How many times have we not been upset about a rape in the news but have been from a friend being sexually harassed on public transport? Sure many times, and it's because it hits closer to home. When someone you know if affected, we realize that the same thing can happen to us. Going out at night without company or walking down a poorly lit street is a feeling that we all know and that unfortunately we all share: fear.
Not long ago, a friend of mine named Jessica broadcasted live on Facebook her story of assault just moments after it happened. With tears on her face, her broken voice began to share that a man tried to abuse her and put his hand inside her pants just one block away from her home. Immediately the publication was shared more than 300 times and the comments of support were immediate, coming from both men and women. Among these comments, one that caught my eye was from someone whom she no longer speaks to her because of a misunderstanding they had many years ago.
Not long after the incident, I saw that both were talking again and even sharing photos together. It must have been this incident that brought them back together again because they used to be so close. As far as I knew, Jessica was deeply affected by what happened to her, now that she found support from someone who had been through a similar situation, it made me realize how important it is to help one another.
As they say, strength comes from the union, and the problems that women face today are enormous due to our vulnerable condition, which, for many centuries, has made us the victim of all kinds of atrocities . Sexual abuse, human trafficking, inequality and discrimination are just some of the issues that still need to be resolved, but this can not be possible if we do not first fix our differences and stop treating each other as enemies and begin to unite under the common good.
Supporting one another is fundamental to make us stronger, and to achieve this it is necessary to listen and understand each other. We need to leave our differences aside to begin to grow together. We need to free ourselves of prejudices and look for a common cause in order to get the power we need to fight the problems that we witness every day.
If we do not reach out, if we do not raise our voice, if we do not echo what is happening, it will be very difficult to solve anything. We have seen throughout history that with numbers you can achieve great things: from the numerous marches of factory workers in the United Kingdom or rallies in the United States for women's labor rights, the fight continues against the powerful personalities who have taken advantage of abusing the weak.
Where we stand seems to be a situation in which we feel like we are alone. Creating communities where we can converse, listen, plan and take action is the first step to creating change. Women must unite, and what better to do if we create communities, in which we fight not only for what we want, but for what is fair. For only we can be able to find a solution so that one of these days we can be respected when we walk down the street, we can feel confident to go out at night, we can stop being brave to feel free.