Member-only story
[Some] Men Are Perverts
Street harassment is a form of violence
I was 14 the first time a man groped me. F-o-u-r-t-e-e-n years old. I was a child.
My mom and I were walking in a crowded market in Managua, Nicaragua. I was a few steps behind her when a stranger grabbed my vulva and then went on about his day. I froze for a few seconds. Blood rushed to my face.
I felt deep shame even though it wasn't my fault.
It was the first but not the last time that a man would grab my body without my consent.
On a different occasion, my family and I went out to eat. A man stood by the restaurant’s entrance. As I entered, he whispered, “*Mamacita, qué buena estas”. (You are hot). I was sixteen.
Afterward, I told my mom. She told me to ignore him:"la indiferencia mata, es mejor no hacer caso". Indifference kills; it’s best not to pay attention.
It was my fate as a young woman to put up with harassment. The only my mother could do was teach me what she had learned, to not react. I wished she had screamed at that man. I wish she had kicked his ass for being a pervert.
