanks, and hoped that would be the end of our interaction. But no. He then starts going on about lazy people taking the bus when they could be walking–apparently in reference to a woman who had just rung the bell after riding for what he deemed to be too short of a distance. He got right in her face when she was getting off, calling her lazy, and finally I had hit my tolerance level for him being a jerk to undeserving people. I turned around, told him to shut up, and turned back to face the front of the bus.

He then proceeded to move in close behind me and tell me, “I should slap you in the head with my dick.”

SO NOT OKAY. I froze, not knowing what to do, but then my adrenaline took over and I stood up on autopilot and yelled “THIS MAN IS MAKING COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS AND I WOULD LIKE SOMEONE TO GET HIM OFF THE BUS PLEASE.” There was a moment when no one said anything, and then the guy mutters, “I’ll get myself off the bus,” and slinks off at the Main St stop.

I’m bold and sassy and even I freeze up when a man says something like this. It is so unexpected and so degrading and so incredibly uncalled for. Thanks to the ladies who spoke to me after the man saw himself off the bus–in those moments, having strangers reassure me that I’m not crazy for feeling and reacting as I did is a huge comfort. Nothing is worse than having something like that happen, and then everyone just pretends they didn’t notice. Plus, one of them kindly directed me to this blog.

Also, maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I’m having trouble finding a way to email a harassment complaint to Translink / the Transit Police. Like, this is really personal, so I’m not comfortable sending it to Translink’s general complaints people who deal with late buses etc. And I’d rather describe my incident in more detail than texting the Transit Police number would allow, and I don’t particularly want to call the associated number and be forced to say the words “slap you in the head with my dick” and then probably start crying.