Have you ever thought of it? How we teach young girls not to wear revealing clothes when walking in the streets? How we give them tricks to avoid being sexually harassed? How we ’empower’ them through awareness quotes, lectures, and short homemade movies? Well… now, take a step back, and ask yourself, ‘why don’t we, instead, teach our little boys how to respect women?’ Why don’t we lead boys onto the right path in understanding that a female is more than just a body? Why don’t we let them join our awareness campaigns, and schools of thought, in order to efficiently empower and support women?
When we teach girls how to run away from a sexual harasser, we are also teaching them to run away from reality – we are teaching them how to avoid dealing with the issue – we are telling them to support the harassers, instead of educating them.
Women are sick of hearing, ‘Don’t wear this, it’ll grab their attention’, or ‘Don’t walk like that’. Women shouldn’t be taking precautions because men should be taught, at a young age, how to respect them. It is truly shocking that we live in the twenty-first century, and we still avoid dealing with the criminal.
It is not about women. When women are harassed it is about the harasser. You should condemn him, not her. She is the victim, but she’s also a fighter – a winner. He’s the one we should feel sorry for, because he is persuading her into thinking that her body is his. But guess what, it’s not.
And the funniest part is that men defend themselves saying ‘her outfit provoked me’. Her outfit may have provoked you, but your sick mentality provoked a whole society, and provocation is not a justifiable reason to act in the abusive manner that is so common.
The education of how to respect one another should be taught before teaching maths, physics, literature, and physical education. What’s the point in giving youngsters classes if they do not have a minimum sense of responsibility, humanity, and morality?
Stop telling women to take precautions concerning sexual harassment. Instead, teach men-to-be not to practice this outrageous and anti-progressive crime in the first place.
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Yasmeena El Sabeh
Lebanese, 19 years old, Oxford summer school student (2011), Cambridge summer school student (2012), College Protestant Français graduate (2013), Double majoring in Journalism and Political Science, LAU Model Arab League journalist, reporter & social media coordinator, LAU Model United Nations public relations officer, Moderation & Justice Academy for Leaders trainer, London School of Journalism summer student (2014), Young Diplomats Forum London (2014), Shoutout UK correspondent, NooSoos accredited writer, NewYork Times talent community member, Writers Cafe writer, recently published in The Daily Star.
