It's disappointing that something like this has to be clarified, but let's say it together: "violence towards women is not the fault of women." The fault lies with aggressors who commit violent and disrespectful acts on misogynist bases.
There's no denying that violence against women exists; it's an unfortunate reality. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 91 percent of sexual assault victims identify as female. This discrepancy has a lot do with how patriarchal structures have been perpetuated over the course of history and how those structures have resulted in distorted cultural views of women as "lesser" or "weaker." So, if we want to discuss breaking cycles of sexist violence and disrespect, we need to shift the conversation away from policing women and their actions, and instead, start talking about how we're going to raise the next generation to respect women and view them, regardless of their sexual expression, as humans — not objects.
