I accidentally sexually "harassed" my friend.

It should go without saying that you shouldn't touch or grab people by the waist without consent or an understood close relational dynamic between the two of you, but I'm not saying you did the worst thing in the world. I don't know how to relay this over a reddit comment, but I understand completely why being shaked in a somewhat intimate place would feel like harassment (and that means that it is. It wasn't "harassment," it was harassment.)

As for your second point, you didn't have respect for your friendship, so why should she? I'm also curious how you approached this topic when you tried to contact her. Did you try to downplay it, insinuate that she was overreacting, and deny that it was harassment? This happens a lot with younger people- they essentially apologize that the other person feels the way they do without actually taking accountability for what they did.

Lastly, I want you to consider that she may have had prior sexual trauma of some kind. It is extremely common and I hate to put it this way but it's just factual- many (but not all) men have blinders with this kind of thing. You said that she's "dine bad things, too." This isnt an excuse and you're completely in the right to hold her responsible for her actions, but could she possibly be going through something in particular right now?

Speaking from experience- sexual trauma can make one defensive and over cautious, but don't mistake it for an overreaction. She may be working through how to set boundaries and keep herself safe.

/r/Advice Thread Parent