The idea of feeling unsafe near and around men is arguably something all women can say they relate to. Perhaps in varying degrees of severity, but regardless of the extent to which a woman can relate to this fear, the relevance is staggering.
I do not hate men, nor do I believe them all to be horrible monsters who enjoy inflicting emotional and physical pain on women. I have a wonderful and loving father, husband and friends who are proof that men are fantastic beings. I recently saw an Instagram reel, and I could kick myself for not saving it; it was a woman’s personal story and her incredibly difficult situations with various men throughout her life, and she asserted a statement in the video that read something along the lines of “It isn’t all men, but I’m angry at men in general for allowing the mistreatment of women to go on without accountability, and I’m tired of making excuses for them.”
I don’t have one woman in my own life who hasn’t experienced sexual assault or harassment at the hands of men, and that is absolutely fucking terrifying, and furthermore, unacceptable. What’s worse is that I imagine most women could say the same about women in their own lives. I’ve been harassed more times than I would like to count, and I have been assaulted more than once; in every situation in which I came forward in an attempt to hold the perpetrators accountable, nothing was done to hold the man responsible. If anything, my choosing to try and do the right thing made the original situation worse.
We women look out for each other in this context, and while more and more men are stepping up and intervening when they witness a woman in a bad situation, a hell of a lot more need to start doing the same. If you see something, say something, because it could very well save a woman’s life.
Photo by Tarun Savvy on Unsplash
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