Not All Men

Whenever a girl opens up about her sexual harassment experiences, the most common response they get is "#NotAllMen". It's accurate! Not all men are sexual harassers or predators, but do they really need to prove they are good people? The person who has been already traumatized by worse experiences doesn't need to hear how you've never attacked or harassed. No one needs to know, for that matter; it is not an achievement to celebrate and show off. Now, this blog is generalized and may rise conflicts but, it's not to offend anyone or any group of people; it is a women's point of view so, it speaks the matters women feel. Women tend to feel paranoid after these experiences and start to doubt anyone and everyone around them. And maybe it's not their fault, around 81% of women around the world have faced sexual harassment in their lifetime and, nearly 80% of females face their first assault before the age of 25. Even a little eve-teasing leaves a great impact on a person's mind and hence alters their instincts of trusting, and changing their beliefs. We can't expect a victim who got raped by her partner to fall in love with someone instantly again just because good guys exist too. If a survivor of any kind of assault or harassment isn't trusting anyone, we have no right to judge them and harass them further for it. I read a story of a minor rape survivor, who got raped by 400 people in 6 months. For this girl, it was almost all the people she ever encountered in those months. No one can even imagine her feeling; she's fearful of absolutely everyone now! So, the question is, can we judge her for that? Absolutely not. Yes, not all men are predators, yes, not all women are victims, yes, male faces almost as many sexual harassments as female, and yes, women are sexual predators too. Despite all these facts, if a woman doesn't believe in #NotAllMen, we can't judge for her insecurities. We really don't need to chant #NotAllMen every time a victim comes forward, so next time if a victim comes forward rather than telling them there's no point in being fearful, comfort them by saying, "You understand them."