Italy teenager's post on "lucky I wasn't raped" goes viral
An Italian teenager's account of being sexually harassed has gone viral after she talked about feeling "lucky for not being raped". 18-year-old Anita Fallani, daughter of a Tuscany town mayor, posted on Facebook about being harassed and followed by a man as she returned home at night. "I wonder how many times we should feel 'lucky for not being raped," she wrote.
What happened?
Anita was waiting for a tram when the man addressed her. "I've no idea who you are, but it doesn't stop you. 'Good evening miss, how are you? What's your name?'" she posted. She ignored him, but the man followed her as she de-boarded the tram. "Where are you going? Are you coming with me?" he asked. "I'm starting to get seriously scared," she writes.
'Why don't I have the same freedom as a male?'
Anita despondently wonders why she doesn't have "the same freedom as a male". "Mine is a story like so many. There is nothing extraordinary, it's not an exception, but one of the many things that make up our lives, completely normal." Her post has till now been shared over 800 times and reported extensively in media, including in La Repubblica and Corriere della Serra.
Groping is so common, people don't even bother reporting
Just last month, the BBC covered women who say groping is so common that they don't even bother reporting them. "I've never thought to report it because it happens to me every time I go out. It's just what happens," says 18-year-old Lottie.
