Woman's message to Aussie men after disturbing incident in David Jones: 'This is it'
The shopper says it shouldn't be up to other women to call out a man's bad behaviour towards another woman.
A shopper was minding her own business in David Jones this week when a "pretty normal" man caught her eye, not because of the way he looked, but because of the way he was behaving around another woman working at the store.
She said the man, seemingly unknown to the retail assistant whom he was following around, was allegedly taking photos of the woman and she was completely oblivious to it. Taken aback by the man's actions, she couldn't contain her distress.
"This is it," the shopper said, taking to social media to recount the disturbing thing she says she witnessed.
"When women speak about feeling unsafe and uncomfortable, it's this," she said of the incident in the Sydney store.
The shopper claims she confronted him after clocking the man's behaviour and she immediately copped verbal abuse, with the man lashing out at her by calling her a "fat b***h" and telling her to "f**k off".
"I think it's actually a pathetic comeback... the automatic response was redundant," she said. Despite admitting she was glad to have stepped in and advocated for the retail assistant, she pointed out the injustice of it, saying it shouldn't be another woman's responsibility to find a solution.
Speaking to Yahoo News, she described it as "as absolutely the most creepy thing I’ve witnessed".
Violence against women growing at chronic rates
Violence against women continues to be a chronic problem in Australia, with 26 women killed by domestic violence so far in 2024, according to Counting Dead Women Australia. The horrifying attacks at Westfield in Bondi Junction prompted police to investigate the "obvious line of inquiry" that the male mass murderer was targeting women, and the David Jones shopper has now urged men to wake up.
"It's not about worrying about being attacked all the time, even though that is a very real reality, it's about the fact that a girl working can't even feel safe in her work environment without worrying about if a random man is going to be taking photos of her arse from behind her without even knowing," she said in a TikTok video she has since made private.
"I really just hope that any man that's watching this can take a moment to realise."
Domestic violence survivor speaks out about community with high abuse rate
The shocking domestic violence act dismissed by victim’s friend
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she received abuse online after posting about the incident.
"I don't regret it," she told Yahoo. "What took me back was getting the hate messages. I was like, how can you hate on this?
"It frightened me," she added.
Anthony Albanese urges men to discuss violence against women
The prime minister acknowledged both the government and society needs to embrace significant and swift changes to combat violence against women, with two more women dying this week alone from domestic abuse.
"We all have a responsibility to do what we can to address what is a scourge of violence against women," Mr Albanese told ABC radio on Tuesday. "Men and boys have to clearly have discussions about these issues. There is a need to show respect to women."
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