TikToker opens up about a time she managed to avoid a potential stalking attempt to raise awareness about different forms of harassment towards women.
Imagine walking your dog in the middle of the day, minding your own business, and suddenly being approached by someone who appreciates how adorable your pet is and wants to take a picture of it. Nothing in this scenario sounds off, does it?
Well, what if that person doesn’t really take a picture of your dog but of its collar with your address on it? And what if they refuse to delete the image after you ask them to?
Shockingly, that’s exactly what happened to TikToker @heysheybae. Thankfully, she took the story to social media to raise awareness about how creative stalkers have become nowadays.
@heysheybae What if I didn’t realize what he was doing? #fyp #safetyprotocol #womensafety #foryou #storytime #feminism #foryoupage
The moment she realized the stranger had her address in their gallery, she asked him to delete the picture.
Although the man did delete the photo from his main gallery, the dog owner knew he still had it saved in his deleted album. She continued pursuing him, demanding he should remove the picture.
Instead of complying, the man started insisting he doesn’t have a deleted album. However, the TikToker didn’t believe him, as she had noticed he was with an iPhone, so he definitely did have one.
As onlookers began to focus their attention on the situation, the stranger pretended to do something on his phone for a second and told the woman the photo was gone. But when she demanded to see the deleted album once more, she saw the image was still there.
The TikToker then managed to have the creep delete the photo “in front of [her] eyes.”
Fortunately, the woman was able to escape this potential stalking attempt. Nevertheless, she addressed her viewers, asking:
“What if I hadn’t noticed that he took a picture of my address? And what if I went home that day and that night when I took my dog out to pee he was outside waiting for me?”
@heysheybae Part 2! I just want to say: women should be allowed to walk outside free from fear & harm, day or night #fyp #safetyprotocol #womensafety #foryou
While many commenters sympathized with the woman, others slammed her for having her address on her dog’s collar in the first place. But in such distressful situations, victim-blaming is definitely not the way to stop perpetrators. In fact, it often shifts the focus from their immoral actions, making people forget about the harm they caused.
Challenging the viewers who blamed the victim instead of the potential stalker, one person commented:
“Maybe instead of criticizing her for writing the address on the collar, we should be holding him accountable.”
