“Young woman sexually assaulted and harassed” reads the news headline.

Like always, a slight shrug is shown and is rapidly dismissed daily.

In the workplace, public spaces, and in schools,

Like a fur coat, we wear the fear that one day that could be us in the headlines

Even walking alone seems like trying to put a fire out with fire

because of how normalized this issue has become.  

“But they were asking for it”

“They seduced and/or tempted me”

Well in that case, I did not know that showing basic human rights

is a nice and warm welcome for men to enter my body.  

How ever women choose to dress is not an invitation to join our party.

It is not a summoning for men to come and crash it, disrupt it, and then leave casually.

Our bodies are not blank white canvases you can draw freely on

and then throw away because we are not useful anymore.

The majority of women who get sexually assaulted are afraid to speak up

Our bodies are beautiful red roses,

and men peel away our dignity, leaving our precious petals ruined and scattered on the floor.

They strip us of our voices.

And to top it all off, we are still blamed for these horrible happenings.

As if we asked them to throw us in a river and drown us.

At night,

I walk around alone in a t-shirt, sweats, and slides.

Desperately clutching onto my innocence.