26-year-old power-lifter and strength trainer Leanna Carr is from Colorado, and was visiting Dublin, Ireland, last week. Unfortunately, her experience there was not entirely positive. On April 21st, she uploaded a picture of her swollen knuckles on Twitter, caused by punching a man who sexually assaulted her on the street.
“While walking down the street in Dublin earlier this week, a man grabbed my butt,” she wrote. “He proceeded to laugh hysterically and said ‘you’re an American, you probably liked it’. Apparently traveling solo has made me a better person bc my first reaction was to punch him in the face.”
At first glance, Leanna looks like any other beautiful and sweet girl who, of course, attracts the attention of men. However, that is no reason to violate someone’s personal space with such behavior, and the guy who did so got the response he deserved. For many women, sexual harassment is a painfully uncomfortable topic which makes you feel confused and violated, and that leads to just keeping everything to yourself. Not in Carr’s case, though. “I am never a violent person, and I have never punched anyone before… but I became so angry and had so much adrenaline that my reaction was to punch him. I got him on the cheekbone, hard,” she told The Irish Independent. She admits that if the attack had happened in a not so public place, she wouldn’t have had quite the confidence to react this way. But since it happened in daytime, and on a busy street, Carr realized that she must teach the man a lesson.
After the adrenaline had gone, she wasn’t so sure about her decision. But her Twitter post has received the full support of both women and men, with over 25k likes. Only a few people weren’t sure if the story was true, since they couldn’t believe someone might experience such thing in Dublin.
“Maybe you haven’t seen it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” Carr says in response. “No matter what country you’re in. Sexual harassment happens every day from complete strangers and most women do not know the correct way to respond.
“In the past, I probably would have felt too shocked and timid to have dealt with the situation. I probably would have just walked away… and that man probably would have continued to prey on innocent women,” admits Leanna. “I never use Twitter and didn’t write the post for attention, but I’m glad it went viral. This is something that is very common and hopefully, it encourages more women to feel comfortable and able to stand up for themselves if it does happen to them.
Meet Leanna, a 26-year-old girl who went viral after she punched a man who sexually assaulted her in Dublin
On April 21st, she uploaded a picture of her swollen knuckles on Twitter telling about her experience in Irish capital
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However, if the guy had known who he was dealing with, he might have thought twice about doing what he did
Leanna Carr is a professional power-lifter and strength trainer who wouldn't let this situation go unnoticed
"I am never a violent person, and I have never punched anyone before... but I became so angry and had so much adrenaline that my reaction was to punch him"
She admits that if the attack had happened in a not so public place, she wouldn’t have had quite the confidence to react this way. But in this case Carr realized that she must teach the man a lesson
"In the past, I probably would have felt too shocked and probably would have just walked away... and that man would have continued to prey on innocent women"
"No matter what country you’re in. Sexual harassment happens every day from complete strangers and most women do not know the correct way to respond"
After the adrenaline had gone, she wasn’t so sure about her decision, but her Twitter post has received the full support of both women and men, with over 25k likes
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However, there were some people who said that the story isn't true since they never experienced such thing in Dublin
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This user raised a question if violence is an answer here though, and we would like to hear what do you think about this story in the comments below
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