🧵

I used to work with girls in a secure unit. Some of them would self harm when they came to us and some wouldn’t. However, what we noticed was that those who didn’t self harm at first, would start copycat behaviour and 9/10 times would eventually self harm. This is called a social contagion and adolescents are more prone to this behaviour due to being more susceptible to peer influence and pressure than adults.

There was a point when all the girls claimed to be lesbians. They weren’t but it spread like wildfire.

We are women:

As women, we’ve been taught to mind our language, lower our voices, be kind.

I remember being 10 years old and a grown man slapping my behind.

I lowered my eyes & swallowed my fear, hoping if I was quiet, he would just disappear. As women, we’ve been taught to not antagonise, to not speak back to certain men.

I remember being 13 & kettled against a fence, a group of older boys grabbing me, I fought back in self-defence.

There’s been a lot of talk about TikTok waking up - especially women - on the gender/sex conversation.

Some of the language is still not ideal, but it’s definitely changing!

So I thought I’d do a wee 🧵 for you all to see what’s happening over there. More and more trans men are speaking up and asserting their biological reality.

I want to share some of my thoughts of working with extremely vulnerable teenage girls. I’ve been thinking about my time working with them a lot recently and thought it might help to just put it all down.

A 🧵 on what happens to girls when boys share their space. 1/ I started working in a secure setting for teenage girls not long after I left Uni. I was a mature (ish, late 20’s) student so I did have some life experience behind me. Not enough to prepare me for this type of work though.

This work stays with you. 2/