A young York busker has released a TikTok video of her being harassed while singing in the city.
Mia Kirkland is well known for her performances in the city centre, not just in York but around the world, thanks to her 83K TikTok followers.
But one of her latest videos was shocking. It shows a man repeatedly harassing her. At one point he lunges at her for a kiss, and Mia said he also sexually assaulted her.
It happened while she was busking in St Helen’s Square.
In the video, Mia says: “I shouldn’t have to put up with this stuff. I don’t busk to be harassed but I have been twice in the past five days.”
At one point when the man approaches, Mia looks alarms and shouts at him: “Covid!”
“He wouldn’t leave me alone no matter how much people were trying to help me,” Mia posted. “Then it was taken way too far.”
That is when she says he sexually assaulted her.
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‘Just unacceptable’
Mia said on the video: “Everything that happens I remember, good or bad, and this is just unacceptable.
“But I’ve had to learn that it’s something people think is OK and it’s not.”
The video has been watched 1.8m times and garnered nearly 2,000 comments, and they are overwhelmingly dismayed by her treatment and supportive.
One said: “People need to respect buskers and their boundaries. You wouldn’t go onto a stage of a celebrity and do this. It’s vile.”
Another said: “You really shouldn’t have to put up with this. I’m so sorry, and I know it’s terrifying to stand your ground too.”
Mia told the BBC: “I was really angry because I didn’t give him permission to do that to me and that was my body.
“It was so unfair what he did.
“The whole time I was so scared. I do get quite scared and nervous if people do invade my personal space.
She wants to raise awareness of the risks buskers face. Mia said she’s had two drunk men grab her microphone, and someone threatened to throw urine at her.
She livestreams many of her performances, and describes her viewers of being “like a personal bodyguard”.