Everyone thinks that only women get harassed, but that’s because nobody ever really listens to the men who are victims. Whenever a man tries to speak up, he’s either silenced or made fun of. So why would anyone want to come forward or seek help?
Luckily, there are people who take a stand on behalf of men. A teen on Reddit shared how she tried to protect her younger brother who was at the receiving end of unwanted advances from a girl. Not everybody sided with her, but she still persisted.
More info: Reddit
Teen slaps girl who kept chasing her younger brother around to look under his kilt
Image credits: Lewis Ashton (not the actual photo)
The 19YO poster shared that a drunk 18YO girl was chasing around her 16YO brother and trying to look under his kilt, she kept persisting even though she was being told to stop
Image credits: Jonathan Borba (not the actual photo)
The poster slapped the other girl, who screamed that she would call the cops, but when the author said she would call the cops on her for harassment, the girl backed down
Image credits: Sasha Kim (not the actual photo)
Although the teen’s older brother, the groom, completely supported her, the incident caused drama with his wife’s family, so the poster had to apologize to the girl she slapped
Image credits: PhysicsBig8331
Nobody should get away with harassing another person, and it’s good that the teen took a stand in this case
The Original Poster (OP) is a 19-year-old girl. She, her 16-year-old brother, and their family were attending her older brother’s wedding. The wedding party had specific outfits for the groomsmen and bridesmaids. The men’s side wore kilts, while the women wore dresses matching the tartan. During the reception, a drunk girl kept trying to look under the men’s kilts. She did not stop doing it even when they told her to leave them alone.
She eventually began chasing the teen’s younger brother, even persisting after the other men tried to hide him. This kind of harassment directed towards men isn’t rare. Research on the assault of men has shown that nearly 43% have experienced some kind of harassment or violence in their lifetimes. Around 51.3% of those reported that they were first victimized prior to age 18.
You might think that only men are the perpetrators of assault or violence, but studies show that even women and girls can be abusers. According to the Washington Post, a study on 13,000 children found that for more than half of the male victims of assaults, their violator was a girl. Boys also tend to be wary of coming forward or sharing these difficult experiences with adults.
Despite all the evidence that men can be abused, people don’t tend to take it seriously. The OP even said this in the comments: “there is a guy saying I'm wrong because my brother would have enjoyed it.” People often believe that men welcome such advances, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Harassment and abuse can have a lasting and serious impact on the lives and well-being of men and boys
Image credits: Eko Agalarov (not the actual photo)
The poster could not stand to see her brother being harassed by the girl, so she walked up to her and slapped her. She mentioned that it wasn’t a hard slap, but the girl still reacted strongly. The drunk teen was enraged and said she would call the cops on the boy’s sister. But when the author told her that she’d call the police on her for assaulting a minor, the girl backed down and said she was “just playing around.”
Although most commenters were supportive of the poster’s actions, some felt that the violence wasn’t justified. To which the teen replied, “may I ask how you personally would deal with an 18 year old man trying to lift up the skirt of a 16 year old girl you care about who had repeatedly told him to leave her alone. The girl had even gone outside to avoid this man. He followed her out and tried to get to her even when she was hiding behind other girls.”
These double standards in people’s thinking are sadly more commonplace than one would imagine. Psychologists have said that even though women commit around 20% of harassment and assault offenses against children, these cases are severely underreported. It’s difficult for boys and men to come forward and share their stories because of public perceptions and the stereotypes associated with the way males should behave.
The teen’s post and her actions helped bring to light the way male victims are treated. In this case, she stood up for her brother even though very few people were on her side. But men don’t always have people in their corner. It’s important to be there for guys and to make sure that they aren’t taken advantage of just because of their gender.
Do you think the girl was right to slap the drunk teen? What would you have done if you were in her place? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Netizens were shocked that the drunk teen did not back down and that she thought that it was okay to harass the young boy
