A HEARTBREAKING video shows a woman left in tears after she was cruelly and continuously harassed by an unidentified man on the London Tube.
Nicole Whittle had jumped on the underground train on the District Line at Victoria on Tuesday night after a night out with friends when a stranger began repeatedly addressing her.
The video shows the 29-year-old in the aftermath of the incident, retelling her horrific story in tears to the camera.
She says: “I just got harassed to tears on the tube, I got on at Victoria and a couple of stops later this guy gets on.
“He says ‘bless you’ when I sneezed and I said ‘thank you’.
“He asked me what I was reading and I just said that I’m just reading my book and then for the next 10/15 minutes this man was just talking at me.
“[He was saying things] like ‘I’d go to prison for you, you’re sexy, you’re gorgeous, stop ignoring me’ and I’m trying to tune him out and he’s just muttering all these things and he just kept on going.
“I was just sat there thinking with every stop ‘This man is going to watch me get off at my stop and he’s going to follow me’.
“There were so many people around and no one said anything. Everyone could see him staring at me and talking at me while I’m reading my book and saying things like ‘You’re sexy aren’t you.’
“Then he got off at the stop before mine and I was shaking at this point and all the fear just started shaking out and I would not look up from my book, he got off the train and I’m still not looking up.
“And then he starts looking back at me before the doors even close and I’m just shaking.
“The doors close, he’s gone and this woman comes over and sits next to me and is like ‘Are you okay?’ I just burst into sobs.
“I can tell everyone in the carriage feels awkward but no one else says anything even though everyone has heard this man just being verbally abusive and harassing me like crazy.
“Just please, for the love of god if you see people, especially young women – anyone if you see anyone getting harassed on the tube just f***ing say something and tell them to shut the f**k up.”
Nicole then begins to cry uncontrollably, bringing an abrupt end to her traumatic story.
The influencer uploaded the video to TikTok on Wednesday with the caption: “This happened yesterday and hope by sharing it more people will take action.”
The clip has since received over 25,000 likes and more than 950 comments from users who were quick to offer Nicole their support and sympathy.
One user wrote: “I’m so sorry that you had to experience this. People need to stop being silent and help. I can’t imagine how horrible you must’ve felt. Sending love.”
Another said: “I’m so sorry this is so terrible I’m so sick of Londoners not helping.”
A third commented: “Would it help if I walked over and pretended to be a friend? I’ve never witnessed this but that would be my strategy.”
Nicole replied: “Yes definitely. If you don’t want to talk to the harasser you can always talk to the victim – just let them know they’ve got someone looking out for them.”
Another user added: “This happened to me too on an empty platform, Transport for London (TFL) workers walked by and no one helped, guy, told me he was part of a gang and followed me onto the tube.”
Speaking today Nicole from Whitechapel, East London said: “Like most women, I’m pretty used to harassment. It’s often just annoying and a bit unnerving.
“My usual tactic is to just ignore them because they often get bored or tire themselves out. So I was pretty unfazed at first. Another leery man on the tube. He’ll get off in a couple of stops.
“He was very drunk. His body was swaying, he had a drink in his hand and he kept dropping either the drink or the bottle cap. He was rambling on constantly. Most of it is incoherent.
“But a lot of what I could hear was directed at me, ‘she’s sexy’, ‘what are you reading’, ‘I’d do anything for you’, ‘I’d go to jail for you’.
“He’d also talk at the rest of the carriage, saying ‘look how gorgeous she is’, ‘look how sexy she is’.
“He was sat opposite me – not in a four-seater but how the seats against the wall of the train face each other. He was loud. The tension in the carriage kept building.
“By the time I realised, I was scared I was to frozen in place. I’ve been in terrifying situations before – I know I don’t fight or flight. I freeze.
“I thought about moving – but what if he followed me? No one had intervened at all yet. Would they intervene then? I had the same worries about getting off the train and waiting for the next.
“What if he got off and I was stuck on a platform with him? At least here he was sat in his seat and just talking at me.
“Each stop he didn’t get off at made me more and more nervous. It was around Monument that I started getting really worried and thinking, ‘what do I do if he’s still on the train when we reach my stop?’.
“I was still just trying to distract myself by reading my book. I wish I’d put my headphones in. I’ve been in similar situations before and it’s a lot easier if you can drown out what they were saying.
“It was the ‘I’d go to jail for you’ comments that he kept repeating that scared me the most. It made me feel like he didn’t fear the consequences of what he was doing.”
Nicole continued: “I was also starting to feel embarrassed and ashamed. I think my memory has blocked out most of the comments he made but they got worse stop by stop.
“The ‘you’re so sexy’, ‘she’s so sexy’, ‘I love the way you turn the page’. It had a really dark, leery tone to it. I know the atmosphere in the carriage. People were feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
“But for me, having no one tell him to shut up or even just try to interrupt the situation had me feeling embarrassed and ashamed.
“I was also feeling frustrated. I don’t know if it was just because I was ignoring him that people thought that I was handling it well.
“But in my head, I was thinking of all the great posters TFL had put up on the underground lately. About how to help out in situations of harassment. How to make the victim feel safe.
“They showed that it didn’t have to be a big heroic confrontation but that just interrupting the harassment or having a comforting word with the victim can make all the difference.
“I didn’t understand why no one was helping. I’ve interrupted situations that didn’t feel right before. I know it’s scarier for women to interrupt – we could easily become the new focus of his attention.
“But there were so many men near me who I felt could’ve helped.
I noticed him getting up at Aldgate East and I started shaking. I was determined to stay staring at my book. I just wanted him off the train.
“I wanted the doors closed. Even as the doors were closing he was looking back into the carriage saying the same sort of things, ‘I would’ve been the best thing that happened to you’ or something like that.
“I was shaking. Once the doors closed a woman came over and asked if I was okay.
“At this point, I burst into tears. I hadn’t realised how scared I’d been. She showed me a photo she took of him on the platform and said she’d report it to the British Transport Police (BTP).
“Through tears, I told her to thank you for checking on me and that I was so scared he’d get off at my stop. I was glad I was crying.
“I wanted everyone that just sat by and thought I was doing a great job of ignoring him to know that I had actually been terrified. I don’t think people realised how upsetting and unnerving it is.
“This is the only way I can rationalise no one stepping in. This is why I shared my video online – to show (particularly men) how shaken incidents like this can leave people.
“Honestly, even I was shocked as to how shaken and upset I was. It’s one of those things that is just way scarier than you’d imagine.
“I recorded a video when I got home detailing the incident. I hadn’t managed to get through to my friends on the phone and kind of needed to talk it out.
“I was thinking about posting it on my Instagram story but I hadn’t decided yet.
“I work on social media and try to be a good influence. I had a call with my sister and then a friend. I felt better. The tears had gone but I felt exhausted. I decided to post the video on my Instagram stories.”
Nicole now believes that sharing the video has proved a positive move, starting conversations amongst social media users.
She said: “When I shared my video on my stories it was seen by my followers – people that knew me and that cared.
“It was a day later that I decided to share it on TikTok. I knew the feedback and the comments wouldn’t be as kind.
“But so many people appreciated the videos on Instagram and I especially loved it when people said it started conversations with them and their families or partners.
“The video has hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. I know not to scroll through the comments on this video.
“I’m not about to argue with strangers online about what I should’ve done, whether I’m entitled to expecting help or about how I need thicker skin.
“But mostly a lot of the comments are great – lots of people saying that they would’ve stepped in, some sharing how they’d safely step in (which is super helpful).
“I’ve even had the BTP comment on TikTok – this was really appreciated. They outlined what to do in these incidents both as a victim and as a bystander.
“I felt this really helped against the comments from people saying ‘why should I help you’ or ‘not my problem’.
“The BTP set the standard and made it clear that I was a victim and that they do need bystanders to interrupt harassment if they feel safe to do so.
“The saddest part was how many people had similar stories. About being harassed, having photos/videos taken of them or even being assaulted in busy carriages. That no one intervened.
“It means a lot that the TFL and BTP are on our side, but we need people to interrupt these sorts of situations. We need them to understand how awful it is to be harassed.
“We need to be believed when we say we were scared, not be told that we’re irrational.”
