A woman says she feared a man, who allegedly punched her in the face four times, would kick her in the face after she fell to the ground from the street attack.
Victoria Curtis was walking home with some female friends along Camden St when she was allegedly attacked by a man about 2am on Sunday.
Ms Curtis posted a photograph of her bruised face on Facebook after the attack and said: "This is what happens women on Saturday nights walking home with their friends."
She said she had responded to the man “derogatory” comments as her and her friends passed him on the street that “ it wasn’t cool for him to tell us to take off our trousers, pull down our knickers and show him our arses.”
"It escalated from there. He started calling us feminist feckers," she told the Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1.
Ms Curtis said after a verbal altercation and a scuffle, she and her friends had walked away believing it had finished.
“It was all directed at me because I’m identifiably gay, I have short hair, I wear jeans, I dress like a tom boy- not that even matters,” she said.
“He then put his hand out and was like ‘hey there man, let’s resolve this man, shake my hand man’ and I was like ‘mate I’m not shaking your hand, you’re a f*****r, f**k off’.”
Ms Curtis said the man, who she described as not being “legless” drunk and coherent, then hit her in the face four times.
“I lost my balance and I hit the ground. I curled up and put my hands over my head... I was thinking I’m really lucky I have this wall because he could kick me in the face,” she said.
Ms Curtis said she immediatley rang the gardaí to report the alleged assault and went to hospital for treatment of her injuries.
“I’m ok but a bit shook after it all,” she said. I woke up yesterday morning and had a few hours in and out of tears.”
“I’ve never experienced an attack like that that ended up so violently. How dare he? I’m a proud queer woman. How dare he make me question that.”
“This is constantly happening women. It’s street harassment against females.”
Ms Curtis said she wanted to thank people for their kind messages and the gardaí for their help.
In her Facebook post, Ms Curtis wrote the following:
“ This is what misogyny looks like.
This is what being a faggot looks like.
This is what happens women on Saturday nights walking home with their friends.
This is what a man did to me, after I told him it wasn’t cool for him to tell us to take off our trousers, pull down our knickers and show him our arses.
This is what being punched four times in the faces looks like because you’re a queer.
This is what happens when we call them out.
This is what will keep happening if we keep ignoring and accepting their behavior.
This is why consent courses are needed in colleges.
This is Ireland 2016.”
