Redline/ Brownline Creep!!!

I am writing to warn my fellow Chicago women of you a creepy old man I encountered on the El last night. I got on the brownline. It was really crowded, and we were all smushed up against eachother. This old guy got on and ended up smashed up against me. I felt something against my leg. At first I tried to tell myself that he just had something in his pocket, but eventually I got the distinct feeling there was something else going on. He could tell I knew what was going on, and he left the car I was on at the Sedgwick stop. I said something to someone else on the train. This other woman overheard me. She said that he did the same thing to her a couple weeks ago. She was watching him, and sure enough he was moving his hand and she could see the outline of his boner. She and I both got off the train at Fullerton to transfer to the red. We saw him on the platform. I went over to confront him. I called him out for what he did. I told him to keep his boner to himself and not rub it up against innocent women. He tried to deny doing it, and the other woman backed me up. When I went to find a CTA employee, he took off. But another woman overheard us and came over. It turns out that at Sedgwick he had just changed cars and proceeded to do the same thing to her. We found a CTA worker. He brought a couple cops up, so we could give them a description. The creep is still at large.

Unfortunately I was not able to get a picture. I tried to, but he evaded me. So I am passing on his description. He is an older man, I would say around 60. He is short, probably about 5'2". He has a Russian accent. He wears a black leather jacket. He has scarring on his face, but no facial hair. He has a stocky build with a belly, but is not obese. He is bald on top, but has grey hair ringing his head. He has dark eyes. If someone matching that description tries to do the same thing, don't be afraid to call him out. He is clearly a serial predator. I was too freaked out and worried I might be wrong to call him out on the train. I am just glad I had another chance to do so on the platform.

~submitted by Jennifer

Yesterday & Today: Harassment Ruins Family Fun

I developed much earlier than most girls my age and I can remember vividly one of the first times I was sexually harassed. I was 12 years old and my family and I were on vacation. We were staying at a campsite that had a really cool waterslide, the thing was that you had to ride on these mats and go down on your belly. I don’t remember why, but those were the
rules.
Anyway, my siblings and I were enjoying the waterslide when a couple of creeps decided to join us. One in particular always waited until my older sister and I went down so that he could follow us. The guard on duty made sure the next person went a considerable time after the first so there would be no collisions. Unfortunately my sister and I did not weigh as much as this pervert, and he always caught up to us and deliberately went fast enough to “accidentally” go between our legs. This weasel even had the nerve to ask my brother if I was 18 years old… um, no, I’m 12!!!!! I’m just a kid trying to enjoy the freaking waterslide on my family vacation!!!! The next time up I tried waiting till he went down first so I could go down and actually have fun, but after waiting 10 minutes, I decided I would go and hope someone else went after me. NOPE!
The creep jumps on the slide right after me and proceeds to go between my legs. I promptly got out of the pool, put my mat back, and never went back to that slide for the rest of the vacation. Unfortunately, I was too young to think that I should tell someone about it. I’m 21 now and I am still pissed he ruined what could have been a really fun and memorable
vacation.

I now go to school downtown and encounter catcalls from creeps all the time, unfortunately it is just part of my daily routine. My younger sister, on the other hand, is not as used to it. She got the whole week off for Thanksgiving break, and because I go to UIC, I never get that week
off. So I asked her if she wanted to go to class with me downtown because we hardly get to see each other and this way we would at least get to spend some time together. Well, we went to get lunch and as soon as we enter the restaurant, all eyes were on her (she is a very beautiful girl; it runs in the family ;) ).
We go up to the counter to order our food and the guy at the register was staring at her, he couldn’t even pay attention to the guy in line in front of us who was ordering. So then it is my turn to order and the cashier is still starring at my sister. (He is in his fifties and wearing a wedding band. It’s always the old, married men…) Anyway, I give my order and he interrupts me to ask me a question about my order, where if he was listening to me in the first place he wouldn’t have even had to ask it. So then after he takes my order, he asks my sister what she wants. Looking down at the floor (she is too creeped out) she answers, “The same as her”, and as we are getting our drinks he proceeds to do a once (and twice) over of her behind. This pissed me off so much for two reasons. First of all, I could tell my sister was clearly uncomfortable with this man who totally violated her with his eyes. I’m more or less used to this, but she’s my little sister, LEAVE HER ALONE! Second, I wasn’t getting the respect I deserved as a customer because he was too busy ogling her. I’m a short person, a few inches shorter than my sister, and that was only exaggerated by the complete disregard he had for me as a paying customer. I felt about 2 feet tall. This guy made us both feel like crap when all we wanted were a couple of gyros. I wish I had said something to him, but even to this day I don’t know what I would have said that wouldn’t have made the situation worse by embarrassing my sister even more. If I had known about this site back then I probably would have taken his picture.

~submitted by Liz

unsafe driving

I love going for walks in my town. I can walk pretty much walk anywhere and end up where I started. And I also love the fact that summer gets the worst ignorant a-holes in the mood to harass any chick within taunting distance.
That's why when one day in, I believe July, my friend and me were walking our usual route. This car with two guys that looked between 16 and 20 ish slowed down next to us and were like, "Wanna ride?" and we were like "no." and the driver's like "aw, whatsa matter, u got sumthin against studs?" and my friend, who just can't shut up in these situations, says, "no we just have a thing against assholes. They said, "what are you, lesbians?" i sarcastically replied, "yes." And the dumbfucks believed us!
They start driving in reverse and ran up a curb. kudos to the good Samaritans in mini vans passing us by with no help. After following us for 5 min. in reverse, they finally got bored of themselves and took off.

~submitted by izzy

Protecting and Serving: Chicago's Finest

I was enjoying a night of shopping with a few friends on a cool Chicago night as we strolled down rush street to our next destination. As we crossed over Chicago Ave. in front of a Chicago Police paddy wagon we were suddenly illuminated by the car's spotlight. The policemen inside began
whistling out of their windows as they followed us with the spotlight. We laughed it off, finding it odd but funny. Yet, after some talk we wondered what the police are not seeing when they are too busy shouting catcalls at Chicago women.

Rachel

Harassed in Greektown

I just wanted to write you as I work as a part-time teller in one of the larger banks in Chicago. I also attend Columbia College full-time.

I deal with customers all day long. As part of my job I need to be friendly and helpful. Many customers take this as an invitation to hit on me and otherwise make sexual advances towards me. This happens not only to me but also to my female co-workers.

Today a customer came in to cash a check. I wasn't even the teller who waited on him but he felt it necessary to inquire if I was married. I told him that my boyfriend of two and a half years was ready with a ring. Then he asks for my number, I told him no. He then offered his phone number and email address and forced me to take both. He proceeded to tell me if I called him I "wouldn't need to be workin' here no more."

Cause obviously I need some dirty old man to be my sugar daddy.

~submitted by Tiffani

shake it like a polaroid picture

This morning while taking the blue line from UIC Halsted to Clark and Lake someone slipped a Polaroid of their penis into my bag. On the polaroid the disgusting perpetrator wrote in black sharpie: a BIG!!! Merry X-mas. I wish I had seen him do it so I could have bitched him out, taken his picture and sent it in.

I wanted other women to know that this polariod flasher is stalking the streets. And by the way...it's not big!

Your site is awesome, keep it up!

~submitted by Thea

It's hard out there for a concierce

Although the random comments I get on the street really irk me, at the moment I am having an ongoing problem at work. It’s not a co-worker; it’s a taxi driver that pops into my office all the time. Every single day I work, this old smelly man comes to say hi but not just a friendly hello. It’s, “Hello beautiful! Oh, my. You are so sweet. When will you let me take you out? I love you.” I’ve tried everything from telling him my boyfriend works with me (he does) to being mean to him. And he always wants to kiss my hand. It’s gross and annoying! He won’t stop and my building’s security say they can’t do anything. Thanks for letting me vent!

~ submitted by Amy

Memories of Chicago

I just found your website, and reading the posts made me want to write about my experiences. I moved out of Chicago this summer, but lived there for four great years!


*The first year I lived in Chicago, I was walking back from the train to my apartment in Wicker Park, not late at night, but it was after dark. I was talking on my cell phone to one of my friends when some teenager ran up to me from pretty much no where, grabbed my ass and ran away before I could kick his ass. It was harrowing, and made me think about printing out signs and posting them around the alley where it happened, though I never did. If only this site had been around...

*Other than that, I have been subjected to the usual catcalls, though this spring I was walking to the train in the Loop and was crossing an alley where a moving/rental truck was stopped. There was a woman in front of me also, and sure enough, catcalls came out of the truck. I proceeded to give them the finger while crossing in front of them (which is a sort of scary prospect), instead of my usual yelling back telling them to fuck off.

~ submitted by CJC

A Very Special Day

Is there a world record for getting harassed? In one day I got hit on four times within a twenty minute walk!

1)After leaving my building to walk to class which is merely a couple blocks I crossed an alley and a truck driver literally blocked my path. He used some stupid pick up line and wouldn't leave me until I yelled at him explaining I was late for class.

2)Five minutes later, a guy crossing the street changed the direction he was walking to follow me and ask for my phone number.

3)After ignoring creepo number two I walked past The Hilton when one of the workers asked if he could take my picture for a magazine.

4)Finally, before I reached my building a car full of boys started yelling comments to me about how I look like Beyonce and fed up with everything else I gave them a cold look and kept walking. They then proceeded to call me a bitch.

At that same time I crossed paths with an older woman that knew exactly what I was going threw. She gave me a look of concern and sympathy and I replied the with a half smile that said "that's life!" Even though we said nothing to each other I knew that by both of us being women in Chicago, we were connected in the problem of dealing with street harassment on a daily basis.

~submitted by Angel