People donât listen to women and children. Not when we whisper.Not when we scream.Not even when we show up with a mountain of evidence, hospital re
People donât listen to women and children.
Not when we whisper.
Not when we scream.
Not even when we show up with a mountain of evidence, hospital records, text messages, restraining orders, bruises, trauma, or the lifeless eyes of a child who saw too much too young.
And yet you dare to tell us:
âLet them in. Just get to know them.â
âThey say they belong here.â
âThey just want to be included.â
âItâs not that deep.â
âYouâre being paranoid.â
âYou need to relax.â
NO.
We’ve relaxed ourselves into the ER.
We’ve relaxed ourselves into trauma-induced silence.
We’ve relaxed ourselves into early graves.
đ§± YOU KEEP BUILDING BARRIERS AND CALLING THEM BRIDGES
You are not creating inclusion when you strip away the rights of women and children to be safe.
You are not being progressive when you remove boundaries that protect those who are most vulnerable.
You are not being kind when you ask survivors to swallow our fear, ignore our instincts, and make room for people who erase us.
This is not growth.
This is grooming.
This is gaslighting.
You are conditioning women and children to ignore our discomfort, override our instincts, and stay silent for the comfort of others.
Sound familiar?
It should. Itâs what abusers have done for centuries.
â ïž DONâT DARE CALL US CRAZY FOR SEEING THE PATTERN
You keep telling women and children weâre overreacting while asking us to:
Share changing rooms with people who violate our dignity
Give âbenefit of the doubtâ to those who disrespect our boundaries
Prove harm after weâve already been harmed
Smile through the fear
Apologize for existing
We are not crazy.
We are not hysterical.
We are not bigots.
We are survivors. And we are tired.
THIS IS OUR LINE IN THE SAND.
We will not âadjustâ to being erased.
We will not âlearn to get alongâ with people who refuse to respect our safety.
We will not âstay openâ to harm, to intrusion, to the death of what little protection we have left.
Donât tell us the world is changing.
We know.
Itâs changing into something where the lives of women and children are being negotiated like discountsâ
and we are saying NO.
â YOU DONâT GET TO HARM US AND THEN DEMAND OUR KINDNESS.
We are not âbarriersâ to someone elseâs identity.
We are not the villain for setting boundaries.
We are not required to sacrifice our safety to make you feel whole.
We are allowed to say:
No. Not here. Not again. Not ever.