Women in New York City have been on alert this past week, as social media videos describe unprovoked attacks by a seemingly stranger in Manhattan. The alleged victims are women in their twenties and thirties who have posted a similar description of their attack on TikTok and Instagram.
Multiple women have uploaded videos on TikTok explaining their attacks and their safety concerns for other women living in the city. One woman was punched in the face while walking home from class, another was punched on her way to work, and a third was punched while walking her dog.
“I was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face,” a 23 year old victim said.
Within the past two weeks there have been a dozen reported incidents. New York police have made six arrests after the assaults, and are in the mix of investigating two others.
One of the accused men, Skiboky Stora, was in court on Wednesday for prior crimes. When asked about this incident he replied, “Say what?”
Stora was reported to have constantly interrupted the judge while saying, “I feel like my rights are being violated.”
The judge responded by saying, “I can’t control how you feel, but your rights are not being violated.”
Stora will be back in court at the end of this month.
Officials have not confirmed that the cases they are investigating are the exact ones posted on social media, but they did say that they are “very similar to the ones on TikTok.” They also shared that it is unclear if the several incidents they are investigating are connected, but most of the attacks have taken place in Manhattan South, or Midtown and below.
“It’s messed up that girls are victims in today's society. As a girl it makes me super uncomfortable and scared,” NHS senior Lauren Thompson said.
Thompson feels that it’s unfair that women are seen as a target and they should feel just as safe as men. However, violence against any person- male or female- is never warranted.
Many believe that the man doing the punching has a hatred towards white, young females who seem to come off as privileged.
“I feel like all the punches were by the same man or at least by the same group of men because they haven’t been stopped. I really hope police put an end to this soon because it isn’t okay for girls to be scared to even walk home alone,” NHS senior Gabriella Ferrara said.
Ferrara believes women have an unfair disadvantage against men and these attacks are an example of that.
“It’s very messed up. There’s no situation where a grown man should be able to punch a woman in the face. The girls’ were just minding their own business and it’s not okay that this is happening,” NHS math teacher Joanna Closs said.
Closs believes that this issue must be resolved and officials should work to enforce further protection against violent acts like this.
Police are currently investigating further into these incidents and have encouraged victims and witnesses to come forward with any other information regarding the attacks.