Underground

(subway train noises) - I was heading to work and I noticed this person staring at me... - As soon as the doors closed, he started watching me... - This guy came up behind me, and put two hands on my waist.

- Every experience I've had with the train has been an uncomfortable experience.

- In a confined place.

There's kind of no escape.

- You're in between stations, you're in between everything.

You're in this space where, really, nobody is accountable.

and anything is possible... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - I was startled when I felt a really cold hand caressing my cheek.

Out of nowhere, he just mutters under his breath, "Beautiful."

And the whole experience was jarring.

It was probably the first time in my life, as a cis male, I had been sexually advanced on.

And it made me question a lot of things.

It made me question whether I was seen for my ethnicity, whether I was seen for my face, and all the while thinking I was young and innocent.

♪ ♪ ♪ - And I'm sitting there, just chillin'.

Some dude comes in, He sits, like, in the map seats, as we call it, you know?

And quiet.

There's nothing going on.

But then, suddenly, dude's [bleep] is out, and, you know, he has a [bleep] And I was like, "What?"

And the, um -- the other lady, she had a magazine.

She had it like this, she goes, "He's disgusting."

I'm like, "Yeah he is."

And then she started laughing.

(laughter) He wasn't getting the reaction, so he got up, and left!

We're like, "Good."

Yo, I'm sure guys don't want their [bleep] laughed at, but, you know, hey, we didn't expect to see your [bleep].

We were going to work.

♪ - I got on on one end of the car, and there was this guy, like, looking at me.

And, like, I kept moving, because he was really, like, eyeballing me, like, staring me down.

And, like, it's a crowded train, and, like, I, like, screamed, like, "Can you please stop?

Like, stop following me?"

Like, everyone on the train was silent, looked at me, and said nothing.

Like, New York has this weird thing where we're all living together, but we're not, um... operating as a community.

♪ ♪ ♪ - I was about 15 years old.

I had just been Christmas shopping for some friends, coming home.

Across from me, there was a man in a trench coat.

Underneath the coat, open it up to reveal leather chaps, and no pants underneath.

So, with his exposed body, um, he kept exposing himself more and more.

People on either side couldn't really see what was happening, but he started touching himself.

As the train continued to empty out, he started saying things like, "Oh, those boots.

Oh, that body."

I was going through my bag, playing with the toys I had bought for my friends, anything to look away.

And then, he cornered me as I was trying to get off the train.

I got around, and got out.

and he was still staring through the window, looking at me.

All the other passengers, they must have seen something, but they just let it happen.

♪ ♪ - I was in the slop sink room, putting water in my bucket.

And this man, who was 6'4", went behind me, pressed himself hard against my back.

I felt his whole imprint of his penis on my back.

I went and told my supervisor.

She goes, "Give him the benefit of the doubt."

All I wanted to do was go to work, take care of my family, come home, and have a decent, functioning life.

The predators are out.

The predators are out.

It makes no difference whether or not they're co-workers, workers, they're out.

♪ ♪ ♪ - I got on the train.

Not long after, I could feel pressure on my back.

I just figured it was rush hour, sardine car, everybody was packed in.

Then, I realized it was something more when, A person leaned into my ear and said, "Don't move, or I'll stick this knife through your back."

I could feel the knife, pointed in my back.

And then, suddenly, he started thrusting himself on me.

I started to cry.

I looked around the car.

I could see everybody was watching what he was doing.

Nobody did anything, so I figured I had to save myself.

So, I jumped forward.

He grabbed my hips really hard, and slammed them against his pelvis.

He said, "Do it again and you'll die."

I just stood there, and let him do what he needed to do.

And tears were, streaming down my face.

And everybody continued to watch.

When he was finished, at the next stop, he jumped off the train.

An Irish lady got up, and said, "That man raped you.

He's a rapist."

And I said, "Why didn't you do anything?"

And she said, "We didn't want to get stabbed."

It was really cold.

It was in December.

And a man came up to me, and he said, "He sprayed all over you."

At first, I didn't realize what he meant.

Then, I put my hand on my back, and I could feel it.

I immediately took off my coat.

I really liked that coat.

I threw it in the garbage, and I started running down the steps.

I ran all the way home.

I was thinking how much I hated taking the subway.

(subway doors opening) (train operator announces stop) (subway noise quiets to silence) ♪ - You know when walk along a chain link fence, and sometimes, you just feel like you need to reach out your hand, and just run your fingers along the fence, like, "Oh, this is a fun thing to do because this object is here."

I felt like that was what I was, in that moment, too, where I was just an object in the street that he could just touch.

In those moments, when those things happen, I don't know... if it's worth calling out because it feels so common.

- And then, on the train...

But they were just pretending it wasn't happening.

- I saw something, I said something.

- If you speak up you're stopping, and you're bringing attention, so everybody else can be aware.

- Raise your voice.

A lot of these folks, they're counting on the silence.

♪ ♪ ♪