Woman screenshots inappropriate messages guys send her, and sends them to their moms

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on April 7, 2022. It has since been updated.

Sexual harassment through messages is rampant and a majority of women, if not all, have complained of men harassing them in their DMs. From sexual messages to NSFW pictures and videos, women are bombarded with unsavory posts and messages. It doesn't help that many social media platforms rarely ban or suspend serial abusers despite being reported. While many women report such messages, others ignore them, knowing very well that reporting them doesn't deter them in any manner. One woman found an innovative way to tackle a couple of men from her class who were relentlessly harassing her via messages. The 18-year-old college student posted on Reddit how she flipped it on the men by sending their disgusting messages to their moms. 

Reddit user u/Left_Wrap_5352 asked if she was wrong to screenshot "messages guys sent me and sending them to their mothers?" Here's how she explained it. "I'm an 18-year-old girl who is in college atm. I've been getting bullied/harassed by three guys in my class who have taken to messaging me online with rather gross/harassing messages and NSFW pictures that I'm sure you can all fill in the gaps without me going into detail," she wrote.

After they repeatedly sent messages, she decided to escalate the issue. "I should have reported them or just blocked them but I had, had enough so I screenshot every message they'd sent me and found their mothers through their Facebook pages and sent screenshots to them including an explanation of who I am and how their sons have been bothering me," she continued.

The women were never going to side with the sons after seeing the kind of messages they sent. "Their mothers were horrified and shocked by what I sent them explaining what was going on and all three are on my side," she wrote but there was one small problem. When she shared the same with her friends, some accused her of crossing the line. "Some of my friends think this is genius and exactly what they deserved but some of my other friends think I took it too far and it was out of line to put that on their mothers and also how I don't know what their home life is like," she wrote, before turning to Reddit and asking if she did the wrong thing. She also clarified that she did report them for bullying but they only got a warning and that's when she decided to escalate things. "I figured reporting them again wouldn't work so did this.

Reddit users overwhelmingly supported her. "The people saying you took it too far are the same ones who would defend those guys' behavior as "just guys being guys." What they were doing is organized sexual harassment, and it needs to be forwarded to the school administration as well. Those are rapists in the larval stage," wrote one person. Another user added, "Anyone who defends your harassers are essentially saying you deserve it." One person didn't argue but added that she could have censored the pictures and maybe keep their Dads in the loop as well. "The absolute only argument I can see against this is the forwarding unwanted d*ck pics and putting the responsibility on the women. I say censor the d*cks and include the fathers in the message so they know they're responsible for raising their sons right. If they're boys being boys then their parents need to know what they're up to so they can raise men who'll be men," they wrote.

Another user added that they could even be punished by law. "Each of these guys could potentially be charged criminally; instead, you told their mothers. I applaud you for employing a method that will ensure they have some kind of punishment from their families. To be clear, it may not be any more effective overall than reporting to the police, but it's worth the shot. As for your friends who say you took it too far, I'd ask them how far they think the three guys have gone, and whether that's too far? Then tell those "friends" to eff off," they commented.