To the society that calls itself fair,
Please open your eyes, it isn’t.

Hi. I’m a 16-year-old female, living in America. America, where every 98 seconds, a person is sexually assaulted. On average, there are about 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States. 15% of those that are assaulted each year are under the age of 18, and that's not counting under 12. 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 53 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault at the hands of an adult. 1 out of 6 women are assaulted, and 1 out of 71 men are assaulted. As of 1998, an estimated 17.7 million American women had been victims of attempted or completed rape. That's a lot of women that have been hurt and done wrong to.

I want you to stop and imagine something for a moment. Imagine you are walking down the street, and there is a person behind you. It's dark, you can barely see your hands in front of your face. The person has been following you the past three blocks, You can hear the same, heavy, steady footsteps behind you. And if you turn around to look, you know something will happen. Something. You could antagonize them. They could take that one, small glance as an invitation. You fish around in your pocket for your keys, trying to fix them in between your fingers just in case you have to fight back. The shuffle of feet is getting louder, closer. You prepare for the worst.

The footsteps are right behind you. You make a break for it, only to feel a hand grab your arm. You scream.

Sexual assault is a problem that needs to be dealt with. But whenever the idea is brought to the table, it always seems to be made to be the victim's fault. In fact, one of the most common responses to “I was assaulted.” is “Well, what were you wearing?” @steenfox did a study on twitter saying, “What were you wearing when you're assaulted?” The results were scary.

“I was 18. Wearing a hoodie and some nikes. Had just got off work. Was someone I knew.”
“I was 14. Wearing big sleep shirt and sleep shorts. I was sleeping at a GF’s. Neighbor boy came over in am. I had thought I liked him.”
“First time: 5-6 y/o. Pajamas. Threatened to rape my female relatives if I said anything.”
“jeans, gray hoodie, sneakers. I was 15 @ school. Almost 3yrs later & I still haven’t told hardly anyone. OK to RT.”
“1st time navy high school uniform jumper 2nd hs tshirt & jeans 3rd halloween pocahontas costume”
“A tank top and wrap around skirt. Age 5.”
“I was wearing a brown Garanimals-type shirt w/green frogs on it, a brown fringe jacket, Wranglers and B. Brown loafers. 6. OKRT”
“pink princess pajamas. I was 6. Ok to RT”

Most of these people were younger than 18, or have been assaulted more than once. “I want to publicly say thank you to @steenfox for letting so many of us know that we aren’t alone,” one user tweeted. “We are stronger than we realize.”

What the “target” is wearing does not matter. To the rapist, it is all about how easy it is to cut away the clothing. It doesn’t matter what that person looks like, wears, says, or anything. That person is a thing, that they can take advantage of. A piece of clay to mold.

Does anyone remember Brock Turner? He is a rapist, that was released from his six-month sentence after only three on good behavior. He was sentenced for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. He was given only 6 months. They, apparently, didn’t want to affect his swimming career? But he changed this woman's life.

6 months for raping a person, but if you were to, say, rob a bank? That's over 15 years. So, 15 years for taking someone's money, but only 6 months for treating another human being like a piece of meat. Apparently, money is more important than a person's well being and health. And, along with this, only 3% to 18% of rapists are convicted for their crimes.

Think about this;
Fearing a shark is reasonable, right? They are scary! They could attack at any moment! You are never safe! When you are in the ocean, maybe. Every year, there are at least 19 shark attacks. That's a lot. Not many people die from these attacks. Every year, at least one person is struck by lightning. But that fear is more reasonable than fearing a man.
If you are women, and you fear a man and the possibilities of what he could do to you, you’re crazy! Men can’t hurt you, why would you be scared of them? Why would you be scared? Well, it's reasonable to be scared of sharks, who rarely attack, but it's not reasonable to fear men? Well annually, there are 321,500 victims of sexually assault.

Think about the victims after they are assaulted. How 94% of women who are raped experience post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms during the two weeks following the rape, how 30% of women report PTSD symptoms 9 months after the rape. How 33% of women who are raped think about suicide. How 13% of women who are raped attempt suicide. (Victims of Sexual Assault, Rainn) No one ever thinks of the aftermath of being raped.

To the rapists who think they are not the predators, and to the society who just can’t see it happening,
Your victims are, in fact, the prey.