People donāt 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

from Sora
People donāt 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:
āLet them in. Just get to know them.ā
āThey say they belong here.ā
āThey just want to be included.ā
āItās not that deep.ā
āYouāre being paranoid.ā
āYou need to relax.ā
NO.
We’ve relaxed ourselves into the ER.
We’ve relaxed ourselves into trauma-induced silence.
We’ve relaxed ourselves into early graves.
š§± 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. Itās what abusers have done for centuries.
ā ļø DONāT DARE CALL US CRAZY FOR SEEING THE PATTERN
You keep telling women and children weāre overreacting while asking us to:
Share changing rooms with people who violate our dignity
Give ābenefit of the doubtā to those who disrespect our boundaries
Prove harm after weāve 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 āadjustā to being erased.
We will not ālearn to get alongā with people who refuse to respect our safety.
We will not āstay openā to harm, to intrusion, to the death of what little protection we have left.
Donāt tell us the world is changing.
We know.
Itās changing into something where the lives of women and children are being negotiated like discountsā
and we are saying NO.
ā YOU DONāT GET TO HARM US AND THEN DEMAND OUR KINDNESS.
We are not ābarriersā to someone elseās 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.