Why do a small proportion of the male population do this?

<Clairy feels like a minger and shuffles off out of this thread>

I do, quite often, get nice blokes asking me out on dates though. You know, proper cringingly embarrassing stuff from nice blokes who don't do that sort of thing very often.

And old, ugly no-hopers. I have a special talent when it comes to pulling them ?

(Mr Clairy excluded, obviously)

When it was dark and a lady was approaching us on the same side of the pavement, my Dad always crossed the road. I still do it now, for my own safety and to stop them being concerned. Perhaps people don't realise how uncomfortable it makes women feel.

I was sexually assaulted (and make no mistake, this is what it is) in broad daylight in 2001, when a man came up behind me and started walking alongside me and make leud suggestions and noises. I was walking home from H's (he was the bf then) apartment and he only started following me shortly after leaving the flat but I didn't have a key so I couldn't go back. He did try to touch me but I hit his hand away. I was so scared that he was going to follow me all the way to my flat or drag me in an alleyway. But there was no point screaming or shouting as there was no one near by to help and frankly I would have been too scared to. Thankfully he turned off into what I can only assume was his street.

Bless H, as soon as he heard he left work and came to me and went with me to the police station to report it. But, it never went anywhere as I didn't see which house he went into (if at all) but then I didn't feel like sticking around to find out where he was going.

The whole experience really marked me and to this day I have a huge distrust of strange men, they don't have to say anything they could be just walking towards me. I'm not as bad as I used to be, but still I feel very uncomfortable when being alone with another man who isn't my H or a male member of my family.

Don't let these ba$t@rd$ get away with it. Report it to the police.

Some of the posts on here contain such horrid experiences ☹️

I didn't quite realise it was such a huge issue, I walk past building sites (etc) all the time and have never once received any disrespectful comments (at least that I could hear).

I have only ever experienced anything like what is being discussed two times in my life, and I thought they were not common situations at all. And not from any place that I would have expected this issue to appear, if you see what I mean re: the stereotypical building site comment:

First was in my first year of uni, I was walking back from the bus stop along the back of a row of houses (short cut rather than along the main road, stupid place to walk alone but cuts 15 minutes off my journey and this was broad daylight). I was dressed in jeans and a plain black kneelength coat carrying a lot of folders - nothing special at all - when two men in a parked car whistled at me as I walked past and said some things I couldn't really hear except lots of laughing and something about "sucking [him] off" (?). I just ignored them and continued home, but was extremely upset - I think what was most upsetting is something others have touched on - I didn't know whether to be rude in return, ignore, etc.

Fortunately the second time was when H and I were coming out of the cinema, two men followed me as I waited for H to come back from the loo as I went to the bus stop to check exit times, they were quite intimidating and wouldn't leave me alone but H is 6 foot, built like a rugby player and has no issue with changing his normally soft Scottish accent into something more Trainspotting-esque in order to appear more threatening than he really is. Not a pleasent experience and my most prominent memory of that incident is being scared for my H rather than myself in case they found out his bark is rather more painful than his bite!

As for why men do these things... to show off... or make themselves feel power over someone because they're feeling insecure, as someone else said, in the case of the men in the car above I think they were drinking... so a few reasons really.

I agree it's a power thing.

And while I agree that some women pull unpleasant and humiliating stunts, they don't usually have the physical threat that a group of men have over a woman, IYSWIM.

I'm sorry so many people on here have had such horrid experiences.

I try to remember that it is probably a power thing and that gender isn't so important. But when it happens to me I can't help thinking that some of these men must really hate women to treat them with such disrespect. Then I think of the casual misogyny that's everywhere - the insults; the sexual innuendoes; the lack of respect. Do men get "cheer up it might never happen?" I don't think they do, or very seldom at any rate. It makes me feel frustrated and angry, because I don't know what to do to help my two sons to grow up to be the other kind of man.

I spent two weeks in Italy (Sorrento) and that was the worse place for it. We got married there and had friends with us. It drove my husband mad as blokes constantly made lewd comments and tried to grab me even when walking with my H. Even my wedding day when I had a wedding dress on i still had an older man asking if he could take my virginity (?) and then made a blow job motion at me.

I can relate to this...went to Sorrento as a 19ish year old with family and would get comments with dad right next to me.

A few years ago, nearer the beginning of mine and H's relationship whilst we were at uni, I was walking to my car from my Saturday job at my dad's. A car drove past with about 4 blokes sticking their heads out yelling things at me...It was only when they got in front of me and caught a proper look that the penny dropped that they were H's old friends - nobbers. He was not impressed and called them to have a few words ?

I've just remembered the most recent one. When I was pregnant I was lucky to be all out front and from the back you couldn't really tell I was pregnant. I was walking to MILs in town when I finsihed work and a car full of young lads went past as college finished for the day. They started whistling and shouting whilst they were behind me and then as they drove past me and saw my bump (I was about 32 weeks!) the looks on their faces were spectacular. ? In fact as the traffic was quite slow I distinctly heard one of them say, 'She's pregnant you pervert!' ?

I like to think it taught them all a lesson.

I do get this quite a lot but in a more reserved than in your face kind of way. I had a guy a couple of months ago in a hotel give me his room key after he'd talked to me at dinner. - he was wearing a wedding ring as was I. He put the key down, told me his room number and said 'just for if you get bored later'

There is a bit of a joke at work that I seem to attract weirdos. My male colleague reckons its because I walk confidently, amd young, blonde and wear a suit much of the time.