Women that use public transport: Steer clear of this guy that intimidated, yelled, and harassed me on the 34 bus this afternoon after I ignored his compliment.

Not captured: him complimenting me, him making sexually suggestive comments, calling me stupid, repeatedly punching the door and separation screen between us.

Captured: him yelling at me, getting into my personal space, asking if I’m a slave, telling me I’m not very smart, his fist clenched and hovering over me.

In all my years using public transport, I have never been harassed. I am shaken, deeply scared, but more importantly very determined to find who this person is now that I have had the chance to calm down. I was taking the 34 bus from Navan to Blair. The harasser got on the bus on Fortune Drive, near the Convent Glen area IIRC.

I was sitting at the back of the bus by the exit door. He stood by me (that is his music blasting from his phone by the way) and said a few words that I knew were directed at me, but I ignored them. I had my headphones in and couldn’t hear him.

He continued, and I removed my headphone and looked at him. He then smiled and complimented me, and I put my headphone back in without saying a word and continued to ignore him. This aggravated him, as he began violently and repeatedly punching the back door of the bus, and the separator between him and I.

We’re approaching Blair at this point and I began to record in case he escalated. He was leering at me, and his fists were clenched and hovering over my legs. I continued to ignore him while he kept trying to get my attention. I was extremely scared at this point because I was fearful he was going to assault me. He kept watching my every move and I was worried that if I got up, he would just follow me, so I stupidly stayed put. He made some sexually charged comments at me that I picked up while my headphones were still in.

Eventually, as captured in the video, he begins asking me if I work, if I’m a slave (?) and I respond in my mother tongue, since in my experience this usually gets men talking to me to stop as they don’t understand me. He then proceeds to get into my space, I ask him to get out of it, and he yells at me. He’s huffing and puffing, fists clenching still and I’m truly frightened, I can’t remember a time I felt frozen in fear.

A girl bravely came to me, putting herself between him and I, and ushered me to the front of the bus, and out onto the station platform. There were many men on the bus, and not a single one tried to deescalate or help me. A 20 year old uni student grounded me, and stayed with me on my train ride.

I am now safe, and able to collect myself. I was completely shaken after this experience and cried on the train. I started a new job today, and was a complete wreck upon arriving. This is why I didn’t stop to speak to the bus driver before getting off the bus, or the security team at Blair, because I needed to make it to my new workplace. I’ve been unemployed for months and couldn’t risk being late.

I’m so upset with myself for not being angrier at this person, I was just too afraid. I wanted to get as far away from this person as possible after getting off the bus.

My fear is that other women will experience what I did by this same man, or worse. I was afraid that if I moved, reacted angrily, or said something to set him off, that he would have punched me.

Does anyone recognize this man? Apart from the police, is there anyone else I should report this to?

I am so angry that I am unable to simply exist on the bus in the middle of the day without worrying about whether an unhinged man is going to harass and possibly assault me. As a very recent survivor of DV, I feel so helpless and that I’m unable to escape violent men.

More importantly, what the fuck is wrong with the self defense laws in this country? If I was legally able to carry pepper spray or a taser, this altercation would’ve been over in seconds. I knew he was a threat and felt the need to placate his aggression by keeping my mouth shut and ignoring him to the best of my ability.

It’s all just so fucked up and unacceptable. I am so tired.