I feel like we’re seeing a lot of this lately and here we go again: 18-year-old @maassassin_ on TikTok was hit on by an older man in a courtyard and she caught the whole thing on a live video, which has since gone viral.
This is nothing new — in fact, it is so common that many, many comments about this video were basically just women blasting off about how damn familiar this was: myself included! I shared a story when I saw this video about how at 12 a guy approached me and to get out of the situation, I pretended we just did not have telephones at my house whatsoever.
Bored Panda spoke with Hollaback!, an organization founded to stop all harassment. The Deputy Director Jorge Arteaga said that Hollaback! respects “how folks choose to protect themselves” but there are a few strategies they recommend.
“First, ‘trust your instinct’ and there is no right or wrong response to harassment. Whatever your response is in the moment was the right response for you,” Arteaga said to Bored Panda.
“Next is, ‘Reclaim your space,’ if you choose to. You can tell them to leave you alone or what you want them to do and why, ask people for help, or document the situation and use it for reporting purposes, if you choose.”
The podcaster Chris Evans started getting the original video views; he expressed absolute disgust that someone would hit on a teenager like this.
The first video had over 12.2 million views. In followups, she says that the guy in question seemed way older than her: in his 30s. More than old enough to know how creepy he was being.
Maassassin_ said repeatedly in the video that she was not interested in talking to him, she was visibly uncomfortable and cringing.
Things ended with her friend making sure she was okay from the hotel balcony. The student then spoke to the hotel’s front desk about the guest and they made it clear that they’d have a chat with the man in question.