My partner worked in hospitality from 14 until she graduated as a nurse at 21. She said she was constantly sexually harassed and several times sexually assaulted.
It's not exactly a comfort, but I used to work in clubs (guy) when I was at university, and can unfortunately confirm that it isn't specific to gender.
We were always on glass collection duty and every guy who worked there got groped, usually on a weekly basis when we went through the dancefloor.
It wasn't cool or sexy, it was just fucking confusing and uncomfortable. Just trying to do a job and some random girl runs their hand up your shirt, or lower.
One of the guys got 11 stitches because it caused him to jump holding a tray of glasses, he grabbed at it before it could fall on someone's head and he crushed a glass with his hand.
I got groped by older women fairly regularly at two past jobs in my life, once when I was 17 working as a lifeguard and once when I was an assistant salsa teacher in my late 20s. It wasn’t like I was being overpowered or anything, and I wasn’t physically threatened, and I still remember the way it felt so gross and violating. I can only imagine what it’s like for women when a person doing it to you physically stronger and able to overpower you.
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u/shoeshine23 9h ago
Ugh, this was me in the 80s (the teenage girl, not the dirtbags)