Right now #firstharassed is trending and is a way for woman to speak out about how they have been harassed as early as they can remember. Lots of men in the tag are refusing to believe it’s up to them to take responsibility for a “few”, failing to realize that the problem is not the individual but how society trains them to believe that these kinds of actions are ok. The stories contained in #FirstHarrassed are proof that all women have had to live through this at some point and unfortunately for most it happens before they are of legal age.
I was a twelve year old teenager hanging out with an older crowd, my best friend invited several guys over to my house late one night while my mother was away and we were left to babysit my younger brother. I remember a guy, 21 years old at the time that kept asking me inappropriate questions. He followed me to the bathroom repeatedly asking me for oral sex and then asking me to explain to him why I would not when I objected his advances, never taking my no as a legitimate answer. Later in the night I was cornered by one of the other guys and repeatedly asked similar questions. When I tried to walk away he put his arm up and blocked me from leaving. I was able to snake out of the awkward block he put up and immediately ran to my friend and waited locked in my room until they left. While I had experienced childhood playmates trying to kiss me even before I was 6, this was the first conscious act of harassment I experienced and it was in my own house. Two guys both tried to make me perform a sexual act that I had not experienced and was not comfortable with and both kept verbally pressuring me even to the point where one tried to physically contain me. What would have happened if I could have not gotten away? Why isn’t no ever a good enough answer?
These stories on Twitter exemplify why safe spaces are so important when so many woman face this everyday from men. Yes, all men.