How to Deal with Perverts? 2007/12/21 20:36I've had some pretty bad experiences with men I consider perverts and would like to know if I can avoid them or what to do if I find myself in another situation.
I'm an attractive 18 y/o slim African American women with a DD cup size. When in Hiroshima I got both positive...and negative attention. Some situations were actually scary. I'll name a few.
One day while taking a walk in Hiroshima's center I was approached twice with unwanted attention. The first was an elderly man who had been staring at me for a while at a distance, and as I walked past him, he started conversation. It was a basic "Where are you from?" type of encounter which I didn't mind at all. But then he kept telling me that the building behind him was his house... and he had a garden... I had no idea why he kept mentioning that, but he kept staring at me in a way that just made me uncomfortable. I... just tilted my head and just went back to walking.
Not even five minutes later, out of NOWHERE this man appears beside me (he looked NINETY for gods sake), walking at my pace as if we were together. He asked me what I was doing and I replied that I was going for a walk. Afterwords, he asked if we could go together. I shyly said no, trying to hide a expression of well...disguist. He asked again and said he would join me for just ten minutes. Then he pointed to a building in the distance and said we should walk "that way" (I don't get this part either). I continued to say no when he suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm, in shock I jerked it back and he appologized. I tried to walk as fast as I could in heels and eventually noticed he was gone (even so, I kept going as quick as I could to get to a public place).
I've also had several odd situations with taxi drivers.
I'm used to attention, I get it in the US too (never from men over 30, though). But the type of attention I get in Japan is a little different. I mean, a man following a woman and grabbing her in America would be considered an arrest-able offence. And usually when I tell a guy I'm not interested, they back off. But guys in Japan don't seem to get the message. ._.
I was curious if... someone went too far, would it even be possible for me as a foreigner to notify a police officer? Or would they do nothing about it? I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to Japanese laws regarding harassment and if these things are even taken seriously. Some of the taxi drivers seemed pretty calm about asking sexually-themed questions, as if doing something like that couldn't get them fired like it would in the US.
How can I avoid perverts? Are there any Japanese phrases in particular that'd scare them away? Anyone else have experiences?
And pleaaase don't say "Maybe it's the way you dress" or "cover up" because I can say with confidence that the majority of young Japanese women I've seen in Hiroshima dress way more provacatively than me, large chest or not.
And um, sorry guys, I like to blab a lot. :]
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+44045