That's why so many of them can relate to the woman seen in a video as she reacts to a man accused of exposing himself.
"And I was like why does this person keep pressing up against me and I realize you have all this (expletive) space here. Then, I see his penis out! That's it," she is heard saying on the video.
Her outrage has fast become a rallying cry for many women who say enough is enough.
Advocates say women do have the right to "whip-out" their own defense - a cell phone with a camera.
"They're going to catch you in the act. They're going to publish it, and you're gonna get busted," Violet Kittappa of iHollaback.org said.
In this case, it turned out that 51-year-old Mario Valdivia of Queens was accused of public lewdness at least two other times, but the woman in this case and others on the train weren't going to stand for it.
"Oh, you're getting (expletive) arrested," she told him. "I'm not leaving your side. My plans are done for tonight. I'm escorting you to the police station."
Valdivia has now pleaded guilty to forcible touching in this case and a more recent case in October. He was sentenced to 4 months behind bars.
