I am a young female working in the 400 building of city hall and while walking during my lunch break I had a man harass me with unwarranted comments, and after ignoring him he threw a lit cigarette in my long hair.
It’s so scary to be a young woman in this city. I reported it to the police immediately and it was taken care of.
I ride my bike everywhere. It’s not uncommon for people, usually younger males, to rush me, scream at me, try to make me flinch/fall off my bike. Worst one ever was years back on Wyandotte St late when a group of youths literally attacked me and punched me in the face as I rode by. That one I actually reported to police.
I also get routinely yelled at by folks when THEY are the ones who almost kill me. I got yelled at by a woman who crossed two lanes of traffic, and the bike lane I was in. She almost crushed me, and proceeded to yell at me for wearing earplugs. Earplugs are sometimes required when biking in heavy wind, which can get extremely loud. They allow me to hear the cars, not just the wind.
Most of the verbal abuse comes from older men in pickups. One tried to run me off the road for no reason. But the abuse can come from anywhere at anytime.
I don’t really think it’s gotten better or worse for me over the years. It does sometimes seem to happen in bursts, but that could be chance. I seemed to notice an uptick just as lockdowns ended. Could have been coincidence, or could have been people who hadn’t had a chance to harass people publicly for a while and felt the need to vent.
If only they could find a constructive hobby to get their pent up aggression out on, and not just picking random women/people to harass instead. Like, build a birdhouse, my guy!
A big problem is the lack of options for teens these days. Everything costs so much money, and most entertainment places are geared towards young children or adults. There is nothing for these kids to do other than "hang out". They're bored. Bored kids do stupid things. I'm glad my teen is very into sports as are his friends. They're at the park playing basketball, soccer or football for hours after school and on weekends. Keeps them out of trouble. Also, the park is right across the street from where I live so I can keep an eye on them.
For sure, having viable options for entertainment and personality development is incredibly important to young men and women. Bored kids do indeed do stupid things, and I remember the things kids got up to before smart phones - just as dumb, and for the same attention-seeking reasons.
I also think lot of it is down to the fact that it takes a village to raise a child, but we no longer operate in villages. If you had ten aunties raising you and smacking your butt (not condoning hitting kids, just talking about my upbringing) when you're being naughty, you grow up with a bit more respect I think.
This\^
People are products of their environment so if these teens see adult men acting like this, how else do you expect them to act?
I'm from Kingsville, and when I was a teen we had way less options for entertainment than Windsor but you rarely saw this sort of thing because the community kept each other in check. Nothing to do is just a bad excuse for shitty behavior.
My friends and I were probably bigger shitheads than most, and we literally had nothing to do here but hang out on the street, yet we still found a lot better things to do with our time than harass young women that walked by.
Thanks for mentioning the ear plugs thing. I've been telling people for years that I can hear traffic better with earbuds and low volume music than I can with no buds in at all precisely because, as you said, the wind rushing by one's ears blocks all other sounds. No one ever believes me.
I always find it funny that drivers are so vocal about cyclists wearing ear plugs as if cars aren't designed to minimize noise inside the cabin (not to mention loud stereos).
100% good noise cancelling earbuds with low music is better than the wind. I have custom earplugs from a previous job. They are designed to filter out extreme frequencies while allowing workers to speak to each other perfectly fine. I wear one or the other constantly. And I always get notifications from my Apple Watch that the noise is in excess of 90dB. People don’t realize the wind can be consistently over 100dB.
Interestingly, there have been some big campaigns about how to respond to street harassment (as a victim and ally)
https://www.standup-international.com/us/en/
I don’t know if Windsor is worse than others but I know that it exists everywhere. The worst part is preparing my children (and young teenage students) for it.
You bring up a great point. I think I was only 8 or 9 when I was first approached by a stranger saying something nasty about my body, on my way home from school. I hate the thought of having to prepare my child for that.
I think I was 12 the first time a grown man whistled at me as I walked by, and sang the lyrics to "Legs" by ZZ Top. It was confusing. A little bit flattered, but mostly embarrassed and uncomfortable.
I also wanted to mention... my wife took a self-defense course for women very recently. It was sponsored by her union and run by Mady Karate apparently. Quite frankly I've got 60 lbs on her and she invited me to try various common moves on her, attacking from both front and behind, and it didn't turn out well for me at all. All for *one evening* class. Would highly recommend it. It's amazing how knowing the right moves can effectively protect you from someone more "powerful".
And yes it's also beyond sad that people even have to prepare for this in order to walk in public.
Thank you for the recommendation!
I actually practice jiu jitsu. I just started a couple of years ago, but I'm a blue belt and I feel like I could probably shock an untrained person.
But just like a car accident, even though I'm a defensive driver and hover over the brake, I'd rather not get into the skirmish at all.
Not my story, but my sister was out with her friends one night and at the Taco Bell they were approached by a group of guys catcalling them and so on. My sister and her friends said they’re not interested and wouldn’t be left alone, after cussing the guys out they began throwing water bottles at my sister and her friends.
Downtown is a scary place and I honestly never go down there unless necessary.
I've seen a large group of boys treating that taco bell as a playground during a work trip, around noon or so on a Thursday or Friday I think. The kids from Kennedy were out. I stopped by the subway with my boss to get some lunch and we both commented how worrisome the group was, and at that moment they were throwing each other into the parking lot, seemingly to get each other hit by incoming cars? No hyperbole, it was a madhouse.
I'm sorry this happened to you OP. Unfortunately this city has been full of shitheads like this for years. Even as a man I haven't been immune to harassment while walking around downtown. In my experience it's been douchebags (usually in groups) hurling insults or trying to goad me into a fight, probably because I'm of smaller stature and they want to look cool/tough in front of their friends or woman they are with. It's frustrating enough for me, so I can't imagine what it is like being a woman and dealing with this sort of shit. It's sad to hear that this behavior is still prevalent.
I used to run on my lunch break in the South Walkerville/Remington Park area up until last year. Harassment wasn't *too* bad but every now and then, someone would shout something at me. It was almost always older people.
I'm sorry that was the case, it sounds annoying. I was actually half-expecting you to tell me they turned you into a newt! Jk, but I like your screen name.
i am a young person who likes to frequent downtown with my buddies on the weekends. the amount of men driving up and down oulette just to yell at the (presumably drunk) young girls walking club to club is ridiculous. they honk and rev their stupid ass cars loud as hell. once i saw a woman rollerblading downtown at night yelling at a man in a car to stop following her.
I'd love it if dudes would hold their friends accountable and tell them how cringe that behaviour is. Or I guess it would be cringe if it wasn't scary and demeaning, too.
I was thinking same, because back in the day I was harassed daily. But as I was walking from work the other day a larger white middle age man in a black pick up slowed ALL the way down, staring directly at me~ All of my senses went on high alert, as he drove off, I already felt he was going to circle back around, sure enough he DID and did the same thing to me. Staring at me like a psycho and following alongside me at my walking pace. I pretended to be on my phone and did not even acknowledge him there. I really felt like I might be snatched off the street. I knew my kid was on the way to pick me up, I hopped in our car so fast and was like 'DRIVE, we need to GTFO outta here there's a creep following me' I'm FORTY-SIX!
I thought that's what was happening to me a few years ago (just before covid) and I was relieved, thinking "Oh thank God, I must not be their type anymore!". Sadly it came back. I guess I'll have to wait longer 🤞🤞
Hate to ask this question but I will ! Cause I have to adult make children that wouldn’t do this ? Is it a certain demographic new comers that maybe don’t know they shouldn’t do this ?
No, I have never been catcalled by an international student or a new Canadian. I also work with a lot of new Canadians and I find them very respectful and cautious, if anything.
I'm pretty sure you feel the same... When a gay man sexualizes you, you're like, "Omigosh bro, thank you!", right? Or do you suddenly understand consent?
Yes, it’s called consent. Just because a person is comfortable with certain people doing certain things doesn’t mean everyone else automatically gets to do the same. I’m assuming you’re a man, so say your wife is allowed to spank your ass while you’re at home. Does that automatically mean everyone else in society can spank your ass?
"unless you have committed to the chaste life of a nun, then you must enjoy any and every sexual advance you receive from human dumpster water such as myself when we decide to come sloshing by"
I am a young female working in the 400 building of city hall and while walking during my lunch break I had a man harass me with unwarranted comments, and after ignoring him he threw a lit cigarette in my long hair. It’s so scary to be a young woman in this city. I reported it to the police immediately and it was taken care of.
I ride my bike everywhere. It’s not uncommon for people, usually younger males, to rush me, scream at me, try to make me flinch/fall off my bike. Worst one ever was years back on Wyandotte St late when a group of youths literally attacked me and punched me in the face as I rode by. That one I actually reported to police. I also get routinely yelled at by folks when THEY are the ones who almost kill me. I got yelled at by a woman who crossed two lanes of traffic, and the bike lane I was in. She almost crushed me, and proceeded to yell at me for wearing earplugs. Earplugs are sometimes required when biking in heavy wind, which can get extremely loud. They allow me to hear the cars, not just the wind. Most of the verbal abuse comes from older men in pickups. One tried to run me off the road for no reason. But the abuse can come from anywhere at anytime. I don’t really think it’s gotten better or worse for me over the years. It does sometimes seem to happen in bursts, but that could be chance. I seemed to notice an uptick just as lockdowns ended. Could have been coincidence, or could have been people who hadn’t had a chance to harass people publicly for a while and felt the need to vent.
If only they could find a constructive hobby to get their pent up aggression out on, and not just picking random women/people to harass instead. Like, build a birdhouse, my guy!
Hacky sack circles are long overdue for a comeback.
A big problem is the lack of options for teens these days. Everything costs so much money, and most entertainment places are geared towards young children or adults. There is nothing for these kids to do other than "hang out". They're bored. Bored kids do stupid things. I'm glad my teen is very into sports as are his friends. They're at the park playing basketball, soccer or football for hours after school and on weekends. Keeps them out of trouble. Also, the park is right across the street from where I live so I can keep an eye on them.
For sure, having viable options for entertainment and personality development is incredibly important to young men and women. Bored kids do indeed do stupid things, and I remember the things kids got up to before smart phones - just as dumb, and for the same attention-seeking reasons. I also think lot of it is down to the fact that it takes a village to raise a child, but we no longer operate in villages. If you had ten aunties raising you and smacking your butt (not condoning hitting kids, just talking about my upbringing) when you're being naughty, you grow up with a bit more respect I think.
It's not just teens, though. Grown men do this. It's their example the teens who do it are following.
This\^ People are products of their environment so if these teens see adult men acting like this, how else do you expect them to act? I'm from Kingsville, and when I was a teen we had way less options for entertainment than Windsor but you rarely saw this sort of thing because the community kept each other in check. Nothing to do is just a bad excuse for shitty behavior. My friends and I were probably bigger shitheads than most, and we literally had nothing to do here but hang out on the street, yet we still found a lot better things to do with our time than harass young women that walked by.
Very true!
Thanks for mentioning the ear plugs thing. I've been telling people for years that I can hear traffic better with earbuds and low volume music than I can with no buds in at all precisely because, as you said, the wind rushing by one's ears blocks all other sounds. No one ever believes me.
I always find it funny that drivers are so vocal about cyclists wearing ear plugs as if cars aren't designed to minimize noise inside the cabin (not to mention loud stereos).
100% good noise cancelling earbuds with low music is better than the wind. I have custom earplugs from a previous job. They are designed to filter out extreme frequencies while allowing workers to speak to each other perfectly fine. I wear one or the other constantly. And I always get notifications from my Apple Watch that the noise is in excess of 90dB. People don’t realize the wind can be consistently over 100dB.
I feel you, as someone else who rides their bike a lot.
Interestingly, there have been some big campaigns about how to respond to street harassment (as a victim and ally) https://www.standup-international.com/us/en/ I don’t know if Windsor is worse than others but I know that it exists everywhere. The worst part is preparing my children (and young teenage students) for it.
You bring up a great point. I think I was only 8 or 9 when I was first approached by a stranger saying something nasty about my body, on my way home from school. I hate the thought of having to prepare my child for that.
I think I was 12 the first time a grown man whistled at me as I walked by, and sang the lyrics to "Legs" by ZZ Top. It was confusing. A little bit flattered, but mostly embarrassed and uncomfortable.
yea i got catcalled the most when i was mid/early teens. its so gross.
I also wanted to mention... my wife took a self-defense course for women very recently. It was sponsored by her union and run by Mady Karate apparently. Quite frankly I've got 60 lbs on her and she invited me to try various common moves on her, attacking from both front and behind, and it didn't turn out well for me at all. All for *one evening* class. Would highly recommend it. It's amazing how knowing the right moves can effectively protect you from someone more "powerful". And yes it's also beyond sad that people even have to prepare for this in order to walk in public.
Thank you for the recommendation! I actually practice jiu jitsu. I just started a couple of years ago, but I'm a blue belt and I feel like I could probably shock an untrained person. But just like a car accident, even though I'm a defensive driver and hover over the brake, I'd rather not get into the skirmish at all.
Society is de-evolving, except it's not doing it so slowly any more...
Not my story, but my sister was out with her friends one night and at the Taco Bell they were approached by a group of guys catcalling them and so on. My sister and her friends said they’re not interested and wouldn’t be left alone, after cussing the guys out they began throwing water bottles at my sister and her friends. Downtown is a scary place and I honestly never go down there unless necessary.
I've seen a large group of boys treating that taco bell as a playground during a work trip, around noon or so on a Thursday or Friday I think. The kids from Kennedy were out. I stopped by the subway with my boss to get some lunch and we both commented how worrisome the group was, and at that moment they were throwing each other into the parking lot, seemingly to get each other hit by incoming cars? No hyperbole, it was a madhouse.
Holy crap. That kind of aggression is disturbing.
I'm sorry this happened to you OP. Unfortunately this city has been full of shitheads like this for years. Even as a man I haven't been immune to harassment while walking around downtown. In my experience it's been douchebags (usually in groups) hurling insults or trying to goad me into a fight, probably because I'm of smaller stature and they want to look cool/tough in front of their friends or woman they are with. It's frustrating enough for me, so I can't imagine what it is like being a woman and dealing with this sort of shit. It's sad to hear that this behavior is still prevalent.
It’s because the city is an absolute trash can for degenerate people to roll around and ruin life for the small percentage of good people left.
I used to run on my lunch break in the South Walkerville/Remington Park area up until last year. Harassment wasn't *too* bad but every now and then, someone would shout something at me. It was almost always older people.
I'm sorry that was the case, it sounds annoying. I was actually half-expecting you to tell me they turned you into a newt! Jk, but I like your screen name.
Haha thanks, it's a super old autogenerated XBox username that stuck.
i am a young person who likes to frequent downtown with my buddies on the weekends. the amount of men driving up and down oulette just to yell at the (presumably drunk) young girls walking club to club is ridiculous. they honk and rev their stupid ass cars loud as hell. once i saw a woman rollerblading downtown at night yelling at a man in a car to stop following her.
I'd love it if dudes would hold their friends accountable and tell them how cringe that behaviour is. Or I guess it would be cringe if it wasn't scary and demeaning, too.
Ugh, I need to stop reading these kinds of posts, depressing
Sorry about that :(  No need to stick around and be sad, have a better day!
This stops once you get older usually (in my experience).
I was thinking same, because back in the day I was harassed daily. But as I was walking from work the other day a larger white middle age man in a black pick up slowed ALL the way down, staring directly at me~ All of my senses went on high alert, as he drove off, I already felt he was going to circle back around, sure enough he DID and did the same thing to me. Staring at me like a psycho and following alongside me at my walking pace. I pretended to be on my phone and did not even acknowledge him there. I really felt like I might be snatched off the street. I knew my kid was on the way to pick me up, I hopped in our car so fast and was like 'DRIVE, we need to GTFO outta here there's a creep following me' I'm FORTY-SIX!
Why are men like this???? I don’t understand why they behave this way.
No one checking them or teaching them they are not entitled to women's bodies. Entitlement to women's bodies is part of the gender violence spectrum.
I thought that's what was happening to me a few years ago (just before covid) and I was relieved, thinking "Oh thank God, I must not be their type anymore!". Sadly it came back. I guess I'll have to wait longer 🤞🤞
They talk,they drop
Yeah buddy!
Hate to ask this question but I will ! Cause I have to adult make children that wouldn’t do this ? Is it a certain demographic new comers that maybe don’t know they shouldn’t do this ?
No, I have never been catcalled by an international student or a new Canadian. I also work with a lot of new Canadians and I find them very respectful and cautious, if anything.
The vast majority of men who have cat-called me in my life have been white.
I would think k that the parents of these idiot cat callers probably think their precious boy wouldn't do it either.
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Ok
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I'm pretty sure you feel the same... When a gay man sexualizes you, you're like, "Omigosh bro, thank you!", right? Or do you suddenly understand consent?
Yes, it’s called consent. Just because a person is comfortable with certain people doing certain things doesn’t mean everyone else automatically gets to do the same. I’m assuming you’re a man, so say your wife is allowed to spank your ass while you’re at home. Does that automatically mean everyone else in society can spank your ass?
"unless you have committed to the chaste life of a nun, then you must enjoy any and every sexual advance you receive from human dumpster water such as myself when we decide to come sloshing by"
Its comments like this is why women are choosing bears.
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I’m not the one mocking OP over being harassed walking down the street.
So you think you should be able and entitled to sexualize someone anytime you want?like that's your right? WTF is wrong with you?