Punching fear: The nyc attacks that shook Women Everywhere

In March 2024, there were multiple videos going viral on tiktok of women in New York City being punched in the face while walking. At the time when these several incidents occurred, the stories went viral for numerous reasons. It raised lots of concerns for women everywhere, but especially women in NYC. The first time I heard about this issue was when I watched a tik tok of influencer Halley Kate’s post where she is crying with a large bulging bruise on her forehead. In the video, which received over 5 million likes within a few days, she simply said how she was doing nothing except walking and this man came up to her and punched her in the face. Obviously she was completely distraught in the video and can’t believe what just happened to her. 

After I watched Halley’s post I scrolled down twice and there was another video of a woman being punched in the face. Sadly, that’s when it hit me this was going to be a very serious situation for women in NYC.There were even several more similar stories of women being assaulted just like Hallie. Some women got black eyes, chipped teeth, and concussions. All of these women that were assaulted said how they were just walking on the street. Some were even on their way to work and got violently physically assaulted. 

Halley did file a police report that helped lead the arrest of the man that was assaulting these women. However, that fear of possibly being attacked stayed with these women. Recently, I just watched a tik tok of a girl talking about this incident. She explained how even though it was months ago, there still is a constant fear. 

These assaults got an enormous amount of press, which can be good. At the time it did build a sense of community and women banding together. However, the high amount of press leads to a higher chance of a ‘copycat’. Collectively, there were millions and millions of views from women posting about their assaults. While social media plays an essential role in raising awareness about public safety issues, it also carries the risk of amplifying fear and inspiring copycat incidents.

About a month after these attacks happened, my friends and I took a trip to NYC. Even though I knew the man that attacked these women was behind bars, I was still very fearful. I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the women’s stories. Especially since they said they were just walking down the street. I just kept thinking to myself there could be another man out there doing the same thing. 

Whenever I go somewhere alone I am on higher alert about my surroundings. I am very cautious and take note of everyone around me. I do that because of incidents like these where women are getting punched in the face. Public violence is a very scary thing especially when there are people out there targeting you for that type of violence. 

This incident has taught me a lot. It taught me the power of social media. It taught me to always be alert. It has taught me to be supportive of women all over the world.