WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT? To make things difficult, sexual harassment is defined by the person being harassed. Legally, sexual harassment is any kind of unwanted or unwelcomed sexual behaviour that makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated.  It might be someone sending you a dirty text, a slap on the butt, insults of a sexual nature (like, ‘So-and-so likes cock’), requests for sex/ sexual activity, staring and whistling at you, suggestive comments (like, ‘your clothes would look better on my bedroom floor’); pretty much anything sexual that is unwanted and makes you feel uncomfortable

SO WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT? Doesn’t it mean I’m hot? Maybe. But maybe it means that you are being seen only as hot, as a piece of meat; existing only for the use or pleasure of someone else. And that’s sad… because you are so, so much more than that. Whatever sex or gender you are, you have interests, values, talents, quirks, opinions and feelings. In fact, you have a personality and a voice, and when someone reduces you to just a sexual object by focusing only on your butt (for example) it takes away from who you are as a human being.

HOW DOES THIS FIT INTO ‘RAPE CULTURE’? There have been lots and lots of studies trying to find out what makes one person behave violently or abusively to another. One of the big things is being able to look at their victim as an object, not a person. It’s much easier to hurt something than it is to hurt someone. When we sexually harass someone we turn them into just a body part or a series of body parts; an object.

You might just think it’s a little thing and that they should get over it, but little things pile up.  Little things build a culture.

Image source: Blog.wtfconcept.com and illustration by Kendrawcandraw