This piece—in which Sydney Brownstone mapped all of Seattle’s reported gropings over four years leading up to the 2016 election, and in response to Trump’s “pussy grabbing” comments—originally ran in the Stranger November 1, 2016. Sadly, the topic is even more relevant today, in light of all the sexual harassment and misconduct charges that have been springing up…
It was a warm and sunny day in September when Stranger city hall reporter Heidi Groover and I went for a walk outside our Capitol Hill office. We were talking when we saw a man approach us from the opposite direction.
When I’m alone on the street, I usually keep my earbuds in my ears. Usually, but not always, this prevents men from speaking to me. I also lower my eyes. This avoids eye contact that a man might interpret as an invitation to speak to me or touch me. As an additional safety measure, if I’m wearing a coat with pockets, I grip my keys between my knuckles. Many women do this. My logic: If I have to fight, at least he’ll get bloodied.
But on that September day, while walking with Heidi, I was doing none of these things. And when the man took up more space than usual by striding down the middle of the sidewalk, I forced myself to keep walking straight ahead. Maybe have a little faith in humanity, I thought. Maybe don’t assume the worst.
Wrong impulse. It happened in a matter of seconds. The man reached around behind me, up, under my shapeless, shift dress (I wasn’t wearing tights), and grabbed my ass. His fingers touched me through my underwear. And then he laughed.
