Readers respond to a piece by Marina Hyde in which she described being harassed and abused on her way to picking her son up from school
What a fantastic piece of writing by Marina Hyde (What happened to me was nothing – the nothing women know all too well, 12 March). I could feel her stress, her worry for her safety and that of her son, her desire to be rid of this obnoxious man, the fact that she was on her own and no one was coming to her aid. It’s been playing out over and over in my head since reading it. What makes her assailant think that he has the right to treat her, or indeed anybody, in this manner? What makes him think that he will get away with it in a public place, and why was no one willing to intervene and say stop?
Given the ongoing issues surrounding women’s safety, one wonders if we are heading into a time when people like this man will feel free to be even more extreme in their attacks and expect no consequences for their actions. I dread to think what might have happened if this had been a night-time encounter.
Gerry Shinners
Mountmellick, County Laois, Ireland
