Victoria woman calls out gross car act while she was running

A woman who was running at night has called out an ‘embarrassing’ act that all women have sadly had to deal with at least once.

A young woman who was running at night has called out a “pathetic” act that she says many women have sadly experienced at least once – and it has to stop.

Emma Sunderland, 27, was running alone at night along a beach path in Victoria, specifically choosing the route because it was well lit and felt safe.

“A ute with two men suddenly slowed down next to me. They had the windows down and started beeping and shouting. I had headphones in, so I couldn’t hear what they said, but it gave me a fright,” she told news.com.au.

“It was loud, aggressive and completely unexpected. No one else was around and I felt scared and exposed.”

In that moment, all she felt was fear. But, that slowly morphed into anger — why should she be made to feel unsafe during the simple act of going for a run? So, at the end of her run, she filmed a video calling out the behaviour.

“You had the windows down like f***ing weirdos, beeping. Can I just ask you, what did you think you were going to get out of that,” she demanded to know.

“Was I going to sprint after your f***ing ute, jump on the back and try to shag you, you f***ing freaks?

“It scared me, it p***ed me off and what would your mum think? You’re an embarrassment.”

Speaking to news.com.au, Ms Sunderland said she was sick of men thinking that this type of behaviour — catcalling and street harassment — was acceptable.

“If I found out a man in my life did this, even as a joke, I’d cut them off. It’s pathetic behaviour and I have zero tolerance for it,” she told us.

“I made the video at the end of my run, once I’d had a moment to process what happened. I was still angry. I called them out for being losers because I’m honestly just over it.

“This kind of thing happens all the time to so many women, and I’m tired of staying quiet about it. I still don’t understand what they think the outcome will be. Are we supposed to feel flattered? It’s not flattering. It’s weird, it’s rude, and it makes them look pathetic.”

Ms Sunderland said off the back of the video, a lot of people had reached out and every single woman she spoke to had a story just like hers. She said it’s sadly so common and women are just expected to deal with it.

Emma Sunderland is a Melbourne-based runner. Picture: @emmasunny_/Instagram

Ms Sunderland also said it’s happened to her many times.

“Not just while running, but walking home, at the shops, in broad daylight. It’s just this constant background noise of being a woman in public,” she said.

“You get so used to it that you almost stop reacting, which is kind of the worst part. It’s not rare. It’s just something we’re expected to tolerate.”

Ms Sunderland said it puts women off running, with many stopping in winter because it gets dark earlier. Others won’t go out alone, or only stick to certain streets.

“Even then, we’re still on alert. There’s this mental checklist: share your location, wear the right clothes, avoid isolated areas. I always send my live location to a friend or my partner before I go out,” she said.

“It’s exhausting. All of it. We do all this planning and self-protecting just to go for a run. And the worst part is how normal it’s become. Every woman I know does this. Every woman has a story.”

Emma Sunderland has called out men catcalling. Picture: TikTok/@emzsunny

Bianca Fileborn, an associate professor in Criminology at the University of Melbourne, said that street harassment — like what Ms Sunderland experienced — is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of behaviours in public or semipublic places.

This can be anything from catcalling, horn-honking, being followed by someone or even unwanted requests for a date or phone number.

“Unlike other types of gender based violence, most street harassment is perpetrated by someone who’s a stranger. But it’s a bit more complicated than that,” Associate Professor Fileborn told news.com.au last year.

“Sexist and gender based forms of harassment are really common. But it can also include forms of harassment based on things like your race, your sexuality, diverse gender identity, and it can also be really context dependent.”

The expert said that there are some acts that are objectively not OK but there are some things, like asking for someone’s number, that could be harassment or consensual, depending on how it is taken and delivered.

Research conducted by The Australia Institute in 2015 showed that 87 per cent of young women have experienced street harassment at least once in their life — but often it was more than just once. For some, it was at the end of primary school or the start of high school the first time it had happened.

Earlier this month, former rugby player turned politician David Pocock went viral with a video discussing the terrifying reality of going for a run as a woman after two females were assaulted while exercising on Canberra trails.

“I’m interested, when you run, what are you thinking about?” he asked in a TikTok video directly addressing men.

“One of the things you’re probably not thinking about is getting sexually assaulted.”

Mr Pocock, who has previously captained the Wallabies and was a Vice-Captain for the Brumbies, continued: “I think it’s such bulls**t that we live in a country where so many women are worried about that and are thinking about that when they are out.”

Originally published as Victoria woman calls out gross car act while she was running