A different form of harassment

By Vivian Lik-Seng

Editor, the Gauntlet,

I’m a member of a visible minority and a lady. That makes me ripe for persecution, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened this week.

As I walked through Mac Hall with my classmates, a supporter of the women’s centre asked me to sign a letter/petition to support a women’s centre. I declined because I didn’t care either way and tried to walk away. The supporter started verbally harassing me, invoking my race and what she incorrectly thought was my religion. My friends convinced me to let this go, and I did.

It happened to me again later the same day when I again declined to support their centre but I didn’t have my friends there and the women’s centre supporters called me a misogynist and all sorts of things implying I was a man. That was the most threatened I have been in my three years at this school.

If they were trying to make me feel intimidated, it worked. I didn’t care about a women’s centre before, but now I do. Being a lady and a minority, I wouldn’t feel comfortable if these supporters become the ones to run the centre. They need to learn something about treating people like people, even if they don’t support a women’s centre!

It’s sad that it’s easier to tell religious people that "no means no!" and actually have them go away than some women who supposedly champion women’s rights.