A Virginia mother says she was left so shaken by an alleged sexual assault at the beach that she cut off her freshly dyed hair, believing her appearance may have drawn unwanted attention.
Windi Harrison, 43, has gone public with her account of the frightening incident at Community Beach Park in Norfolk, Virginia, hoping her story will make other families more alert in public spaces.
Harrison said she had been spending a Tuesday afternoon on the sand with her five children when, at about 5 p.m., two men she did not know came up to her.
According to Harrison, one of the men began questioning her about whether she was single and if the children with her were hers, before he allegedly touched her inappropriately and tried to pull off her bikini top.
The distressed mother said she was able to stop the encounter from escalating and persuaded the men to leave the area.
She then rounded up her children and made her way to a lifeguard station, where she was able to contact police.
Since the ordeal, Harrison says she has become afraid of being around crowds and responded to the trauma by cutting off her hair.
‘I had just did my hair color and it looked really pretty, and I figured maybe that had something to do with it,’ she told Fox8.
‘I came home and I just hated any part of me that looked good,’ Harrison told the Daily Mail. ‘So I just looked in the mirror and chopped it all off. I threw the bikini in the bin, I was just so upset.
Mom-of-five Windi Harrison tearfully recounted how she was sexually assaulted at the beach in an incident so traumatic she chopped off her hair afterwards
Police in Norfolk released these surveillance camera images of the suspect, described as a Hispanic man in his 50s-60s
‘Rationally I know it’s not my fault but there was part of me that thought I brought it on myself, even though everyone is wearing a bikini in at the beach and rationally, I know it’s not.
‘I had so much self-confidence, after having five children it took a lot of confidence for me to be in a bikini at the beach and now I have zero self-confidence.’
Harrison often frequents the beach and said it is usually a safe spot with plenty of oversight.
She was enjoying a day off from work and said the two men, who she described as an older Hispanic man in his fifties or sixties with a younger man in his thirties, were already at the beach when she arrived.
‘I had just come up from the water and was laying on my towel, watching my kids having fun in the water,’ she explained.
Harrison said she was approached by the older man, who was carrying a bag of empty beer cans and he assaulted her as she was reaching into her beach bag.
‘Thank goodness they did not witness what had happened,’ she added. ‘I used to feel safe but I don’t think I can go back there for a while.
Harrison said she has since been struggling to eat and sleep, but praised the support she has had from the local police.
A photo of Harrison from June 28 before the assault on Tuesday shows her with long, flowing pink hair
The assault took place at Community Beach Park in Norfolk, Virginia
‘They are calling me three times a day, morning, noon and night, but as for an update I’m not sure at the moment,’ she said.
Harrison said she decided to speak out about her ordeal in hopes of making sure other people who experience sexual assault feel less alone.
‘I’m surprised I spoke up, my knee-jerk reaction was to keep it to myself,’ she said. ‘But I still have a little bit of fight left. I feel so violated, but it’s important to protect other women.
‘So many, many women go through this and don’t say anything so if I can, let me be a voice for those who can’t speak up.’
While she said she has some remorse about chopping her hair, Harrison hopes it will become a symbol of her strength.
‘I regret cutting it, but the hair is a good metaphor for all of this because it will grow back and be stronger, hopefully just like me,’ she said.
‘The man is described as a Hispanic man, approximately 50 years old, 5 feet 6 inches, 180 pounds, with a scruffy beard. He was also described as having missing teeth,’ Norfolk Police said in a statement.
‘As Special Crime Detectives continue to investigate the incident, they are asking anyone with information that may assist them to please call 757-664-7033 or submit an anonymous tip to Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or submit a tip through the P3Tips mobile app.’
