Stop Making Money From Women’s Fear
Description: Women are constantly told to buy, carry and learn their way out of danger. But safety should not be another product sold back to us.
I am tired of being told that my safety is my responsibility.
We are told not to walk alone. To download safety apps. To take martial arts classes. To carry alarms. To share our location. To hold our keys between our fingers.
There are products, services and industries built around women’s fear.
Some of these things may help in a frightening moment. But they do not answer the bigger question:
Why are women expected to spend money, change our behaviour and live smaller lives just to feel safe?
How about we stop putting a price on women’s fear?
How about we stop making money from the problem and start dealing with the people who cause it?
Women should not have to plan every journey around the possibility of being followed, harassed or harmed. We should not have to become experts in protecting ourselves while the behaviour of those who threaten us is ignored.
Safety is not a product women should have to buy.
We need better accountability. We need people to take harassment, violence and intimidation seriously. We need men to challenge other men, and we need those who cause harm to be held responsible for their actions.
The question should not always be, “What could she have done differently?”
The question should be, “Why was she put in that position in the first place?”
Stop selling us safety.
Start holding men to account.