TRIGGER WARNING: i'll be mentioning sexual assault in this post.
this 1 is definitely overdue but i needed to word everything in a way i was totally comfortable with.
on wednesday, march 3rd, the world loss sarah everard; a successful 33-year-old woman who should be living her life today. she was a victim of not only sexual assault, but of police brutality, an under-addressed, down-scaled and very prevalent issue in societies globally, and, ultimately, murder at the hands of the people who supposedly 'serve and protect'. her story caused outrage (rightfully so) and sparked the much needed conversation about sexual violence towards women.
the uk is not innocent. at any capacity.
lately, so many amazingly strong women & girls have come forward about their sexual assault experiences and there's been a massive conversation about the issue; as there should be. 97% of women. at the very least. if that statistic alone, it being representative of real people who have real trauma, isn't enough to trigger empathy, you need to check yourself.
and if, when you hear women speaking up, you find yourself being defensive, ask yourself this: why am i offended when nearly half of the population of the literal world open up about trauma inflected with members of the other half that i happen to identify with? surely if you are innocent of being a sexual predator and you truly stand up for the women around you, no defensiveness is necessary? let's be better than this.
when oppressed groups speak, listen. then, act accordingly.
secondary-school students from around brighton protested at their schools last week for recognition and visibility; to be listened to. like it or not, this generation’s got some things to say and some things to change. so, listen. the culture of complicity has expired.
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no one ever said it's every single man who is inflicting trauma onto every single woman, but there are so many things more men can and should do in order to make women feel more safe in public. for starters, call your friends out for predatory behaviour. don’t be complicit. stand up for the women in your life when they’re in situations they’re clearly uncomfortable in and check yourself.
no one said it was all men, but it's nearly all women.
when somebody speaks up about a story to give their testimony toward whichever societal issue is in question, let's start reacting by asking what we can do to even their side of playing field, as opposed to protecting our fragile egos. otherwise, things can't really change.
so, men, don't shy away from calling friends out on their bullshit, and don't leave topics of this magnitude unspoken about. have some real courage and speak up about real injustices. even if they don't negatively affect you, and especially if you benefit from the oppression in question.
let's keep this conversation up, continue to create safe spaces for these typa things to be openly discussed and not get distracted from we've learnt in the last year. let's leave a happier world than we entered, we literally have the power to.
k.
xxxx
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