** Please be advised that this post deals with heavy subject matter, for example, sexual assault. **
Being a woman in the current state of the world is not easy, and before I get any men on here attacking me or counterarguing that men don’t have it the easiest, either, allow me to clarify something; I am referencing the amount of violence and unwanted sexual attention us women receive, unsolicited, which, statistically speaking, does not impact men to nearly the same extent it does women.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s proceed, shall we?
As I said, being a woman in this world is positively terrifying at times. Most women can confirm that they themselves or a fellow woman they know has been the victim of sexual assault, violence and harassment, myself included; I’ve been sexually assaulted twice, and if I were to attempt to guess the number of how many times I have been harassed throughout my life, it’s arguably in the hundreds.
Just about each and every time I venture into the city, I am at the receiving end of creepy, disturbing, and inappropriate behaviour, and it is always coming from a man.
My appearance doesn’t seem to make a difference in the matter, either. I could be wearing my finest clothing with a face full of makeup and my hair done, or I could be in my farm clothes looking a bit dishevelled – no matter how I look, I am targeted, and it’s really fucking infuriating.
I do not go anywhere without a knife, and while I thankfully have never had to use it, I’ve come close on a few occasions. One instance was quite literally in a grocery store during which a man had me backed up into the freezers, and male employees had to come over and assist me.
Even grocery shopping has become a risk for women. We must do better.
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash
ontheedgeofeverything 