Watatita: On Dealing with Creepy Old Men

Alexia Cahyaningtyas

Ladies, have you ever been in a situation where you find yourself feeling incredibly uncomfortable in a public place because a gentleman, particularly an older one, is trying to hit on you?

Sometimes they stand inside your personal space and start whispering creepy sentences. Or they follow you wherever you go. This might not seem like a serious topic, but for women, it’s worth discussing.
 
It is intimidating. It might not be as serious as rape, but it is definitely an “assault to your personal space”.

What is even more worrying is that you don’t exactly know what that man is going to do to you. The worst case scenario is when the girl gets raped, and she’s the one being blamed with reasons such as “she’s wearing sexy clothing”, but when she’s not wearing anything provocative, they say “she must have done something to seduce him”.

Every single person should have the right to feel comfortable in a public space, both men and women.

It is also much better for ladies to purchase phone credits from ATM machines or from a trusted phone credit seller. Sometimes, after you write your phone number down to purchase phone credits, the store attendant starts calling you, texting you, terrorizing you, and this I’ve experienced myself, as well as some of my female friends.
 
It is very important that every woman knows what to do in this kind of situation. A few days ago,  I visited a shopping center  in Central Jakarta when I noticed one man stalking me. Another older man also dared to come very close to me and asked whether I was alone. I could see that he didn’t have any good intentions by the way he stared.

Now, I don’t know anything about these men, but what I know about perverted men like them is that they have no sense of shame. So after feeling frustrated, I yelled, “Hey pervert, get away from me!”

Everybody stared at him, the salespeople, the shoppers, and I successfully kicked in a bit of shame into his system. He looked shocked and embarrassed, so he slowly stepped away.

When that method doesn’t work, and it gets even more serious or physical, always carry a pepper spray. It’s easy to use, it’s light to carry, and best of all, it’s legal.

I hope this blog entry does not offend men, because I am aware that not all men are like this, there are some very well-mannered gentlemen out there.

However, if you are the kind of man that I mentioned above, please get a life. You wouldn’t feel safe yourself if someone else is stalking you or saying random creepy things to you. Ladies, let’s show these unmannered men that we are not afraid.