Last week when we posted a blog about consent, we didn’t realize it would jump to the national forefront thanks to a certain presidential candidate showing that rape culture is still alive and kicking.  Twitter had to revive the hashtag #YESALLWOMEN because groping and harassment happen to pretty much all women.  This isn’t about politics, it is about women being able to live unharassed and in peace.

@kellyoxford jumpstarted the conversation with this tweet and created #notokay to highlight issues.

Women: tweet me your first assaults. they aren’t just stats. I’ll go first:

Old man on city bus grabs my “pussy” and smiles at me, I’m 12.

@kellyoxford

Five days later she tweeted:

Day 5: Every minute, people still tweeting me stories of their first sexual assault. I’ve read them. You are stronger than u think.

Reading through her feed is depressing in how commonplace this is.  Consent is an important issue and must be addressed, and specifically Affirmative Consent as we mentioned in the previous post.  Teach your children about consent.  Talk with your partner about consent.  Think about your mother, sister, wife, daughters, co-workers, and friends who may have had this happen to them and work to make the world a safer place for everyone, because not only women are affected by this, but they are bearing the brunt of it.