One Woman’s Wish List Against Street Harassment

Taylor FlashValerie Granzo, 22.

Sometimes Valerie Granzo ignores the comments about her appearance that strangers yell to her on the streets of New York City. Sometimes she yells back.

“I know that it sounds like I’m complaining,” said Ms. Granzo, an office administrator, recording artist and D.J. who was one of many City Room readers responding to our call for stories of street harassment earlier this year.

Ms. Granzo, 22, wrote that the street harassment she endured frequently was an emotional strain, leading her to feelings of anxiousness, fear and anger, among others.

“I am more than what my exterior looks like,” she said.

Ms. Granzo’s story, submitted as part of a continuing series on street and subway harassment, illustrated how harassment or the fear of harassment had pervaded her life. She said she did not often speak about the incidents.

Ms. Granzo talked about the unwanted attention, catcalls and gestures she experiences throughout the city “multiple times almost every day.” She said that for years she has been cornered, followed by men in cabs and grabbed by strangers on the street who made inappropriate comments about her body.

She doesn’t expect anything to change.

“I don’t think people are aware enough that it’s a problem,” Ms. Granzo said. “I don’t think people care enough that it’s a problem.”

In sharing her story, she said, “maybe someone else might realize that they’re not alone with their feelings and experience.”

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Read about Ms. Granzo’s experience with street harassment, and hear her tell it, below: