When a Hash Tag Matters: #YesAllWomen
After killing six people in Santa Barbara this week, Elliot Rodger left a threatening message on YouTube, vowing to kill all the woman who had rejected his advances in the past.
A man in Chicago masturbated while watching a woman on a train, followed her, grabbed her and pulled down her skirt. Police arrested him. He’s now out on bail.
A man in Nebraska was arrested after pushing a woman face-first into an alley
A teenage girl in Indiana was repeatedly sexually assaulted for two years (beginning when she was 13) before her attacker was arrested. He was just sentenced.
This mayor in Denver has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a child.
These are just a few of the headlines this week about violence against women. They barely scratch the surface. According to UN Women, 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. When you look at cases of sexual assault, the reality is even more grim: RAINN estimates that someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes, and 44% of victims are under age 18.
Spurred by the Santa Barbara atrocity, a new hash tag has appeared on Twitter to address this issue. #YesAllWomen poses the question: In what way do you protect yourself from being sexually assaulted or raped?
The response has been staggering.
Perhaps more stunning than the confessions of women across the world who admittedly live every day in fear of being sexually assaulted is the popular mindset that this hasn’t been the case for most of our modern lives.
In thousands of one-line updates, #YesAllWomen is a powerful reminder that sexual assault is real, and we desperately need to step-up our game about educating people about it. Here are a few that represent the spectrum of comments. I encourage you to scroll through and read as many as you can–then add your own.
Because I shouldn’t have to wonder how posting my experiences to #YesAllWomen will affect my job. And it will.
— Amber Naslund (@AmberCadabra)May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen because the media present men as people but present women as sexual objects pic.twitter.com/UeQ0CMT9xd
— Sophie Rose (@SophieT_UK)May 25, 2014
Two weeks ago I was sexually harassed and groped by my neighbor and I was told it happened because “you’re just too pretty” #YesAllWomen
— kelly jean (@kjmeow)May 25, 2014
Because the friendzone is the fictional exile of the entitled. “Sexual partner” is not a woman’s default mode. #yesallwomen
— Harrison Mooney (@HarrisonMooney)May 25, 2014
#yesallwomen because of adult males who don’t understand why it wouldn’t be “better” to be raped by my boyfriend than a stranger.
— bigmouthedwoman (@bigmouthedwoman)May 25, 2014
No, #NotAllMen are violent against women, but #YesAllWomen have to navigate a world where those who are look the same as those who aren’t.
— Karin Robinson (@karinjr)May 25, 2014
#yesallwomen because some women are even afraid to retweet these tweets out of fear of being called a feminist and being ridiculed by men.
— foyin og (@foyinog)May 25, 2014
