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The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/AbigailCorner on 2023-09-19 14:57:32.

I’m a 20-year-old woman and I take the bus to get to and from college.

I can’t believe I even have to type this, but yesterday I got harassed on the bus ride home.

It started when an older dude (around his 40s) stepped onto the bus. From the start, I could feel his eyes on me, and he just really gave me the creeps. I thought I was just being paranoid until he started talking to me from across the bus. He was telling me how beautiful I was.

As a woman, I’m used to the occasional catcalling and whistling. I’ve become so desensitized to it that I don’t even care at this point. If he had just talked to me, I wouldn’t have minded as much. But things went beyond that.

This guy continued to talk to me from across the bus for a few minutes. He barely spoke English, and the only words he seemed to know were “beautiful” and “boyfriend” (he was asking me if I had a boyfriend, and if he could be my boyfriend). He tried to speak to me in Spanish, but I don’t speak Spanish, so I just shrugged or nodded my head. I should’ve just ignored him at that point, but it all felt really awkward.

Suddenly, the guy got up and moved into the seat next to me. I was startled and should’ve gotten up, but I was sitting in a window seat and I didn’t want to make a scene climbing over him. I had only a few stops until I had to get off, so I thought I would be able to endure this weird guy’s talk until then.

But then, it wasn’t just talk. This guy started rubbing his head against my shoulder and arm. He reminded me of a stray cat. I was taken aback, but all I could do was freeze because this has never happened to me before. Then, this guy grabbed my wrist from my lap (he had a strong grip), and put my hand in his lap. He started weirdly massaging my hand, and I kept pulling my hand away. I thought he would eventually pick up on my body language that I did not want to be touched. Maybe he would go to another seat because I was making it so obvious that I wanted nothing to do with him. But no.

This guy started stroking my thigh. At that point, I wanted to move seats, but I had one stop left and I was so shocked. The only thing my mind could come up with was to just wait it out. I pulled my whole body away from him as much as I could. But the guy didn’t get the message; he put his arm around me, leaned in, and kissed the back of my neck. I could feel his stubble on my cheek, and I could smell his breath. I felt disgusted and violated. At that point, all I could do was mutter, “stop, I don’t even know you”.

When I got off the bus, I was shaking with fear and anger. At that moment, I felt so weak and powerless. Why didn’t I speak up? Why couldn’t I be loud? Thinking back, it all happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to process. I also didn’t want to make a scene and disturb the other people on the bus. Then there was the fact that this guy barely knew English. And there was a small part of me that was scared he would pull out a knife or a gun if I acted up.

I told both my parents, and they want to help me report it to the police. I still feel ashamed that I let this happen, and I get angry every time I think about it.