Photo by Frerieke via Flickr

On Saturday night, I stood up for another woman being harassed and I literally got my ass kicked in response. I was crossing Columbia Rd on 18th St with my boyfriend. There were a lot of people around, it being Adam’s Morgan at around 1:30 in the morning. There was a small group of guys walking across the street with us, and there were two women walking in the opposite direction. The women were dressed quite scantily (but again…AdMo on Saturday night. No biggie). One of the guys said something to these women that was so vulgar I can’t type it here. It wasn’t meant to be complimentary, like so many street comments seem to be, but it was definitely meant in a derogatory way. I sort of snapped, because I was so disgusted by him. I told him he had no right to talk to anyone that way, and I asked him how he would feel if someone said that to his mom or his sister.

And then he hit me. In the face. Open palm, with an upward motion, hit me in the nose, drawing blood and knocking me to the ground. My boyfriend is not a fighter. He went up to this guy and said “Don’t touch my girlfriend!” And then the guy hit him too. Someone must have called the police, because a cop came by after a few minutes, but the guy and his friends were already gone.

I know we’re not supposed to describe people, but if anyone saw this happen, it would be important for me to know. The guy was about 5’10”, white, dirty blond hair, and was wearing a faded ballcap, oversized polo shirt and flip flops.

At any rate, this incident won’t make me stop standing up for women, but it will make me think twice about the venue.

Submitted by Anonymous on 7/26/2010

Location: 18th & Columbia

Time of Harassment: Late Night (12A-5A)

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