people need to realize that sexual harassment & assault can happen in women's only spaces. and cis straight women can and are frequent perpetrators (sexual harassment & assault do not require attraction). & the idea that women are just naturally safe to be around makes it harder for victims to speak up and be taken seriously because "but we're all girls! it's fine if I deny your autonomy if we're girls it's just a fun joke :)"
if you want to make women's spaces safer for victims of sexual assault, you need to focus on empowering ALL victims & not making sweeping generalizations based in bigotry.
hey call me crazy but I don't think any sexual assault is "insignificant."
i don't think the 27.1% of lesbian, 25.8% of bisexual, and 10.4% of straight female victims of contact sexual violence who have been victimized by women are insignificant.
i don't think the 48.4% of lesbian, 17.9% of bisexual, and 15.3% of straight female victims of stalking who have been victimized by women are insignificant.
i don't think the people in the notes of this post describing how their sexual victimization at the hands of (cis) women, and the victim-shaming reactions they've experienced, have made them feel unsafe in supposed "women's safe spaces" are insignificant.
maybe instead of going "but men!!!!!!!!!!" on this post for the millionth time, y'all can actually learn about why "female-on-female" sexual harassment is underreported & underresearched.
Not only was I stalked by a cis woman,
Not only did she harass me,
Not only did she destroy my personal belongings,
Not only did she accuse me of rape when I turned her down for a date (and only being out of state at the time saved me),
She also said she would only date cis women and trans men, because it “made her feel safer than normal men.”
Women can be abusers, AND women can be abusers who feel unsafe because they have determined someone else is the abuser.
