I was watching a Korean thriller movie and this sentence came out "I was scared until my body became stiff and unable to do anything".
That sentence really hit me. It reminded me of the sexual harassment that I experienced.
Sexual harassment is real and it can literally haunt you in many ways, like being catcalled or being touched without consent. Whether it's your partner, your best friend, even your own parents touching a part of your body you don't like it, even if that person insists by telling you to "just take it easy" or says something to make you feel guilty for "rejecting" that harassment, please speak up.
Hit them with the fact that you don't want to be treated that way, explode them with the truth that they need to be taught about what "consent" really is. Because be it for the partner, best friends, even parents, sexual harassment is and will never be right and tolerated.
Remembering that I was sexual harassed starting when I was 9 (thank God it stopped when I was turning 22), might be the one and only reason why I always support and have an interest in human rights. And yes, I was a victim of sexual harassment for almost a decade, with me that was doing nothing because I was scared to tell the truth.
The harassment stopped when I finally told someone and stood up for myself by telling the perpetrator that "this is wrong, and you need to stop". That moment was definitely filled with a lot of tears, sweat and screams.
That moment I finally realized that "all I needed was to speak and stand up for the right thing". And that is the truth. And that 10 years of torture finally came to an end.
A lot of people are still fighting with this issue, feeling afraid. Even some people end the problem with unfortunate events such as suicide or self-harm.
By sharing my experience, I hope that you can be brave, hope you can reach out to people and stand up for yourself to finally tell the truth. This fight is not easy, and definitely won't be. But it really is a fight that is worth your time, tears, sweat and screams.
