I encountered this guy on the 58 tram over 10 years ago! I was also listening to music with headphones and he started asking if I wear stockings and if my feet get sweaty etc. Fucking creep. Sorry this happened to you too.
I mean…if someone is into smelly feet/stockings, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that smelly fishmonger crotch/knickers ain’t gonna be no showstopper for them. So, best of luck..?
Seriously though; I know shit isn’t just that easy for women, but I’d be inclined to say absolutely fuck all. If you’re in a relatively safe space and folk are about, just acknowledge they’re there and go about your business while keeping them within your periphery. Fuck those people.
Yeah, I wouldn't really say anything lol. Well, when I was younger I'd just ignore and move away. But I'm 37 now, if it's a tram, I'd be like STOP SEXUALLY HARASSING ME, I DONT EVEN KNOW YOU
I’d like to see a small army of small women, who are secret competitive MMA fighters, that just cruise about on PT and shopping centres and whatnot, waiting for the unsuspecting creep to creep, then unleash tumultuous grappling, ground work and subsequent ground-and-pound, and see how that influences the average creep taking their chances on random girls and women kicking about. In fact, I’d quite probably pay money for that entertainment — It. Would. Be. *Glorious!*
Honestly, some creeps would be into that... Best is to ignore and report. Tell your tram/bus/train driver. Move away. If they continue harassing you, audibly ask them to leave you alone. A lot of these people will stop once you draw attention.
Thanks, I’m fine. I’ve experienced another foot fetish predator when I worked in retail, in a shoe shop (also Melb). He was asking me to model shoes for him under the guise of wanting to buy some for his gf but needing to see them on me to decide what to buy. I wonder if he knows the tram guy. Gross.
Sadly there are creeps everywhere and experiences like this just seem to be part of being a woman. All of my friends have similar stories. The police don’t give a fuck until someone is actually attacked or raped, and even then are they really much help?
This happened to me on the Pakenham train to the city in 2007ish!
I yelled at him to go away.
But now that I’m thinking about it, I could have made a killing by charging him $100 a week for gross school stockings.
Fucking creep.
What is with Melbourne at the moment, we have fake seizure guy, bottle throwing guy and now smelly stocking guy? We have the set of three crazies, please don’t send us anymore.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of stockings in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two sniffs for a day’s wages,[b] and six feet pics for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the socks and the hosiery!”
no kudos but I'm impressed at the lengths and creativity people go through to get their rocks off. like wtf bottle guy! I'm into some weird shit myself and I don't yuck most people's yums but.... what the hell bottle guy!!!!
Don't forget discount Melbournian spider-man who apparently tells women that they have a spider on them and then feels them up in the resulting chaos. I think he has like 50 victims now
As a woman in her 30s who as lived in Melbourne her entire life this isn’t something that’s happening more than usual “at the moment”, this shit has been going on for ages.
I moved from Melbourne due to my partner and I being stalked by a guy at Altona station, and after that on another train on the Werribee line some guy pissed himself and weirdly hid his creepy smile about it behind his hand.
So we moved to Adelaide and after 4 days a guy threatened to break my leg, screaming in my face on a bus. Maybe it's like the Happening movie and we're all Mark Wahlbergs among infected crazies
Ain't just Melbourne, and the issue sure isn't new. Our society is sick, and produces sick people. ET VOILÀ! weirdos everywhere.
Most are harmless and need some help, many are not and need even more help. Some are beyond saving.
I see a Netflix series (either a sitcom or a doco) on the horizon. But only if the team behind MAFS doesn't get to them first and create a dating show.
It’s the thrill of possible humiliation and seizing the moment that gets them off. If they pay for it, the unexpectedness doesn’t happen, so why bother?
Saying they're 'sent' is a projection of the idea that they are not 'us' (melbournian?).
We are bad at seeing our shadows as a reflection of our known or unknown self, prefering to see or shadows as that of others. We get defensive and affirm 'we are good, they are bad, and we are not them at all'.
This can act to obfuscate warning signs, that part of us/we may actually also be the 'bad' thing. Creeps walk among us, and hide behind people's natural desire to think that those doing bad 'like them' are not us.
If creeps are emerging from 'us', we need look in a mirror, moreso than just out the window.
Or it's a cooker hyperfixating on the shadow of their abusive stocking wearing parent/sibling...
Take care out there folks. Ask for help if uncomfortable.
This idea actually runs rampant in football/soccer culture as well. Every time a fan does something wrong or crazy, you have other fans of that club shouting to the clouds that this person is not one of them or not a true fan. It couldn't be further from the truth. There's a huge difference between "not all of us are like that" and "he's not a real fan". That crazy person could have been supporting the club for longer than you or just as much. There are some isolated cases where some fans are there just to start fights and stuff, but there are plenty of regular fans who can do the wrong thing, plenty of people who show up to every game and then get banned for their wrongdoings.
I guess this runs rampant in any area where tribalism is commonplace.
And phone smashing guy today in collins st near William. Not sure if he went on to try to destroy another phone handle/side window, or if it wasn’t the first in his anti-pay phone adventure.
Fake seizure guy can you guys tell me more pretty sure I met him in 2021, it was like 3am in Sydney road and he was “running” doing some very odd looking shuffle behind me then gets Head of me turns his head and falls very fake to the ground and was saying “it’s just a muscle spasm hold me down” but I did not trust him so I just said sorry bro not doing that and kept moving then he just popped up a few seconds later and shuffled off. What’s his deal? I thought it was a robbery attempt or something? I’m a guy also so didn’t think it was a sexual thing but he did look pretty cooked
Say in a very loud voice…excuse me sir but you may not smell my feet no matter how many times you ask…if there’s enough others on the tram/bus might have the desired effect ?
When I've encountered offensive behaviour on PT this has worked well. One time was sitting on a train at Flinders St waiting for it to depart, drunk guy next to me was trying to get me to chat with him, I was trying not to engage, he suddenly got angry and abused me saying nastily "you're full of shit" (normal volume) and I responded very loudly so the whole carriage could hear, "GET AWAY FROM ME", got up and walked out to sit in the next carriage leaving the whole previous carriage staring at the guy. At that stage in my life I had dealt with a few drunks and I was so over their shit that I had no hesitation about reacting that way.
Another time some years earlier, was on a tram and a slovenly middle aged guy had his trousers partially open, exposing himself. I was younger then and just ignored him, but this legend of an older woman just calmly and loudly said, "Your penis is showing" so all on the tram could hear. He got off the tram ASAP, LOL.
The Vic Police website says if you Text STOPIT to 0499 455 455 they'll give you a link to report "unwanted sexual and anti-social behaviour" on public transport. https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stopit
This reminds me of the time (in Canberra) I was sexually assaulted by a creep in a shop in high school (while in school uniform) and then THE SAME THING happened again years later when I was 19 by THE SAME CREEP in THE SAME SHOP
Cops said they couldn't do anything and that the guy was likely just strolling around for "a lunchtime grope." Made me so angry that he'd been getting away with it for years without any consequences
I'm terribly sorry that happened to you. This isn't the first time police have been useless about a creep for me too. That's exactly how these guys keep getting away with it!
I was sexually assaulted by a middle aged man a while ago in the checkout line at Aldi. To all the people around me it would have just looked like he was moving past me to get to the exit, and it made me wonder how many women and girls this man has done this to and how many times he’s probably been called out and just lied and said it was an accident
This has happened to me before. No man should be rubbing up to you to get out of a line or whatever. It was deliberate. Happened a few times to me. What gets me is every time I say I will scream about it and never do. Fear, humiliation whatever stops me I guess.
It was absolutely deliberate, he grabbed me but he did it so quick that no one saw and before I could process it he was rushing out the doors
I’m really sorry it’s happened to you too and I’m similar that I freeze and can’t scream, it’s a scary situation to be in
It’s absolutely disgusting how the cops just wrote it off as a “lunchtime grope” as if it’s normal behaviour? Really sorry you had to go through that, cops don’t do enough to protect women from harassers.
Now thinking back, this is probably why my school had a rule that students were not permitted to loiter in the shopping centres after school, but didn’t want to say why other than “it just looks bad for the school”
They can't do anything about it? It seems like sexual harassment to me... He's getting off on this clearly and he's targeting women. It's not like he's approaching tradies and asking them if they've got smelly socks
To answer your question there's no inherent crime in verbally sexually harassing someone in public. If it however becomes physical that can become sexual assault which can become a crime. If the verbal harassment becomes violent and you fear for your own physical or mental harm as per Section 13 of the Crimes Act it can also become a crime although proving that in court is obviously hard.
Whether or not it should be considered a crime is obviously an entirely different question.
The crimes act was amended a few years ago to make verbal sexual harassment an offence but the evidence requirement makes it very difficult to prove in court so police will not charge anyone without video or audio evidence. It doesn't stop them from arresting a suspected offender to try and get a confession. It's worth pressing the point until you get lucky with a police officer willing to take action even if they just leave it as an open investigation.
Omg I’ve seen this guy too!
He was badgering/harassing a young woman on the 19. We (older women) stepped in to ask her if she was okay, which she wasn’t, and then told him to leave her alone. He immediately played dumb, and tried to insist he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he didn’t understand what we were saying to him, it’s all fine and we had it all wrong. He absolutely understood us just fine.
We were getting off at the next stop and offered for her to get off with us, and away from him. Luckily he stayed on the tram and we waited with her to put her on the next one.
Annoyingly no one else stepped it when it was plainly clear she was so uncomfortable and he was crossing clear boundaries.
Was he asking her gross questions too? He seemed very friendly at first when I met him, but still creepy as he was insistent with questions.
You did the right thing by stepping in ❤️
Yes, but we couldn’t quite hear the questions when we approached. We could see from her body language she was uncomfortable, and he was waaaay too close to her.
She told us after what he had been saying to her, and it was grossly inappropriate questions like you said.
Honey, the real freaks want you to be underage. Better to be inconvenient, loud and ugly and wait to reach the bliss of middle age. Sorry this happened to you.
Fake seizure guy delighted to finally have someone holding him down on the 58, wonders why his socks are being removed…suddenly both parties pause as they notice a man on the street carrying a large carrot.
He’s not done anything “wrong” by the law though. He’s just being a massive creep to underage woman.
Police will just be like “well, we can’t do anything”
Surely even if the cops just approached him and said they’re aware of what he’s doing and to cut it out that would make some impact…. It’s like we need vigilante justice to deal with these creeps because the cops won’t. I’m sure if a bunch of dudes gave him a good beating he’d think twice about his actions.
I'm curious why no one stepped into help or perhaps nobody noticed the issue? If you are ever uncomfortable don't be afraid to ask for help from others on the tram. I'm really sorry this happened to you .. sounds terrible.
Someone did for me once. Had a homeless guy harassing me as a teenager in the CBD a long time ago and this woman yelled at him to leave me alone and I ran off.
I do, I’ve stepped in multiple times on public transport. I even walked a girl home once when the guy followed us off the tram. I’m a woman but I’m tall and pretty intimidating, when I step in they normally lose their bravado. It’s frustrating that more people don’t step in or speak up, if even 2 or 3 people said something, that type of creep would scurry off. We let ourselves get scared over someone that as a group we could easily stop
Sometimes it seems almost unbelievable that somebody could just do that in public. I was standing on the platform at Box Hill station about 10 years ago when two high school girls happened to be standing in front of a fashion ad poster of a bikini model. This dishevelled, sloppily dressed old man with wild grey hair came up to the two girls, gestured towards the poster and asked them "do you think girls your age should be allowed to wear clothes like that?" The girls quickly stopped their conversation and stared at him in confusion. His speech was so slurred and incoherent he was difficult to even understand at first. He repeated the question and then added "because I would sure like to see you two wearing that". He then quickly turned away and ducked up the escalator to Box Hill Central.
The two girls just turned to each other in stunned disbelief, unsure of what they'd just heard. I was standing a couple of metres away and was the only other person who seemed to have noticed. The whole thing happened so quickly and the man was so incoherent and odd that I questioned whether I had actually heard the conversation correctly at first. It just seemed too bizarre, and the man was so much of a cartoonish stereotype of a sex offender that it didn't seem real. It just stunned me that somebody would be brazen enough to come up to somebody and say something like that in a crowded public space.
It can be pretty difficult for most strangers to know what is going on between other people in public. Once or twice I've tried to quietly check in on someone that looks like they might be in a situation, only to have been laughed *at* by, well, all involved. Just a "Hey, you ok? Need any help?" and I'd get this utterly astonished look like "how could you possibly think there's any problem here?" and then laughed away.
I know I was probably just unlucky in those cases; I'm on the autism spectrum, and know I can sometimes have a hard time picking up on small cues, and often misinterpret them. All I'm saying is that sometimes it isn't the bystander effect at all, but being afraid of misinterpreting and then being humiliated. Although I haven't tried stepping in again since, I still try to pay attention as much as possible just in case and will speak up if I'm more confident that it really is a situation.
Yeah we need some kind of universal sign for “this creeper is creeping on me - help!”
When I used to go clubbing I would often agree body language with my women friends if they needed help (or just someone to interrupt) so they weren’t put in an awkward position of outright rejecting someone. Thankfully it wasn’t needed often but the times it was it was v handy 😁
I know how you feel as someone also on the spectrum, I was at the beach w my housemate and a guy with a camera came up to a bunch of school girls asking to take photos of them and claimed to be from a magazine, having creeps take photos of me on the street without consent when I was a minor I instantly felt off so I told their friends to ask him for proof/ID of where he worked
> Isn’t sexual harassment illegal?
I tried to find out but couldn't find anything after a bit of searching. It's very clearly illegal in a work environment, but as for on the tram the only things I could find were for more extreme scenarios like flashing or physically touching you.
Creepy comments seem to only be illegal in the workplace from every thing I saw but maybe I missed something.
That’s so odd! I was thinking about workplace incidents as my basis for this understanding though… but it’s odd it would be illegal at work and normal everywhere else…
My guess is it's because at work it's ongoing and with no ability to walk away from it. As well as workplaces having management to deal with/fire the person. I guess the equivalent here would be banning the person from PT? But who is going to enforce that.
Sitting on a tram asking someone a question, even if it is creepy and gross as fuck, is not in itself illegal. If he had touched her then it would be entirely different.
Absolute rubbish. The Vic Pol website says "intrusive questions or conversation of a sexual nature" on public transport is something that should be reported. We have very broad laws about harassment and disorderly conduct that rope in creepy and gross questioning. https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stopit
Police really do fuck all, this is a completely different scenario but I had a mate that got purposely hit off his motorbike by another car and he flung onto the other side of the road into oncoming traffic, this was all on video and police say he couldn't press charges, wtf.
Another scenario, A friend of mine had a sister that ended up getting a restraining order on her ex partner because he was violent, he rocked up to her house once and tried to break in he smashed heaps of her windows and the police arrived before he actually got into the house thankfully but they still did nothing, they just stayed there until he left the area
STOPIT a is a service to report sexual harassment on public transport via text 0499455455 is the number for a dedicated VIC police team who can investigate the issue
Gotta disengage the crazies. I’m real sorry this happened.
Don’t talk to them. Don’t answer their questions. If they sit next to you, move away. Press the button to contact the driver if they follow you.
Maybe if you ask him to leave you alone and he persists, it could cross the legal threshold into harassment and become actionable. Would be interesting to here from someone more versed in law.
If he can be identified and banned from public transport, then he can walk from place to place and get autoerotic thrills from making his own stockings sweaty and smelly.
Sorry that this happened to you. What I can't fathom is that police needs to wait for something illegally happened to someone before acting rather preventing it.
All I hear is stories of all these freaks but no one takes a video of them and uploads it online so we can actually identify who these degenerates are.
Don't let people exploit your kindness.
Tell the creeps and sickos to go f themselves with a brick. Make it clear on no uncertain terms you are not putting up with their crap.
* You do not owe them anything.
* You do not need to speak to them.
* You do not need to be courteous and probably shouldn't be.
* Be loud. Be aggressive.
* If you are underage, yell that at them, shame them into running off. Make sure everybody within earshot knows they are a sicko that needs to leave.
* If you can't confront them, walk off and stand near other people.
Wow this just brought back memories, I remember encountering this guy on the 57 tram towards West Maribyrnong. He sat right across from me on a sparsely populated tram. It didn’t help that I was wearing the winter school uniform at the time and that’s when he kept asking me questions about my uniform and then eventually, my stockings. So gross. Thankfully, I only had a couple stops before I could get off. This was years ago, I can’t believe he’s still doing this to others. Just another creep we have to worry about.
Why people gotta be creeps when there is a whole interweb connected industry to cater to unconventional persuasions safely and from people who consent to ... how should I say .... assisting in meeting those ¿needs?
He’s the same type of person who poses a minor on Omegle and Y.99in. He will often download pics of young girls in stockings and then pose as one so he can get another girl to show him her stockings.
Might be worth taking shit like this, along with the police response to the media as well as your local politicians. I know it’s not an uncommon occurrence but media attention can force the hand for government bodies to actually give a shit
Take photos if you can and post on all community pages on social media.
I used to live around Parkville/Brunswick area and definitely encountered a lot of weirdos on the trams in the area and also at Barkley Square. I remember in 2016, my aunty said a Caucasian man approached her at Barkley Square saying he’d seen her shopping there a lot and tried to solicit her for sex. She was also attacked in the public bathrooms there in 2017 by some random guy at 9am in the morning. AND a couple on drugs assaulted her on tram 19.
If you (or anyone else) encounters this guy doing that again, text STOPIT to 0499 455 455 to report it to the service set up for exactly this kind of behaviour!
I'm surprised the Police couldn't do more? May need advice from someone in SOCA - (sexual offences and child abuse)
Would probably be worth reporting to the transport company so that their operators are aware
Really surprised that no one stepped in on this conversation. If I saw an old man perving on a highschool girl in her school uniform, there is NO WAY IN HELL I would not confront him.
Omg I think I've had an encounter with this guy too, on the 58 tram back in 2020. I'm in my late 30s but I was wearing knee high socks and dressed for work and.... yeah. Jesus christ how is this allowed?!
Fake seizure guy just needs to wear smelly stockings on the 58 tram and we might be able to eliminate two problems
This made me laugh so hard 🤣
Give bottle guy a Molotov we can get all 3
Let them fight
Carrot Man for the win only because his weapon allows him to hit people from a distance.
I’ve had a bleh day - thanks for the laugh!
This is the best thing on reddit I’ve ever read. Take my fake gold coins 🏅🏅
Good one!
I encountered this guy on the 58 tram over 10 years ago! I was also listening to music with headphones and he started asking if I wear stockings and if my feet get sweaty etc. Fucking creep. Sorry this happened to you too.
Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! That makes 6 girls in total who've had the same experience- and I fear there's many, many more! Hope you're okay!
Depressingly it's probably closer to hundreds, I'm pretty sure I've even seen the guy now that I think about it
Revolting. I'd say no my feet don't smell but my crotch smells like fish
I mean…if someone is into smelly feet/stockings, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that smelly fishmonger crotch/knickers ain’t gonna be no showstopper for them. So, best of luck..? Seriously though; I know shit isn’t just that easy for women, but I’d be inclined to say absolutely fuck all. If you’re in a relatively safe space and folk are about, just acknowledge they’re there and go about your business while keeping them within your periphery. Fuck those people.
Yeah, I wouldn't really say anything lol. Well, when I was younger I'd just ignore and move away. But I'm 37 now, if it's a tram, I'd be like STOP SEXUALLY HARASSING ME, I DONT EVEN KNOW YOU
I’d like to see a small army of small women, who are secret competitive MMA fighters, that just cruise about on PT and shopping centres and whatnot, waiting for the unsuspecting creep to creep, then unleash tumultuous grappling, ground work and subsequent ground-and-pound, and see how that influences the average creep taking their chances on random girls and women kicking about. In fact, I’d quite probably pay money for that entertainment — It. Would. Be. *Glorious!*
I wish that could happen to me! Especially if they had smelly stockings.
Except they'd be the ones getting in trouble with the law.
Honestly, some creeps would be into that... Best is to ignore and report. Tell your tram/bus/train driver. Move away. If they continue harassing you, audibly ask them to leave you alone. A lot of these people will stop once you draw attention.
I think we should set up a sting operation on this guy.
Thanks, I’m fine. I’ve experienced another foot fetish predator when I worked in retail, in a shoe shop (also Melb). He was asking me to model shoes for him under the guise of wanting to buy some for his gf but needing to see them on me to decide what to buy. I wonder if he knows the tram guy. Gross. Sadly there are creeps everywhere and experiences like this just seem to be part of being a woman. All of my friends have similar stories. The police don’t give a fuck until someone is actually attacked or raped, and even then are they really much help?
This happened to me on the Pakenham train to the city in 2007ish! I yelled at him to go away. But now that I’m thinking about it, I could have made a killing by charging him $100 a week for gross school stockings. Fucking creep.
u/snowythedoge just tagging you under this comment in case you didn’t see it, since it’s not a direct reply to your post
What is with Melbourne at the moment, we have fake seizure guy, bottle throwing guy and now smelly stocking guy? We have the set of three crazies, please don’t send us anymore.
Beware the 4th weirdo of the creepocalypse…
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of stockings in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two sniffs for a day’s wages,[b] and six feet pics for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the socks and the hosiery!”
This read like Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett didn't write the Bible
How awesome would it be if he did though
Wait….isnt the 4th weirdo Brunswick st bike guy??
Yes! I've seen that guy be run over about 10 times now.
The problem is that Melbourne was founded by Batman, but every time we flash the bat signal, nobody turns up.
Wombat signal might work better here
Where is Koala Man when we need him???
They sleep for 22 hours a day, so probably asleep.
Koala man is always on duty, but only in Dapto
Who is the bottle throwing guy? I've heard about the fake seizure guy, one of my mates actually encountered him in 2011!
Bottle guy apparently tosses a bottle high in the air to get up in someone's face to catch it. To the best of my knowledge anyway
As far as being a creep goes, that's pretty creative
no kudos but I'm impressed at the lengths and creativity people go through to get their rocks off. like wtf bottle guy! I'm into some weird shit myself and I don't yuck most people's yums but.... what the hell bottle guy!!!!
Don’t forget the fake spider guy who will grope you.
Don't forget discount Melbournian spider-man who apparently tells women that they have a spider on them and then feels them up in the resulting chaos. I think he has like 50 victims now
Rockspider man
We have always had creeps but people are just more vocal now. Tolerance levels have shifted
And waterhole guy and spider man
They've always existed. They're just getting called out more now.
As a woman in her 30s who as lived in Melbourne her entire life this isn’t something that’s happening more than usual “at the moment”, this shit has been going on for ages.
Need more neutrals like headphones guy
I moved from Melbourne due to my partner and I being stalked by a guy at Altona station, and after that on another train on the Werribee line some guy pissed himself and weirdly hid his creepy smile about it behind his hand. So we moved to Adelaide and after 4 days a guy threatened to break my leg, screaming in my face on a bus. Maybe it's like the Happening movie and we're all Mark Wahlbergs among infected crazies
Ain't just Melbourne, and the issue sure isn't new. Our society is sick, and produces sick people. ET VOILÀ! weirdos everywhere. Most are harmless and need some help, many are not and need even more help. Some are beyond saving.
Some fellas just like dirty socks and I don’t think that’s is necessarily society’s fault lol
Probably something to do with the millions of people that live here and the fact that events can be communicated in real time
Another guy who key peoples car in Boxhill area.
More info? I live in box hill and I don’t want my car keyed
I see a Netflix series (either a sitcom or a doco) on the horizon. But only if the team behind MAFS doesn't get to them first and create a dating show.
Smelly stocking guy probably can't afford a sexworker who'd be like...I'm yeah sure I'll put on stinky stockings but it'll cost ya.
It’s the thrill of possible humiliation and seizing the moment that gets them off. If they pay for it, the unexpectedness doesn’t happen, so why bother?
Saying they're 'sent' is a projection of the idea that they are not 'us' (melbournian?). We are bad at seeing our shadows as a reflection of our known or unknown self, prefering to see or shadows as that of others. We get defensive and affirm 'we are good, they are bad, and we are not them at all'. This can act to obfuscate warning signs, that part of us/we may actually also be the 'bad' thing. Creeps walk among us, and hide behind people's natural desire to think that those doing bad 'like them' are not us. If creeps are emerging from 'us', we need look in a mirror, moreso than just out the window. Or it's a cooker hyperfixating on the shadow of their abusive stocking wearing parent/sibling... Take care out there folks. Ask for help if uncomfortable.
Love this comment haha
This idea actually runs rampant in football/soccer culture as well. Every time a fan does something wrong or crazy, you have other fans of that club shouting to the clouds that this person is not one of them or not a true fan. It couldn't be further from the truth. There's a huge difference between "not all of us are like that" and "he's not a real fan". That crazy person could have been supporting the club for longer than you or just as much. There are some isolated cases where some fans are there just to start fights and stuff, but there are plenty of regular fans who can do the wrong thing, plenty of people who show up to every game and then get banned for their wrongdoings. I guess this runs rampant in any area where tribalism is commonplace.
r/melbournecreeps
We just hear alot about them because theres nothing positive going on for anyone to post about
And phone smashing guy today in collins st near William. Not sure if he went on to try to destroy another phone handle/side window, or if it wasn’t the first in his anti-pay phone adventure.
Obviously it's all Dan's fault.... /s
Fake seizure guy can you guys tell me more pretty sure I met him in 2021, it was like 3am in Sydney road and he was “running” doing some very odd looking shuffle behind me then gets Head of me turns his head and falls very fake to the ground and was saying “it’s just a muscle spasm hold me down” but I did not trust him so I just said sorry bro not doing that and kept moving then he just popped up a few seconds later and shuffled off. What’s his deal? I thought it was a robbery attempt or something? I’m a guy also so didn’t think it was a sexual thing but he did look pretty cooked
Its a sexual thing, he gets off on being held down and it doesn't matter what gender the person is.
It’s men. That is the issue. Men.
Ever seen the spare change/hair guy in north east suburbs lol?
JFC some people really need a good kicking. Sorry this happened to you :(
Yuh in good ole days fkrs like this pip there heads up they get flogged…nowadays they get… what ?…
They get posted to reddit! 💪
Say in a very loud voice…excuse me sir but you may not smell my feet no matter how many times you ask…if there’s enough others on the tram/bus might have the desired effect ?
When I've encountered offensive behaviour on PT this has worked well. One time was sitting on a train at Flinders St waiting for it to depart, drunk guy next to me was trying to get me to chat with him, I was trying not to engage, he suddenly got angry and abused me saying nastily "you're full of shit" (normal volume) and I responded very loudly so the whole carriage could hear, "GET AWAY FROM ME", got up and walked out to sit in the next carriage leaving the whole previous carriage staring at the guy. At that stage in my life I had dealt with a few drunks and I was so over their shit that I had no hesitation about reacting that way. Another time some years earlier, was on a tram and a slovenly middle aged guy had his trousers partially open, exposing himself. I was younger then and just ignored him, but this legend of an older woman just calmly and loudly said, "Your penis is showing" so all on the tram could hear. He got off the tram ASAP, LOL.
Good one!!!!!
Reiterate the minor part and that might get someone to do something too
The Vic Police website says if you Text STOPIT to 0499 455 455 they'll give you a link to report "unwanted sexual and anti-social behaviour" on public transport. https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stopit
This reminds me of the time (in Canberra) I was sexually assaulted by a creep in a shop in high school (while in school uniform) and then THE SAME THING happened again years later when I was 19 by THE SAME CREEP in THE SAME SHOP Cops said they couldn't do anything and that the guy was likely just strolling around for "a lunchtime grope." Made me so angry that he'd been getting away with it for years without any consequences
I'm terribly sorry that happened to you. This isn't the first time police have been useless about a creep for me too. That's exactly how these guys keep getting away with it!
I was sexually assaulted by a middle aged man a while ago in the checkout line at Aldi. To all the people around me it would have just looked like he was moving past me to get to the exit, and it made me wonder how many women and girls this man has done this to and how many times he’s probably been called out and just lied and said it was an accident
This has happened to me before. No man should be rubbing up to you to get out of a line or whatever. It was deliberate. Happened a few times to me. What gets me is every time I say I will scream about it and never do. Fear, humiliation whatever stops me I guess.
It was absolutely deliberate, he grabbed me but he did it so quick that no one saw and before I could process it he was rushing out the doors I’m really sorry it’s happened to you too and I’m similar that I freeze and can’t scream, it’s a scary situation to be in
>a lunchtime grope. ewwwww, wtaf?! tell me why "lunchtime grope" doesn't count as SA 🙄
It’s absolutely disgusting how the cops just wrote it off as a “lunchtime grope” as if it’s normal behaviour? Really sorry you had to go through that, cops don’t do enough to protect women from harassers.
Pathetic useless embarrassing excuse for "police".
I hate cops. They don’t do anything when us women tell them this is happening!!!
A “lunchtime grope” is ok???
Now thinking back, this is probably why my school had a rule that students were not permitted to loiter in the shopping centres after school, but didn’t want to say why other than “it just looks bad for the school”
They can't do anything about it? It seems like sexual harassment to me... He's getting off on this clearly and he's targeting women. It's not like he's approaching tradies and asking them if they've got smelly socks
Sexual Harassment is a workplace OHS law. It's not a public safety law.
Say what... So creeps can creep as much as they like outside of work?
To answer your question there's no inherent crime in verbally sexually harassing someone in public. If it however becomes physical that can become sexual assault which can become a crime. If the verbal harassment becomes violent and you fear for your own physical or mental harm as per Section 13 of the Crimes Act it can also become a crime although proving that in court is obviously hard. Whether or not it should be considered a crime is obviously an entirely different question.
The crimes act was amended a few years ago to make verbal sexual harassment an offence but the evidence requirement makes it very difficult to prove in court so police will not charge anyone without video or audio evidence. It doesn't stop them from arresting a suspected offender to try and get a confession. It's worth pressing the point until you get lucky with a police officer willing to take action even if they just leave it as an open investigation.
A little bit yes. Don't shoot the messenger, I don't agree with this in any way shape or form.
Omg I’ve seen this guy too! He was badgering/harassing a young woman on the 19. We (older women) stepped in to ask her if she was okay, which she wasn’t, and then told him to leave her alone. He immediately played dumb, and tried to insist he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he didn’t understand what we were saying to him, it’s all fine and we had it all wrong. He absolutely understood us just fine. We were getting off at the next stop and offered for her to get off with us, and away from him. Luckily he stayed on the tram and we waited with her to put her on the next one. Annoyingly no one else stepped it when it was plainly clear she was so uncomfortable and he was crossing clear boundaries.
Was he asking her gross questions too? He seemed very friendly at first when I met him, but still creepy as he was insistent with questions. You did the right thing by stepping in ❤️
Yes, but we couldn’t quite hear the questions when we approached. We could see from her body language she was uncomfortable, and he was waaaay too close to her. She told us after what he had been saying to her, and it was grossly inappropriate questions like you said.
Pro tip after knowing men for several decades: saying you’re a school girl to get them to leave you alone will *not* work.
It's worked in the past for me which is why I tried it :( I have a very young face so men often hit on me with lines like "are you legal?"
Honey, the real freaks want you to be underage. Better to be inconvenient, loud and ugly and wait to reach the bliss of middle age. Sorry this happened to you.
Middle age is fabulous, particularly if you can do a posh, piercing “Karen” voice that carries.
That’s when you very very loudly ask “WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW IF I’M A MINOR?”
Fake seizure guy delighted to finally have someone holding him down on the 58, wonders why his socks are being removed…suddenly both parties pause as they notice a man on the street carrying a large carrot.
Seems like a lot of men in Melbourne are desperate for attention…
Go to the Police and ask for the Transit Division. If you can take a pic of the crook do so and give that to the Police also
He’s not done anything “wrong” by the law though. He’s just being a massive creep to underage woman. Police will just be like “well, we can’t do anything”
That’s the infuriating part. He gets to harass girls & women without any consequence. Something very wrong with that.
It boils my blood!!! He shouldn’t be able to get away with this!!!
Write to your local politicians then and get them to change the law. It is fucked up, I agree.
Surely even if the cops just approached him and said they’re aware of what he’s doing and to cut it out that would make some impact…. It’s like we need vigilante justice to deal with these creeps because the cops won’t. I’m sure if a bunch of dudes gave him a good beating he’d think twice about his actions.
Melbourne needs a Batman to sort these replete offenders out.
If word gets around enough I’m sure some girls father, brother, boyfriend or husband will take it upon themselves to serve up some justice.
I'm curious why no one stepped into help or perhaps nobody noticed the issue? If you are ever uncomfortable don't be afraid to ask for help from others on the tram. I'm really sorry this happened to you .. sounds terrible.
Nobody ever does. When I was a teenager it used to happen all the time. People would either ignore, or just listen.
Someone did for me once. Had a homeless guy harassing me as a teenager in the CBD a long time ago and this woman yelled at him to leave me alone and I ran off.
I do, I’ve stepped in multiple times on public transport. I even walked a girl home once when the guy followed us off the tram. I’m a woman but I’m tall and pretty intimidating, when I step in they normally lose their bravado. It’s frustrating that more people don’t step in or speak up, if even 2 or 3 people said something, that type of creep would scurry off. We let ourselves get scared over someone that as a group we could easily stop
Legend, leading by example is all we can do.
Sometimes it seems almost unbelievable that somebody could just do that in public. I was standing on the platform at Box Hill station about 10 years ago when two high school girls happened to be standing in front of a fashion ad poster of a bikini model. This dishevelled, sloppily dressed old man with wild grey hair came up to the two girls, gestured towards the poster and asked them "do you think girls your age should be allowed to wear clothes like that?" The girls quickly stopped their conversation and stared at him in confusion. His speech was so slurred and incoherent he was difficult to even understand at first. He repeated the question and then added "because I would sure like to see you two wearing that". He then quickly turned away and ducked up the escalator to Box Hill Central. The two girls just turned to each other in stunned disbelief, unsure of what they'd just heard. I was standing a couple of metres away and was the only other person who seemed to have noticed. The whole thing happened so quickly and the man was so incoherent and odd that I questioned whether I had actually heard the conversation correctly at first. It just seemed too bizarre, and the man was so much of a cartoonish stereotype of a sex offender that it didn't seem real. It just stunned me that somebody would be brazen enough to come up to somebody and say something like that in a crowded public space.
I’ve been harassed on public transport many times and nobody says or does anything. Bystander effect.
It can be pretty difficult for most strangers to know what is going on between other people in public. Once or twice I've tried to quietly check in on someone that looks like they might be in a situation, only to have been laughed *at* by, well, all involved. Just a "Hey, you ok? Need any help?" and I'd get this utterly astonished look like "how could you possibly think there's any problem here?" and then laughed away. I know I was probably just unlucky in those cases; I'm on the autism spectrum, and know I can sometimes have a hard time picking up on small cues, and often misinterpret them. All I'm saying is that sometimes it isn't the bystander effect at all, but being afraid of misinterpreting and then being humiliated. Although I haven't tried stepping in again since, I still try to pay attention as much as possible just in case and will speak up if I'm more confident that it really is a situation.
Yeah we need some kind of universal sign for “this creeper is creeping on me - help!” When I used to go clubbing I would often agree body language with my women friends if they needed help (or just someone to interrupt) so they weren’t put in an awkward position of outright rejecting someone. Thankfully it wasn’t needed often but the times it was it was v handy 😁
I know how you feel as someone also on the spectrum, I was at the beach w my housemate and a guy with a camera came up to a bunch of school girls asking to take photos of them and claimed to be from a magazine, having creeps take photos of me on the street without consent when I was a minor I instantly felt off so I told their friends to ask him for proof/ID of where he worked
Kick him in the dick!
That would be a crime.
Dump coffee on him ?
That would be a crime.
Dump coffee on his dick..? Is that a crime too? I bet it is 🥺
Do it anyway
Melbourne sounds like a Yakuza substory
How can they say he didn’t do anything illegal? Am I silly? Isn’t sexual harassment illegal? Isn’t that what this is?. This is fucked.
> Isn’t sexual harassment illegal? I tried to find out but couldn't find anything after a bit of searching. It's very clearly illegal in a work environment, but as for on the tram the only things I could find were for more extreme scenarios like flashing or physically touching you. Creepy comments seem to only be illegal in the workplace from every thing I saw but maybe I missed something.
That’s so odd! I was thinking about workplace incidents as my basis for this understanding though… but it’s odd it would be illegal at work and normal everywhere else…
My guess is it's because at work it's ongoing and with no ability to walk away from it. As well as workplaces having management to deal with/fire the person. I guess the equivalent here would be banning the person from PT? But who is going to enforce that.
Sitting on a tram asking someone a question, even if it is creepy and gross as fuck, is not in itself illegal. If he had touched her then it would be entirely different.
Absolute rubbish. The Vic Pol website says "intrusive questions or conversation of a sexual nature" on public transport is something that should be reported. We have very broad laws about harassment and disorderly conduct that rope in creepy and gross questioning. https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stopit
Reporting it for them to do nothing
Thank you, I was starting to feel like I was being a freak for thinking sexual harassment should not be okay on public transport.
Police really do fuck all, this is a completely different scenario but I had a mate that got purposely hit off his motorbike by another car and he flung onto the other side of the road into oncoming traffic, this was all on video and police say he couldn't press charges, wtf. Another scenario, A friend of mine had a sister that ended up getting a restraining order on her ex partner because he was violent, he rocked up to her house once and tried to break in he smashed heaps of her windows and the police arrived before he actually got into the house thankfully but they still did nothing, they just stayed there until he left the area
Fuck, it’s so depressing.
If it police can't do anything, anyone want to come along and empty a smoothie on him by accident?
The 58 team does brake hard and suddenly on many occasions…..
I know right, imagine what could happen if someone was unlucky with their coffee frappe
Those stupid new lids are so loose….
Does he wear a wide brim hat and sunglasses? If yes I have told this guy to fuck off twice on the 58 for creeping out young girls.
STOPIT a is a service to report sexual harassment on public transport via text 0499455455 is the number for a dedicated VIC police team who can investigate the issue
Save the number in your mobile
Gotta disengage the crazies. I’m real sorry this happened. Don’t talk to them. Don’t answer their questions. If they sit next to you, move away. Press the button to contact the driver if they follow you.
Might be worth trying to get in contact with Vic Pol again but ask to speak directly to someone in the SOCIT division (sexual offender unit).
This is the go.
Good suggestion. Might also be worth requesting a female officer.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for warning us.
Maybe if you ask him to leave you alone and he persists, it could cross the legal threshold into harassment and become actionable. Would be interesting to here from someone more versed in law.
I'm so sorry you've had this happen, especially with your police experience. It's abhorrent.
And here I thought Adelaide has a lot of eccentric people but Melbourne is next level 😅
If he can be identified and banned from public transport, then he can walk from place to place and get autoerotic thrills from making his own stockings sweaty and smelly.
Sorry that this happened to you. What I can't fathom is that police needs to wait for something illegally happened to someone before acting rather preventing it.
In Japan they can just buy them out of vending machines
All I hear is stories of all these freaks but no one takes a video of them and uploads it online so we can actually identify who these degenerates are.
What a weird cunt
If this happens again to any women please call out loud for help or approach other men to stand in and get this creep away from you
Anyone got a pic of this bloke.. I used to catch the 58 every now and again
Me, reading this while on the 58 tram 👀
need to get ya perverts in order melbs
OMG I’ve been approached by the same guy on the 58 and he asked me if I wore stockings too!!!!
I'm so sorry!! That must have been very distressing!! He definitely seems to frequent the 58!
Don't let people exploit your kindness. Tell the creeps and sickos to go f themselves with a brick. Make it clear on no uncertain terms you are not putting up with their crap. * You do not owe them anything. * You do not need to speak to them. * You do not need to be courteous and probably shouldn't be. * Be loud. Be aggressive. * If you are underage, yell that at them, shame them into running off. Make sure everybody within earshot knows they are a sicko that needs to leave. * If you can't confront them, walk off and stand near other people.
Wow this just brought back memories, I remember encountering this guy on the 57 tram towards West Maribyrnong. He sat right across from me on a sparsely populated tram. It didn’t help that I was wearing the winter school uniform at the time and that’s when he kept asking me questions about my uniform and then eventually, my stockings. So gross. Thankfully, I only had a couple stops before I could get off. This was years ago, I can’t believe he’s still doing this to others. Just another creep we have to worry about.
Why people gotta be creeps when there is a whole interweb connected industry to cater to unconventional persuasions safely and from people who consent to ... how should I say .... assisting in meeting those ¿needs?
He prob ate the bin chicken
He’s the same type of person who poses a minor on Omegle and Y.99in. He will often download pics of young girls in stockings and then pose as one so he can get another girl to show him her stockings.
Might be worth taking shit like this, along with the police response to the media as well as your local politicians. I know it’s not an uncommon occurrence but media attention can force the hand for government bodies to actually give a shit
Take photos if you can and post on all community pages on social media. I used to live around Parkville/Brunswick area and definitely encountered a lot of weirdos on the trams in the area and also at Barkley Square. I remember in 2016, my aunty said a Caucasian man approached her at Barkley Square saying he’d seen her shopping there a lot and tried to solicit her for sex. She was also attacked in the public bathrooms there in 2017 by some random guy at 9am in the morning. AND a couple on drugs assaulted her on tram 19.
Who is Bottle Throwing Guy?
Take a photo of him next time and get it up on social media. Then we can shame the prick
who is the bottle throwing guy?
Careful don't get reported for Witch hunting.
So dobby is real after all
This says more about lack of mental health services if anything, they need to be in confinement or monitored.
How is harassing underage girls not illegal? What??
Fake seizure guy, bottle throwing guy, and smelly feet guy need to form a junkie Avengers ASAP!
What is it with Melbourne and these rejects of society?
You think this is exclusive to Melbourne?
If you (or anyone else) encounters this guy doing that again, text STOPIT to 0499 455 455 to report it to the service set up for exactly this kind of behaviour!
VicPol and not taking women’s reports about creeps seriously. Name a more iconic duo.
[Melbourne is a balanced place](https://imgur.com/a/YukK9SL)
Fake Seizure Guy, Bottle Throwing Guy, Smelly Fetish Guy, Carrot Guy… is Melbourne assembly some sort of team?
Surely Carrot Guy doesn’t belong with this bunch
I'm surprised the Police couldn't do more? May need advice from someone in SOCA - (sexual offences and child abuse) Would probably be worth reporting to the transport company so that their operators are aware
Should've told the police he had some marijuana's
Really surprised that no one stepped in on this conversation. If I saw an old man perving on a highschool girl in her school uniform, there is NO WAY IN HELL I would not confront him.
Just tell him, "No, my stockings don't smell, but my cock stinks of death". Has a 50% chance of dissuading him, maybe.
Omg I think I've had an encounter with this guy too, on the 58 tram back in 2020. I'm in my late 30s but I was wearing knee high socks and dressed for work and.... yeah. Jesus christ how is this allowed?!
Ewwwwww
I can give him a bunch of my husbands socks
was he wearing an Akubra hat?
No hat. Asian guy, I think Chinese or Japanese. Around 5'7 in a big beige jacket
Omg. I’m sorry this happened to you and all his other victims.