Women all around the world are frustrated by the fact that their lives are in danger just for saying the word NO.
Historically, men have believed they have a right to harm a woman just because she rejected them.
According to Enik Relations, an online writing platform, men express rage and often feel hurt and vulnerable when they are rejected.
It is nothing new for men who won’t take no for an answer to harass and pursue women. According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, 30 per cent of all women age 15 or older report experiencing sexual assault at least once.
Social media is flooded with stories of women being attacked by men who were rejected.
Rho Bashe, a Somali immigrant who lives in Houston, was attacked after she refused to give her number out to a man.
Bashe posted a TikTok video on Sept. 3 in which she described being attacked with a brick in front of a group of men after rejecting the advances of a stranger.
“Y’all, this man just hit me in my face with a brick, and all these Black men just watched,” Bashe said on the TikTok message.
Bashe said in a second video she suffered a concussion from her injuries and won’t be able to take time off from work to heal.
“What have I ever done to anybody in my life to deserve this? I ain’t never did anything in my life to hurt anybody,” she said.
Unfortunately, she isn’t the only one to experience assault after rejecting a man.
Femicide in Canada is part of a bigger problem. It refers to the killing of a woman or girl by a man because of her gender.
According to the University of Guelph, at least 850 women and girls in Canada were violently killed between 2018 and 2022. The report shows that a woman or girl is killed at least every 48 hours in Canada and that number continues to rise.
A report from Eastern Kentucky University showed some men don’t know how to take no for an answer and that results in women getting harassed and targeted.
I was one of those girls. I was called the B-word on June 22 and was told to go “die in a ditch” after refusing to follow a man back to his house.
I was harassed with several degrading names and slurs while being followed by someone in a black Toyota.
“Why are you acting so stuck up? I’m talking to you,” the man said to me.
I walked into a nearby Tim Horton’s and waited 10 minutes after he drove off.
However, the most frustrating part of that experience was that it happened during daylight, and no one intervened.
I believe that one of the simplest ways to lose your life in a world where crime rates are steadily rising is through rejection. And it’s deadly unfair for us women.
What did we do to deserve this?
Sadly, some men view women as property to be owned, but actions have consequences.
More and more women are beginning to say that they can’t live like this.
According to Psychology Today, men and women respond differently to rejection because men take rejection as a challenge to their masculinity.
The report shows a man’s pride and sense of self are focused on achieving a romantic quest, and when failed, can lead to violence.
A 15-year-old girl lost her life after she was stabbed on her way to school on Sept. 27 in Croydon, South London, after rejecting a boy’s flowers.
When is violence against women for saying no going to end?
Being a woman is difficult and we shouldn’t have to worry that saying no will be the last words that we speak.