I was 13!

“Sara” shared with us:

When I was 13 I was walking on a country road not far from my house (I’m from Italy, although I now live in the UK). It was 2 pm and I was looking at flowers and minding my own business, when I heard a car getting closer, with loud techno music coming from it. I already knew what was coming, and I wasn’t wrong. The car stopped next to me, 3 guys in their ’20s came out, while one remained at the wheel (please remember I was 13, and looking younger). One blocked my path, and the others went behind me and next to me. The guy asked me if I wanted to get in the car for a ride. My reaction to these sorts of things has always been to get aggressive, so I started to yell at them that they were disgusting paedophiles and picked up a rock telling them I would throw it at their faces (I was bluffing of course, because that would have put me in the wrong in case the police was called, I already knew at 13 that I would be blamed for defending myself, even from 4 adult men). The guy in front of me told me I was crazy, and they all got in the car and left. This was one of the scariest but not the first or the worst instance of sexual harassment, I experienced. No, 13 year old should ever have to pick up a rock to scare some men off.