Woman makes man apologise after punching her in the vagina
She made the man say her name, admit his actions and apologise to her on camera
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Your support makes all the difference.A woman has forced a man to apologise to her on camera after he allegedly punched her in the crotch.
She was walking down the street with her boyfriend in central London when the man walked by and allegedly sexually assaulted her.
In a Facebook post, Azmina, who asked to only be identified by her first name, says she yelled at the man and told him what he did was not okay.
According to the women's rights campaigner, the man acted aggressively towards her and approached her boyfriend "as if he wanted to start a fight".
After calling the police and being unable to get through, she followed the man, confronting him to ask why he attacked her.
She wrote on Facebook: "Was it because he assumed there would be no consequences? That I would just remain silent and get over it?
"Was it because I was a young-ish woman? Because I am a brown skinned woman? Did he think it was okay because I was wearing heels?
"He responded that it was because ‘I was attractive and he was intoxicated’."
The man then said sorry to Azmina, who made him say her name, admit his actions and apologise to her on camera.
"Azmina, what I done was totally unacceptable," the man says. "You are a very beautiful woman that I found attractive, but doing that was totally wrong on every level and I really am sorry."
"Doing what?" she asks.
"Punching you in the crotch," he replies. "I really am sorry Azmina."
The video has since been viewed more than 63,000 times on Facebook.
Azmina told The Independent she was "completely humbled and overwhelmed" by the support she had received from around the world in response to her video.
"I've had people message me to tell me that I'm inspiring and they're so happy that I've stood up for all women's voices who don't have the ability to stand up for sexual harassment," she said.
"It's been scary to put myself out there and talk about an issue, because there's a real risk of facing more harassment when you talk about harassment online. But I feel empowered by what I've done."
She added: "There is no right response to sexual assault. The only reason I was able to do what I did was because I'm a women's rights campaigner, I have a support system in place of friends and feminist lawyers that allowed me to do what I did.
"But not everyone has that, I don't want this to be seen as the standard. I don't want to be glorified for what I did or make women feel bad for not being able to confront their aggressor in the past.
"There have been many times in the past where I haven't confronted sexual assault and I've just swallowed it and walked away."
Read Azmina's post in full:
Yesterday evening, I was walking down the street with my boyfriend in [the street] and a man walked passed me and punched me in my vagina. I was shocked - and it took a moment for me to comprehend what had just happened – that I had just been violated and sexually assaulted in my city, in the middle of a street in Central London, just a few blocks from the celebrations of London Pride.
I yelled at the guy to stop as he walked away and told him that he just sexually assaulted me and that it was NOT okay. He responded aggressively, telling me to f*** off, and he kept approaching my boyfriend and punching his fists in the air as if he wanted to start a fight. I didn’t know what to do. So I told him he wasn’t getting away with it and tried calling the police but it kept going to voicemail (note to self: sexual assault is an emergency, call 999 and not 101).
All this while, the guy kept sauntering around the street, clearly not afraid of the consequences of his actions. I continued to try calling the police and we kept our eye on him and followed him from a safe distance.
He told us to leave him alone, and at this point, I blew up and told him that he has no right to say that to me after grabbing my vagina in the middle of a street simply because he felt like he was entitled to my body. I continued to confront him and asked him why he did it, why felt like he could walk down the street and sexually assault me.
Was it because he assumed there would be no consequences? That I would just remain silent and get over it? Was it because I was a young-ish woman? Because I am a brown skinned woman? Did he think it was okay because I was wearing heels? He responded that it was because ‘I was attractive and he was intoxicated’.
I told him to take a guess as to what I do for a living, and informed him that I’m a Women’s Rights Campaigner [...]. When he realized I was seriously standing up for myself and had actually been calling the police he very quickly sobered up and began to apologize.
He told me he had never done it before, that he was stupid, an idiot, and so sorry for what he had done, and that he will never do it again.
How could I believe him I asked? Why should I just accept his apology and pretend this didn’t happen? I told him that he made me feel unsafe on the streets of the city I call home, in a public place, where all of us (women included, because you know, we are human too) should feel some basic form of protection.
Despite profusely apologizing, he continued to antagonize me when he told me to not make such a big deal out of it. I responded that I would make a big deal out of it, that I have the right to make as big of a deal as I want when I have been so grossly violated in a public space, and I told him that my vagina still hurt from his assault.
And so I told him that if he was serious about his apology then I wanted him to do it on video - and that he needed to say my name and apologize to me for his actions so I can show the world that sexual harassment is NEVER okay.
I pulled out my iphone and took a video of the scumbag who actually said ‘I am really sorry for punching you in your crotch’.
I don’t know why I decided to take a video, but it was probably because I wanted to use this experience to share this one incredibly simple message -- sexual harassment is never okay.
I don’t care if you find me attractive and you just had 10 jager bombs, you do not get to act upon whatever entitled feelings our society has convinced you that you have over me because you are a man and I am a woman.
And if you act upon those entitled feelings, there will be consequences.
I want to find this guy, I want to make sure him and other men (or frankly anyone that thinks it is okay to harass someone on the basis of their gender, sexuality or gender identity) think twice before they act.
Share this video. Shame this guy. Spread this message.