Speaker 1 (00:03):
I was heading home from work one night on the tram, when I noticed a man staring at me out of the corner of my eye. That just happened all the time. That happens a lot. Just another one of those men staring at me on the tram. I looked up again, maybe 10 minutes later, and I noticed that he was still staring at me. I thought, well, I'm going to hop off soon, so it doesn't matter. I hopped off the tram, started walking across the road and then down towards my apartment building. I obviously couldn't hear anything because my earphones were still in. Not being aware of my surroundings, I had a tap on the shoulder, and this guy turned me around and it was the guy from the tram.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
He had actually followed me off of the tram, across the lights and down my street. And then he just said, "Oh, hi. Just wondering if you'd want to hang out? I'm trying to make new friends. I'm really new to the area." I don't know what hang out meant, so I was a bit scared and in shock. I did not want to be there. I did not want him doing anything to me. How can I get myself out of this situation as quick as possible? But without offending him, was probably my main concern. I didn't want to offend this 40-year-old guy that shouldn't have been tapping on my shoulder in the first place. I said, "No, thank you." And turned around and just started walking. He decided to tap on my shoulder again. Red flags in my head popping up everywhere. I just would have said something like, "No, I'm really not interested." Didn't even look back, I just went straight for the apartment.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And then my partner was just egging me to call the police about it. I just left it, even though I was crying by the time we got up to the apartment, because the shock was setting in. I thought because he didn't go further than what he did and I was unharmed, I didn't think that was crossing the line. But looking back on it, I think from the moment he started staring at me on the tram, that was crossing the line. I don't know what that guy could have done, or if he got straight back onto that tram and tried to do the same to someone else that he was going to do to me.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Because I didn't speak up about it, I just pushed it to the back of my head. So it's always been there every time I hop on a tram or a train or a bus. I don't think that's fair at all that I have to only have one earphone in. I have to be always aware of who's around me and what's going on around me. Look the whole tram down to find a spot where I can sit that I feel the safest with no one else around me. When I first heard about STOPIT, I was relieved. I was over the moon. I was so happy knowing that people actually cared, knowing that someone else would have had my back.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So you just text STOPIT?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Wow, that's so simple. I like how you have an option to add your name or not. That's really cool. I think I will 100% be using this, definitely. Having it ready, just in case, every time I help on public transport, I think this is really, really great. We all have a right to feel comfortable on public transport. And I don't think it should be the victim's responsibility to determine what is crossing the line and when it is enough. It's such a relief knowing that there are people out there trying to make a difference on public transport.
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