The upsurge in attacks on women - both online and in person - is not something new. It's always been there. It's just more to the forefront now; it's no longer the undercurrent it used to be.
Attacking women has become the new normal. The rise of the woke has made it okay to say out loud what was only whispered before. We know this. As women we are witnessing this first hand.
The rape threats, threats of sexual violence, the death threats - all being done with impunity, and with zero consequences. The authorities we look to are refusing to acknowledge the threats that are being made against us.
It is not new. What's new is that they're emboldened to say what they're thinking; they have become vicious, and vile senseless attacks rooted in fear and hatred of everything that is woman, everything that they claim to want.
Despite this they will not tolerate us speaking our minds or fighting for our rights; they say that we must be seen and not heard. They say that we must be demure, silent, and accept everything that they do to us.
Speaking back and speaking up have become acts of defiance in this world that wants us to sit down, shut up, and say nothing as they take from us our safe spaces, the wellbeing of natal girls and women, our peace of mind, and even our very definitions of what makes us woman.
It's a terrible thing to witness, a terrible time to live through, and yet we have to soldier on. Every day brings a new piece of villainy; we have to stay strong in the face of it all. Look to yourself. Care for yourself. Look to each other. Care for each other.
We are fragile when it comes to the crux of it and we have to embolden one another for the fight to come. Because it will be a fight. We're fighting for our lives, for our right to define ourselves, for our spaces, our bodies, our very existences. Stand tall, my sisters.
