Women Are Often Harassed in Plain Sight - Here's How to Help
What it means to protect women in public and the secret signal I want everyone to use.
By Alex Free
Once, someone told me that I looked like a warrior princess surveying her lands and protecting her people. I was in Austin for a conference that was taking place at the same time as a racecar driving event. The street was closed off, and people were out drinking and celebrating. While my friends were enjoying the festivities, I started walking up and down the block – surveying.
Surveying for things that didn’t seem quite right.
Who am I surveying? The predators, the ones who take advantage, the ones who think they have rights over other people’s bodies.
Ever ditched your friend to inquire about someone cute?
Ever seen someone who looked distressed, but you decided not to meddle because it’s not your business?
Ever heard something inappropriate but didn’t say anything because nobody else did?
The answer is probably yes. And this isn’t a judgment. We all do it. We all get caught up in our own shit or get anxious when thinking about interfering with others. But here’s a reminder that stepping up matters. It can make a difference.
A few more articles and things to check out are:
The book Everyday Sexism and the project
What You Can Do To Prevent Violence Against Women
Understand More About Sexual Violence
To read more, please visit our Patreon
Alex Free (they/she) is a fierce mental health & social justice advocate who focuses on topics spanning intersectionality, reproductive health, disrupting rape culture, healing & trauma, identity, and dismantling white supremacy. They are a creator, storyteller, speaker, survivor leader, and yogi as well as an intersectional, trauma-informed facilitator of social justice and healing spaces. Alex speaks about their own journey as someone who lives with AuDHD, CPTSD, chronic pain, and other chronic illnesses and believes there is power in our stories. They are also a queer, non-binary femme who was displaced through trans-racial and trans-national adoption. Their hope is that each of us goes on the journey to decolonize our minds and our spaces so we can truly fight for collective liberation for all of us.