Wednesday, March 1, 2017

My friends touch me even though I tell them not to

This is a bit embarrassing but I was hoping to get some advice. I'm a second year university student (in the UK) living in a shared house with 4 males with whom I shared a mixed-sex flat last year. They are genuinely nice guys, like if we go out at night and a random stranger comes up to me, they'll look out for me. But they also do things that I'm not happy about. Maybe if I give a quick rundown of the stuff they've been doing.

Alex gives me the least grief, but he has a habit of randomly groping my bum.

Barry is the one that I spend most time with out of the all the guys. He also gropes my bum too. There have been a few occasions where for example he'll come up behind me and if I'm chopping some stuff in the kitchen, he'll press himself and his genitals against me. So basically I'm sandwiched between the kitchen counter and him behind me, which makes me uncomfortable.

Chris pretty much leaves me alone. But there was one occasion where he got really drunk, and he held me down as he rubbed his genitals against mine. It was through clothing fortunately but this one sticks with me more than others for some reason. I did try to fight back.

Dean is attracted to me, and even though I told him (rather bluntly actually) that I didn't like him, he keeps trying. The messed up thing is that I came out to them as a lesbian quite early on when we met, but Dean isn't having any of it. He keeps telling me that he could "convert me" if I let him, that because he's a few years older than me he knows what I want as he has more experience. As a result, Dean keeps touching me in an attempt to sexually arouse me like stroking my inner thighs. The really, really messed up thing is that I'm unsure of my sexuality now and it's left me wondering if he actually did turn me.

Initially I thought it was just what guys did and brushed it off, but when it continued, I told them I didn't like it. On pretty much every occasion since then, I've told them not to do that and left the room/pushed them away. They don't listen, and it's wearing me down. It's got to the point where I try not to be in the house as much anymore and if I am, then keep myself in my room. I avoid cooking in the kitchen now just so I don't have to deal with them.

Luckily I'm not living with them next year, but there's a few months left until the academic year finishes. I think I have a few options. 1) Suck it up and deal with it for the next few months. 2) Report them, but I don't think I want to because aside from all of that, they are decent guys and I have a feeling the situation will be out of my control if I do. 3) Move out, but it'll be a little costly because I'd have to pay the rest of my share of the rent to leave and then pay to move somewhere else. Also, as a student and at this stage of year, I'm not sure it's feasible. And it'll raise questions amongst friends and family, which means I have to tell them what's been going on and I don't want to.

I don't feel that my life is in actual danger at all, but I'm just tired of all of this. But at the same time, I don't know if I'm making it a bigger deal than it really is - it might be harassment but it's not really assault or abuse. I haven't been raped. Please can someone give me advice on what to do?



Submitted March 01, 2017 at 04:34AM by atierp http://ift.tt/2mDK1bz

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